2015 PGA Championship Preview

2015 PGA Championship Preview

The 97th PGA Championship will take place from August 13th to August 16th at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin for the third time since 2004. The previous two PGA’s here went to a playoff: 2004 won by Vijay Singh and 2010 won Martin Kaymer. Recent PGA Championships have proven that longshots can absolutely win, most notably Keegan Bradley in 2011 and Y.E. Yang in 2009:

A little over a month ago, Rory McIlroy was the tourney favorite at +485 but an ankle injury forced him out of the British Open and subsequent tournaments. These absences combined with Jordan Spieth’s continued dominance have caused a shift in the odds. McIlroy is now listed behind Spieth, who was very close to winning the first three majors of the season, and the adjustment is absolutely justified. Below shows the odds to win this year’s PGA Championship at 5Dimes:

According to Jeff Sherman of the LV Superbook at Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas, the money and ticket count is largely on Spieth, DJ, Bubba, and Day:

PGA Champ wagering leaders so far … ticket count: J Day B Watson D Johnson L Oosthuizen J Spieth money: J Spieth B Watson J Day DJ

— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) August 11, 2015

Bettors are rightfully a bit skeptical about Rory McIlroy this week and he’s listed as a +140 moneyline underdog and +2.5 shot underdog in his tournament matchup against Jordan Spieth, which shows how confident books are in Spieth.

Notable tournament prop bets (5Dimes):

Hole-in-one:  Yes -120, No -120

Playoff:  Yes +265, No -355

Winning Score O/U:  273.5 (over -175/under +145)

Lowest Round O/U: 64.5 (over -160/under +130)

Once again there are a few notable, talented players among the favorites to have never won a major: Henrik Stenson (+2235), Sergio Garcia (+3775), and Dustin Johnson (+1360). Is this the weekend one of these guys finally breaks through?