Rory or Scottie? Scottie or Rory? Maybe JT?
Don’t forget about the LIV players, too. While Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are the favorites to win the 107th PGA Championship, they have plenty of challengers.
That includes defending champion Xander Schauffele, who is fifth among the early betting favorites, and the 2017 PGA winner at Quail Hollow, Justin Thomas.
Then there’s Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and a host of other LIV guys who are drawing attention and dollars.
Speaking of money, NBC Sports betting expert Brad Thomas has a couple of wagers to consider:
Justin Thomas, to win: +2200
A handful of players come to mind when it comes to Quail Hollow. Justin Thomas is one of those names. Thomas won his first major championship here in the 2017 PGA.
Thomas enters this week in some of the best form of his life. He’s finished second or better in three of his last four starts, one of which was his win at the RBC Heritage.
The issue for Thomas wasn’t how he was striking the ball. It was always the flat stick. However, Thomas seems to have found some new mojo on the putting surfaces. He’s gained strokes putting in five straight events. He’s gained at least four strokes in three of the last five tournaments.
Thomas has thanked Xander Schaffuele to his turnaround in putting. Thomas is now using a “pro-am” putting approach — less mechanical, more feel. Whatever he’s done, it’s working. A win this weekend would make it three PGA Championships for Thomas (2022).
Xander Schauffele, first-round leader: +3000
Nothing like having the defending champion get a nice early tee time, but not first out. Xander Schauffele tees off at 8:22 a.m. EDT in an incredibly stacked threesome. His group features him, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. Someone in that group is going low, if not all three.
I’ll be on McIlroy in some capacity in the first round, but Schauffele’s price is one I cannot pass up.
Like McIlroy, he’s had a ton of success at Quail Hollow with a couple of runner-up finishes in what is now the Truist Championship.
He’s also had some early spike rounds at Quail Hollow in the last two seasons. He shot 64 in Round 1 in 2024 and 64 in Round 2 in 2023 (he also set a PGA record by shooting 62 in the opening round of last year’s championship at Valhalla).
He should be coming into this event with some momentum, especially off the tee. After gaining over three strokes off the tee in the final round last week, he figured out his driver and is ready to compete again.
107th PGA Championship odds (as of Tuesday, courtesy DraftKings):
- Scottie Scheffler: +425
- Rory McIlroy: +500
- Bryson DeChambeau: +950
- Jon Rahm: +1800
- Xander Schauffele: +2200
- Justin Thomas: +2200
- Collin Morikawa: +2500
- Ludvig Åberg: +2800
- Joaquin Niemann: +3000
- Brooks Koepka: +4500
- Tyrrell Hatton: +4500
- Hideki Matsuyama: +4500
- Tommy Fleetwood: +4500
- Patrick Cantlay: +4500
- Viktor Hovland: +5000
- Jordan Spieth: +5000
