Pro Golf Now
Fansided

2015 PGA Championship Initial Betting Odds

By Danny Norris

facebooktwitterreddit

With The Open Championship in the books there is only one more major left in the season. I thought it would be a good time to take a moment and look at initial betting odds for the PGA Championship next month.

More from PGA

It’s going to be interesting to see how things are right now and how much they change next month. These odds will be on the various books available via oddschecker.

For example, currently, Matt Kuchar is 66/1 at BetVictor. The vast majority of books, however, have Kuchar as a 40/1 favorite so that’s what we’ll use. With that, let’s take a look at the odds for the PGA Championship.

  1. Jordan Spieth– 5/1
  2. Rory McIlroy– 7/1
  3. Dustin Johnson– 12/1
  4. Adam Scott– 16/1
  5. Jason Day– 18/1
  6. Justin Rose– 20/1
  7. Rickie Fowler– 25/1
  8. Bubba Watson– 25/1
  9. Henrik Stenson– 25/1
  10. Phil Mickelson– 25/1
  11. Sergio Garcia– 28/1
  12. Martin Kaymer– 33/1
  13. Louis Oosthuizen– 33/1
  14. Zach Johnson– 40/1
  15. Matt Kuchar– 40/1
  16. Jimmy Walker– 50/1
  17. Brandt Snedeker– 50/1
  18. Jim Furyk– 50/1
  19. Hideki Matsuyama– 55/1
  20. Brooks Koepka– 60/1

As expected, Jordan Spieth is the favorite heading into the PGA Championship at 5/1. That’s fair. I won’t touch Spieth at that price, however.

If Rory McIlroy is healthy and able to play at the PGA Championship, I would expect some folks to put their money on McIlroy and perhaps he overtakes Spieth as the favorite.

There is no value in Dustin Johnson at 12/1. I like Johnson here at Whistling Straits, or at least I want to like Johnson, but he has shown time and time again that he just doesn’t rise to the occasion. It’s tough to trust him and at 12/1 that is way too risky.

More from Pro Golf Now

As we continue down the list the only one I really like is Jason Day. I’m not crazy about 18/1, but it’s not bad. Adam Scott, Justin Rose, and Rickie Fowler just don’t move the needle for me. Not right now.

I just can’t see Scott winning a major with the way he’s putting. Excellent ball-striker, but once the heat is on, that putter just cannot be trusted down the stretch. Rose and Fowler are fine, but I just see them as “meh” right now.

Now, Bubba Watson I like. Whistling Straits is a course Watson likes and anytime you can get Watson at a course he likes at 25/1 that is a great pick up.

I don’t like nine through fifteen for various reason. Henrik Stenson was disappointing at The Open, Phil Mickelson is looking worn down, Sergio Garcia missed the cut at Whistling Straits back in 2010, and Martin Kaymer isn’t playing well.

Louis Oosthuizen I do like, but not at that price. Oosthuzien is on fire and Whistling Straits is a course he can take advantage of, however, he did miss the cut back in 2010.

Zach Johnson is a sexy pick right now, but it’s going to be tough for him to win back-to-back majors. At 40/1 I don’t like that and this is going to sound like a contradiction, but Johnson’s game doesn’t set up well. With that said, he was just one shot away from getting into a playoff back in 2010.

Matt Kuchar is like Z.J. where his game isn’t perfectly suited, but he did finish T-10 in 2010. However, Whistling Straits has a lot of similarities to Chambers Bay and he finished T-12. Maybe on second thought Kuchar might not be a bad bet.

Now, let’s get into the golfers I am loving at the PGA Championship. Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka are two golfers that I will be building my teams around when the time comes.

I can see Matsuyama and Koepka winning the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Their games are suited to a course like this. It’s a long, links-style golf course where it is ideal to be long and straight. That is right in their wheelhouse.

At 55/1 and 60/1 that is by far the best value on the board and if you want them, you better jump on them now. I have to think that the sharps and even the public will be throwing money on these two. As they should. Matsuyama and Koepka should be in the upper echelon.

You know who else I think is a sneaky play? They aren’t in the top twenty, but I’m liking the value in Keegan Bradley and J.B. Holmes. You can get both Bradley and Holmes for as low as 80/1. That’s not a bad deal right there.

If you want to get real deep, Gary Woodland is at 125/1. Woodland has the game and talent to perform well at a course like Whistling Straits.

Victor Dubuisson was disappointing at The Open, but at 125/1 that’s a real nice value play. Same could be said about Bernd Wiesberger.

Wiesberger just barely made the cut, but he was pretty irrelevant at The Open. But, at 150/1 that’s fantastic value for someone that bombs it as far as Wiesberger does.

More from PGA

I’ll even throw in someone like Graham DeLaet. I’m not crazy about DeLaet at majors, he still needs to win a PGA Tour event to really put himself on the map and be a real contender at major. With that said, DeLaet at 150/1 isn’t a bad bet either.

These are just the initial betting odds for the PGA Championship, so it’ll be interesting to see how much or how little these change. I’m really anticipating Koepka and Matsuyama will be bigger favorites. Watson might move up a couple of notches as well.

The golfers who perform well at the WGC-Bridgestone Championship will decide a lot of the movement. That’s a huge event and a great tune up for the PGA Championship.

Next: Canadian Open Fantasy Sleeper Picks

Home/PGA