This weekend features the 100th PGA Championship, from St. Louis’ Bellerive Country Club. Justin Thomas looks to become the first PGA champ to defend his title the next year since Tiger Woods did it — and Woods makes his first appearance in a PGA Championship since 2015, when he missed the cut. The PGA comes as sort of an anticlimax, with the World Golf Championship the week before, which may be one reason why it will move to May starting in 2019. We’ve put together a golf betting preview for the last major in 2018 for you to consider.
2018 PGA Championship Betting Preview
Before we move to a list of golfers for you to put on your wager card, let’s take a look at Tiger Woods, who made a lot of noise at the British Open before fading on Sunday — and then who fell off the table at the WGC at Firestone last week. Sports Illustrated noted his average swing speeds with his driver at five tournaments, in chronological order, beginning with 122.6 mph at Quail Hollow, and then dropping steadily to the World Golf Championships, where it was 117.7 mph. That’s not a huge drop, but this is a player who has gone through four back surgeries. There could be a fatigue factor from playing his first full tour season in three years. So if the British Open convinced you to dump a bunch of money on Tiger, you might think again. Henrik Stenson has made every cut since the 2018 Valspar Championship, and he leads the Tour in greens in regulation percentage and is second in driving accuracy percentage. He has done well at the PGA Championship in recent years, finishing in the top 25 for the last five years in a row — and in the top 10 three times. In the other three majors this year, he has two top-10 finishes. That moneyline sits at +4500, which gives him a ton of value. Francesco Molinari had been playing white-hot golf until Bridgestone, but he still finished +1 for the tournament and has only missed one cut in his last 12 PGA starts. He became the first Italian golfer ever to win a major at the British Open, and he has been in the top 20 in four of the last tournaments he has entered. He sits at #20 on the Tour in scoring average, and yet his moneyline sits at +3000, also giving you high value. Rory McIlroy will be playing with Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas to start the tournament, and his golf game has made some strides lately. He finished as runner-up in the British Open and cracked the top 10 a week ago at Bridgestone. He has already won the PGA Championship twice and has finished in the top 10 on three other occasions. In his last 16 majors overall, he has 10 top-ten finishes, and he has two top-ten finishes in 2018 majors. The moneyline is +1200, which sounds about right for where he is right now. Tony Finau is still waiting for his first 2018 win on the Tour, but he has been sniffing around the top lately, snagging three top-ten finishes in his last five tournaments, and he has finished in the top ten in each major so far this year. He ranks third on the Tour in driving distance and 13th in scoring average. He has made every cut since the Houston Open, and he comes with a moneyline of +4000, so give him a hard look. Patrick Reed has been right there in three of his last four majors, finishing in the top four in each of those. He has also cracked the top 15 in six of his last nine tournaments and the top 30 in 10 of his last 12 — including a six-tournament streak where he finished in the top 10 every week. With that +4000 moneyline, I’m using him to add some value as well.3 down. 1 to go. The chase is on for @JordanSpieth at the #PGAChamp#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/dJkePvmtYM
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 9, 2018
