PGA Championship Betting Preview

The question of IF Rory McIlroy has been answered – he has declared himself fit to defend his title after being out for more than a month with an ankle injury. Now the question centers on how effective he will be with that time off.

If you believe McIlroy, he believes his ankle is better than ever and this onlinesportsbook has responded by having him as the second choice to win it all at +650.

The favorite remains Jordan Spieth at +375, who has already won two majors this year. Dustin Johnson and Jason Day at +800, and Bubba Watson, who was an early 25:1 longshot, is all the way up to +925.

Phil Mickelson finished second last year, and like Watson was an early 25:1 longshot to win. His recent poor play has actually dropped his odds, and he is currently a big +3250 underdog to win it all.

This tournament really hinges on the top two players, however, and all eyes will be on McIlroy early to see how the injury and time off has, if at all, hurt his swing. Not only did he win this tournament last year, but he also won in 2012. Spieth obviously has the hot hand and has had a tremendous overall season where it seems foolish to bet against him at this point.

The last time the PGA Championship was held here in Whistling Straits, Marin Kaymer was the winner, with Bubba Watson coming in second (thus the surge on PGA bettors backing him). Kaymer is listed at 30:1, almost entirely because of his performance here in 2010.

There are different strategies to betting on golf, and while we normally employ the strategy of backing a few longshots and hoping for a big payoff, the recent surge of Bubba Watson’s odds has us staying away from that theory here. Spieth and McIlroy are deservingly the heavy favorites and more likely than not, one of those two players will emerge victorious.

Instead of backing a longshot, we would recommend playing some PGA matchup wagers. The online sportsbooks offer moneyline odds for two golfers against each other, regardless of where they finish overall. This is where we will look to back Bubba Watson, staying away from the bad line value in backing him to win it all.