The 2021 PGA Championship is right around the corner and we’re here to give you 5 underdogs to bet on at the Ocean Course. This year’s PGA will be played at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course and will be the longest course in major championship history. Before we dive into our top underdog bets, let’s take a look at some of the favorites.
The betting favorite coming into next week’s major is Rory McIlroy at +1100. Rory’s game had been struggling since the restart of golf after COVID-19, but he’s now rounding into form and won last week’s Wells Fargo Championship. It’ll be hard not to bet on Rory to win the PGA for the 2nd time on the Ocean Course, but there’s definitely better value on some golfers further down the board. Other favorites include Byson DeChambeau (+1400), Dustin Johnson (+1400), Jon Rahm (+1400), Justin Thomas (+1400) and Jordan Spieth (+1600). Of these top guys, I like Spieth and Rory’s chances next week and I’m going to put my money where my mouth is.
That’s enough about the top guys. Let’s take a look at some underdogs we think you should be paying attention to for daily/tournament matchups, top 10s, top 20s, or maybe even a winner bet.
With the Ocean Course putting a big premium on long, accurate tee shots, the course fits Finau’s game well.
Tony Finau (+4500)
It’s been well-documented that Tony Finau is one of the biggest underachievers on the PGA Tour. His lone win was the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, which was one of the weakest fields of the year. He’s 14th in the world golf rankings, despite not winning an event in more than 5 years. Finau has a strong record in major championships. He’s finished no worse than T10 in the most recent edition of each major (T10 at 2021 Masters, T4 at 2020 PGA Championship, T8 at 2020 US Open, 3rd at the 2019 Open Championship). With the Ocean Course putting a big premium on long, accurate tee shots, the course fits Finau’s game well. Could this finally be the week that Finau breaks though? Maybe not. But at +4500 odds to win, Finau has amazing value for a surprise winner bet.
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Matt Wallace (+15000)
This lad from Hillingdon, England is not likely to be high on your list of guys to finish strong, but don’t be surprised if he’s hanging around the top of the leaderboard. Ranked near the top-50 in the world, the Ocean Course may set up for him perfectly. Wallace finished T34 at the Masters this Spring, so he’s shown some good form in big events, but the wind and weather at Kiawah could give him an advantage over the rest of the field for the PGA. His strength is his short game where he currently ranks 16th in the world in total short game, with his approaches being 5th in the world. He’s had 3 top 20s this year, including a solo 3rd at the Valero Texas Open…not to mention he finished T3 at the PGA Championship in 2019. If wind and rain are in the forecast, Matt Wallace might be the guy you want to look at for a top-20 bet with good odds.
Si Woo Kim (+10000)
This guy loves Pete Dye designed golf courses. Of his three wins on the PGA Tour, two of them have been on Pete Dye courses. He won the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in 2017 and recently won this year’s American Express at PGA West. Si Woo tied for 13th at last year’s PGA Championship at Harding Park. He’s been playing well recently, including a 9th place finish at The Players and a 12th place finish at the Masters. The 25-year-old from South Korea is a tremendous ball striker. If his putter heats up at Kiawah, watch out!
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Stewart Cink (+17500)
2021 has been a resurgent year for Cink. At 47, Father time may be pushing him to the senior tour in the next few years, but he isn’t going without putting up a huge fight. The 8-time PGA Tour winner and 2009 Open Champion currently ranks 2nd on tour for greens in regulation (73.5%) and a shocking 27th in driving distance with an average of 306! The reason Cink has +15000 odds to win the PGA is because he has been either feast or famine. It’s not often that you see a guy miss 5 cuts and also win twice, but this vet has done just that this season. He’s got 7 top-20s in 15 tournaments on the tour this year, and decades of experience playing in major championships. If Cink can get through the first 2 days at Kiawah in good form, watch out for Cink to try and capture his 2nd major title.
Keegan Bradley (+10000)
Since the start of the Florida swing, Keegan Bradley has been on an absolute heater! In the 6 Florida tournaments (all featuring Bermuda greens), he has finished in the top-30 every week. Can he take that over to the unique Paspalum greens at Kiawah? For a guy that currently sits 194th in putting on the season, he’s going to need a great week on the greens to score well at the Ocean Course. Keegan sits 70th or better in every other major category outside of putting, so he’s showing a lot of consistency in other parts of his game. By the way, Keegan finished T3 at the 2012 PGA Champion on the same course! With his recent good form, combined with a strong finish here 9 years ago, we see him as a lock to make the cut. He surprised everyone when he won the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club as a rookie on the PGA Tour. With any luck, and maybe some pixie dust sprinkled on his putter, we could see a top-10 finish or even an outside chance of Keegan surprising everyone again with a win.
