2022 PGA Championship Odds, Preview & Betting Picks
The second major of the season is upon us and it’s taking place at a site that golf fans haven’t seen for quite some time. On Thursday, May 19, 2022 the field will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the recently renovated Southern Hills Country Club. This is the first major event held at the course since 2007 when Tiger Woods claimed the Wanamaker trophy. The latest 2022 PGA Championship odds have Tiger listed as a longshot to claim his 16th major championship at +6000.
Southern Hills is a par-70 sitting at north of 7,500 yards, with only two par-5’s on the course, both pacing at over 630 yards. The restoration project done by Gille Hans was done to bring the course back to it’s original design. The putting greens are now filled with false fronts, testy slopes and large banks and while they’ve cut down some trees, bunkers have been added and the rough is up to modern USGA standards.
PGA Championship Odds
Players | To Win |
---|---|
Scottie Scheffler | +1100 |
Jon Rahm | +1100 |
Rory McIlroy | +1400 |
Justin Thomas | +1400 |
Collin Morikawa | +1600 |
Dustin Johnson | +1800 |
Jordan Spieth | +2000 |
Cameron Smith | +2000 |
Patrick Cantlay | +2000 |
Viktor Hovland | +2200 |
Xander Schauffele | +2200 |
Hideki Matsuyama | +2800 |
Shane Lowry | +3000 |
Will Zalatoris | +3000 |
Brooks Koepka | +3500 |
Joaquin Niemann | +3500 |
Sam Burns | +4000 |
Matthew Fitzpatrick | +4000 |
Daniel Berger | +5000 |
Corey Conners | +5000 |
Tony Finau | +5000 |
Max Homa | +5500 |
Louis Oosthuizen | +6000 |
Tiger Woods | +6000 |
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook
Caesars Sportsbook lists Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm as the co-favorites in this tournament. Only Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington have been able to go back to back at major tournaments this century.
Tiger Woods will be looking to play his second tournament of the 2022 PGA Tour season, after a herculean effort to make the cut at the Masters earlier last month. New York sports betting odds have Woods at odds of +6000 to win the 2022 PGA Championship.
3 Key Stats to Winning at Southern Hills
When looking at the top of the odds board, you can paint a picture for just about any of the world’s top players to win it. But every course has certain characteristics that better suit the playing style of certain participants in the field. Based on the layout at Southern Hills let’s look at a few stats that will help us navigate the PGA Championship odds.
Par-4 Scoring Average
Count them up, there are twelve par-4’s on the card at Southern Hills. With more then a few pacing at over 480 yards. With so few par-5’s and those par-5’s being 3-shot holes, scoring well at the par-4’s is going to be the difference in this tournament.
The top of the rankings in this category through the season so far features players with pretty short odds in the PGA Championship. Justin Thomas (+1400) sits atop the list with a scoring average of 3.89, trailing shortly behind are Cameron Smith (+2000) and Collin Morikawa (+1600).
Proximity to the Hole
As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest jobs from the $10 million restoration was the putting greens. There’s plenty of runoff areas on the edges of greens to collect golf balls and take them away from the hole. You’ll see the contouring that we discussed as well, making lag putting difficult.
The players that have their irons dialled in and keep themselves on the correct tiers and landing areas near the pin will give themselves an excellent chance to compete and score.
Shane Lowry is the best on tour in this category, with other notable players like Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson and Russell Knox in the top-10 as well. Patrick Cantlay and Scottie Scheffler find themselves outside of the top-100 in this category during the 2022 PGA Tour season.
Strokes Gained Off The Tee
When I initially started analyzing this golf tournament, driving accuracy seemed like the more important statistic, but at 7,500 yards you’re going to need some length. Playing from the rough in USGA managed events can be a death sentence, but at the same time we saw Bryson DeChambeau take down the US Open at Winged Foot with sheer length off the tee.
Some of the best players in golf are at the top of the Strokes Gained: Off the Tee list, most notably Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa are top-10. Meanwhile Cameron Smith has struggled mightily in this category, ranking 143rd in the world.
PGA Championship Betting Picks
Collin Morikawa to WIN (+2000 at BetRivers) – It would be a disservice to my work analyzing this golf course to not bet on Collin Morikawa. The American is 10th in strokes gained off the tee, 4th in proximity to the hole, and 3rd in par-4 scoring average. He has all the components of a PGA Championship winner this year. What’s even better is that BetRivers Ontario has the best PGA Championship odds for Morikawa at +2000 this week.
Justin Rose to Finish Top-40 (+175 at BetRivers) – The Englishman hasn’t played a lot of golf as as of late, with just one tournament appearance since missing the cut at Augusta National. But he does have a history at Sourthern Hills, with a T-12 in the last PGA Championship held at the venue. He’s also hitting on a few important stats, ranking 11th in par-4 scoring average and 5th in proximity to the hole this season.
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