2022 PGA Championship: Complete Breakdown and Betting Guide

104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills

Southern Hills Country Club was established amid the Great Depression in 1936. The 18-hole course was designed by Perry Maxwell, who renovated Augusta National in 1937. Spectators may notice an abundance of similarities between Southern Hills and Augusta National such as elevated and contoured greens, deep bunkers, and the lack of thick rough around the greens.

Like Augusta National, the clubhouse sits on a hill overlooking the entire course. At 7,556 yards, the course seems long on paper, but it’s highly unlikely the course will be tipped out on the same day. Despite its length, Southern Hills is more of a positional course than a bombers paradise.

The craziest thing about Southern Hills is that some holes are on top of each other. Even if they don’t max out the course, expect to see some extended delays while players wait for those on overlapping holes to hit. The tee shot on the par-three 3rd crosses the line of play with the tee shot on the par-four 6th.

Any approach that goes over the 6th green may come to rest on the 7th tee box, which is one of the smallest tee boxes on tour and sits just a few feet beyond the 6th green. The most egregious shot on the entire course is the tee shot on the par-five 13th. The tee shot here goes directly over the green of the 12th. Check out this screenshot from a drone directly above the 13th tee in Golf Digest’s hole-by-hole breakdown.

For the love of God, let’s pray Bryson doesn’t kill anybody.

The 2007 PGA Championship was the last time a major was hosted at Southern Hills. Then, the course had narrow tree-lined fairways and shallow bunkers. Gil Hanse renovated the course in 2019 to restore Maxwell’s original design and challenge players in the modern game. Hanse lengthened holes, removed trees, and expanded fairways. The most significant change is the restoration of the green complexes.

Before the redesign, the greens had shelves with thick rough along the edges. Approaches that just missed their target would roll off into the rough just a couple feet off the green. Hanse removed the rough and lowered the edges of the greens so now balls will funnel off instead of collecting in.

The Bentgrass greens aren’t big targets either. The average green size on the course is about 5,200 square feet, which is well below tour average. The firm, undulating greens are far from receptive, and players will have trouble judging how their ball will react upon landing. Players who miss the generous, Bermudagrass fairways will struggle to hit the green in regulation from the 2.5” thick, Bermudagrass rough. The course has water in play on 15 holes. Most of the water on the course is in the form of creeks that meander around the landing areas in the fairways and surrounding the greens.