2021 PGA Championship Betting Odds Preview
The second major of the PGA season arrives this week, as golf’s best head to Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course in South Carolina for the PGA Championship.
At Bovada Sportsbook, the favorite in the PGA Championship odds is Rory McIlroy at +1200. McIlroy recorded his first tour win of the season two weeks ago in the Wells Fargo Championship and is a two-time PGA Championship winner. One of those victories came at Kiawah Island in 2012 when he dominated for an eight-stroke victory.
McIlroy dominated at Kiawah Island in 2012 triumph
Following McIlroy on the odds list at Bovada are the usual suspects with Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth at +1500, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas at +1600 and Bryson DeChambeau at +1800.
From that list, only Thomas has previously won the PGA Championship. His lone major win came at the PGA at Quail Hollow in 2017. This season, since winning the Players Championship in mid-March, Thomas has failed to crack the top 10 on tour.
Spieth has been delivering the most consistent performances lately. Last week at the Byron Nelson, he finished tied for ninth place for the sixth top-10 finish in his last eight tournaments. That includes his lone win this season at the Valero Texas Open in early April. The PGA is the only major Spieth hasn’t won, but he is looking for his first major win since 2017.
Morikawa won PGA Championship in 2020 in first try
The defending champion of the PGA is Collin Morikawa. Last year he shot 5 under for a two-stroke victory over Paul Casey (+6600) and Dustin Johnson (+1800). That marked Morikawa’s first major win and it came in his first-ever PGA Championship. At Bovada, Morikawa is a +3000 underdog to repeat after taking nearly a month off since his last tour event, the RBC Heritage in mid-April.
Last week, K.H. Lee was a surprise winner at the Byron Nelson for his first career PGA Tour win. He shot 25 under par for a two-stroke victory over Sam Burns. Lee is in the field this week, but he’s a massive +15000 long shot at Bovada to win.
Along with McIlroy, Morikawa and Thomas, there are a number of other former PGA Championship winners in the field this week. They are 2019 and 2018 winner Brooks Koepka (+4000), 2016 winner Jimmy Walker (+100000), 2015 winner Jason Day (+12500), 2011 winner Keegan Bradley (+8000), 2010 winner Martin Kaymer (+30000), 2009 winner Y.E. Yang (+200000), 2008 winner Padraig Harrington (+50000) and 2005 winner Phil Mickelson (+10000).