With K.H. Lee’s victory in the AT&T Byron Nelson on Sunday, the 29 years old South Korean secured the final spot in this week’s PGA Championship at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The Pete Dye designed par 72, the 7,876-yard layout will be the longest in major championship history and hosts 156 players, including 20 club professionals.
The last time the PGA Championship was contested at the Ocean Course, Rory McIlroy dominated with an eight shot victory in the event in 2012. Last year, Collin Morikawa shot a stunning final round 64 to defeat Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson by two shots for his first major title at TPC Harding Park.
McIlroy, who had been struggling for most of the past year, won two weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship in Quail Hollow and will be coming into the PGA Championship in good form to win his fifth major championship. Valero Texas Open winner Jordan Spieth has also seen a resurgence in his game as he makes his fifth attempt to complete the career Grand Slam.
McIlroy has shown in the past that when he gets hot, the 32-year-old Irishman can win tournaments in bunches and by large margins.
Betting Odds at the Ocean Course
The top fifteen players on the odds list account for four PGA Championships and 18 major titles between them, led by McIlroy with odds of +1100, who also won the title in 2014. Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA Champion and currently ranked second in both the FedEx Cup standings and the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), is at +1300.
Jon Rahm, third in the OWGR and at odds of +1400, comes to South Carolina looking for both his first major championship and first victory of the 2020-2021 season despite consistent play and nine top ten finishes. He is joined at +1400 by Spieth, whose Valero win was his first since the 2017 Open Championship.
The reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau also added a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and is at +1500. Dustin Johnson, number one in the OWGR and with odds of +1700, withdrew from the AT&T Byron Nelson and will be trying to win in his home state for a third major title.
Favorites Picks for the 2021 PGA
While favorites haven’t fared well this season, McIlroy has shown in the past that when he gets hot, the 32-year-old Irishman can win tournaments in bunches and by large margins. He just picked up his third Wells Fargo Championship at familiar Quail Hollow Club and now returns to the site of one of his best wins, looking to reestablish himself among the top players in the game.
Jon Rahm has been a little off his game the past couple of weeks, but the 26-year-old Spaniard with five PGA Tour wins is due to put a major title on his resume. With the course where the second place score was five under par playing longer this time around, it should set up nicely for Rahm, who won’t have to go low to be in contention.
The winner earlier this year at Pebble Beach, Daniel Berger, is at odds of +3000 and is coming off a tie for third last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson after shooting a final round 64 in tough conditions. The 28-year-old is 16th in both the FedEx Cup standings and the OWGR.
