Al Walsh previews the 2020 PGA Championship and selects the best bets from this very unique major championship
We’ll finally see the first major of the coronavirus-era in golf, as the pros will tee it up for the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco – a mere half-mile from the Pacific Ocean. Typically, the PGA Championship is the final major of the season, but this time around it’ll be kicking off the festivities. In fact, this will be the first of only three majors on the 2020 PGA calendar.
This is the first time that a PGA Championship will be played on the West Coast in 22 years. It’s one of the many oddities that are at play here, in addition to the fact that this is also the first time a public course has hosted a PGA Championship. 2020 has been weird enough, let’s not act like this isn’t par for the course – pun intended. There is a lot of interesting stories from the history, so definitely check that out in your spare time.
Of course, with this being a major, we’ll see big-name players like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka – who finished in a tie for second at last week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Watch the PGA Championship on Television
Thursday-Friday: 4-10 p.m. EST (ESPN)
Saturday: 1-4 p.m. EST (ESPN), 4-10 p.m. EST (CBS)
Sunday: 12-3 p.m. EST (Golf Channel), 3-9 p.m. EST (CBS)
Watch the PGA Championship Online
Thursday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. EST (ESPN+)
Friday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. EST (ESPN+)
Saturday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. EST (ESPN+)
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. EST (ESPN+)
PGA Championship Preview
Course Details
– TPC Harding Park – San Francisco, CA
– Established: 1925
– Par 72 – 7,169 yards (6,555 meters)
Weather Forecast
Thursday: 64 high/53 low
Friday: 63 high/53 low
Saturday: 64 high/53 low
Sunday: 64 high/53 low
Last Weekend’s Results at WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (TPC Southwind – Memphis, TN)
1. Justin Thomas (-13)
T2. Daniel Berger (-10)
T2. Tom Lewis (-10)
T2. Phil Mickelson (-10)
T2. Brooks Koepka (-10)
Tournament History (winners)
2019: Brooks Koepka (-8, Bethpage Black Course)
2018: Brooks Koepka (-16, Bellerive Country Club)
2017: Justin Thomas (-8, Quail Hollow Club)
2016: Jimmy Walker (-14, Baltusrol Golf Club)
2015: Jason Day (-20, Whistling Straits)
Key Stats for Success at PGA Championship
TPC Harding Park may be a public course that you and I can play on, but that doesn’t mean we’d have a great time in doing so. This is a tough track that really punishes golfers for not getting their tee shot in the narrow fairways. The rough is exactly that, making it that much more important to be smooth right out of the box. Word around the Twittersphere is that TPC Harding Park is going to just let the rough go as long as possible, potentially reaching upwards of five inches.
Distance off the tee will also be a big factor. As we know from MLB, the ball does not travel as far in the dense air of the West Coast. This could be a HUGE benefit for the long bombers like DeChambeau, as his drives make the rest of the field seem like they’re playing miniature golf.
– Strokes Gained, Tee-to-Green
– Driving Accuracy
– Par-4 Scoring
– Scrambling
Favorites (According to DraftKings Sportsbook)
Register at DraftKings and get a Risk Free Bet of up to $500 on the PGA Championship.
Justin Thomas | Win: +900 | T5: +225 | T10: 120
Brooks Koepka | Win: +1100 | T5: +300 | T10: +150
Bryson DeChambeau | Win: +1500 | T5: +400 | T10: +175
Rory McIlroy | Win: +1500 | T5: +300 | T10: +175
Jon Rahm | Win: +1500 | T5: +300 | T10: +175
PGA Championship Picks (DraftKings Betting Odds)
Register at DraftKings and get a Risk Free Bet of up to $500 on the PGA Championship.
Justin Thomas to win (+900)
Ahhh yes, the odds-on favorite to win… what a stretch. I’ve often been referred to as a risk-taker in my life but this instance seems a bit more reasonable. Thomas has fabulous metrics ranking first in SGT2G, third in Par-4 Scoring and fifth in Scrambling. He does, however, rank 131st in Driving Accuracy, and that could certainly present some problems. The game of golf has risks written all over it, but just remember that’s one portion of his game; the rest is definitely on point.
Bryson DeChambeau to win (+1500)
I talked about DeChambeau earlier in the writing, and it makes sense to take a chance on him as the biggest bomber on tour. The West Coast isn’t exactly prime territory for ball flight, but he could be a golfing-version of Barry Bonds in San Francisco this weekend. Like JT above, DeChambeau struggles with driving accuracy (112th), he does crush it in Par-4 Scoring (2nd), Scrambling (8th) and SGT2G (9th).
Xander Schauffele to win (+1800)
Schauffele still hasn’t won a major but this could very well be the weekend he does it. Optimistically, the metrics line up for a successful week, as he owns Top-10 rankings in three different key categories we’re looking for at this year’s PGA Championship – Par-4 Scoring (5th), SGT2G (6th) and Scrambling (7th).
Daniel Berger to win (+3000)
We could argue that Berger may not have a lot left in the tank after finishing as a runner-up last week, but all of these metrics play right into his bag of tricks. He ranks second in Scrambling, fifth in Par-4 scoring and 13th in the SGT2G (Strokes Gained, Tee-to-Green) category. I know a guy that is close to Berger, and he won’t shut the hell up every week about him winning the next tournament. This is one of the rare cases that I want him to be right.
Webb Simpson to win (+3300)
Simpson won at the RBC Heritage on Father’s Day with a lights-out back-nine then went on to have eighth- and 12th-place finishes in two of the last three tournaments. He also boasts excellent rankings in Par-4 scoring (1st), SGT2G (12th), Driving Accuracy (19th) and Scrambling (19th). When looking for a “safe golfer,” your search should probably begin and end with Simpson.
Register at DraftKings and get a Risk Free Bet of up to $500 on the PGA Championship.
