2024 US PGA Championship Betting Preview – JP
2024 US PGA Championship Betting Preview
It’s hard to believe the second Major of the season starts this week. The PGA Championship will be fiercely contested as always and James Punt has one headline bet plus three outsiders at much bigger odds. He tipped up Scotty Scheffler to win at Augusta, hopefully we can make it two in a row. Check out his 2024 US PGA Championship betting preview and tips below.
2024 US PGA Championship
The second Major Championship of the season kicks off this Thursday. The Valhalla G.C. in Kentucky is the venue. The course has hosted three previous PGA Championships, the last being in 2014, which was won by Rory McIlroy.
Since than the course has had a makeover. As usual, this means adding length, but the fairways have been completely reseeded with a heat resistant strain of grass known as Zoysia grass. The 2018 US PGA was played on another course with this type of grass. That was won by Major specialist, Brooks Koepka.
At Valhalla the bentgrass greens are relatively small, the fairways wide but the outstanding feature of the course, and indeed most USPGA courses, is it length. A whopping 7609 yards, par 71.
Big Hitters
The USGA which organises the tournament, likes to test its players by length. The last ten winners have all had driving distance stats of over 300 yards. You can forget any hopes for the shorter hitters. Good recent form is always important, with recent winners having a minimum of a top 25 finish in their previous event.
Players that stand out as likely winners are Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele and Scotty Scheffler.
Rory’s Time?
Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday. That was his fourth win there. He also won it before going to Valhalla and winning the 2014 PGA.
Rory is ranked 2nd for driving distance and is a multiple winner on bentgrass greens. He also won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans the week before, paired with Shane Lowry, so his recent form is top notch.
McIlroy is a course winner, albeit before the changes to the fairway grass and course lengthening. Adding length is not going to bother the biggest hitters, of which he is one, it just increases their chances as they have the power to handle it.
Mental Pressure
The 7609 yards is not a problem for McIlroy, but the six inches between his ears is. McIlroy’s Major drought goes back to 2014, when he won this and the Open Championship. He is putting a lot of pressure on himself to win another Major, but it is the Masters that he really wants.
The USPGA is seen as the least prestigious of the four Majors, and it may be that he will be under less pressure than at Augusta, or at an Open Championship. I’d give him a shot this weekend.
Brooks Koepka is the other of the market leaders who makes sense. He has won three PGA Championships already (three of the last six), he hits the ball for miles, has won on Zoysia grass and, like McIlroy, won his last tournament. That tells us he is fit, and in good form. Kopeka was fifteenth here in 2014. He ticks a lot of boxes.
Scheffler Fav
Scotty Scheffler landed our bet to win the Masters and he starts this as the 5.50 favourite this week. One thing that is steering me away from him doubling up, is that his wife is still expecting their first baby. The birth was imminent when he won the Masters, and here we are, one month later…and he is still waiting.
His 2024 form is excellent, winning four of his last five events, and he was runner up in the other. He has been likened to Tiger Woods in his pomp, and you can see why. If his wife goes into labour, he will be off, so if you fancy him, you have to accept that he could walk off the course and head home, even if he were leading.
Xander Too Often The Bridesmaid
Xander Schauffele is always on the radar, he is very consistent but he fills the role of bridesmaid too often, as he did on Sunday, coming second to McIlroy. His best finish in a US PGA Championship was tenth place in 2020 and he is passed over.
The US PGA Championship has thrown up plenty of first time Major winners such as Martin Kaymer, Jason Day, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Jimmy Walker, Jason Dufner & Y.E. Yang to name but a few. With that in mind, I am going for a couple of longer priced players.
Interesting Long Shots
Byeong Hun An is ranked 4th for driving distance and he is good form, coming here on the back of a 3rd place on Sunday and 4th in his previous event. He is yet to win on the PGA Tour, but is currently ranked 6th on the FedEx rankings, so he has the potential.
An won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2015. He was 16th in this year’s Masters and he has knocked on plenty of doors in recent years.
For a huge priced outsider, I like the look of Taylor Pendrith. The Canadian was 29th in his PGA debut last year. He is ranked 9th for driving distance and 6th for shots gained putting. His recent form is good, form figures of 11/11/1/10. His win came in the Byron Nelson two weeks ago.
