PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW “B”

PREVIEW “B” 

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP 

Oak Hill CC Rochester NY 

MAY 18-21, 2023 PAR 70

OPENING ODDS FOR FAVORITE

#1 Jon Rahm 7/1 Took last week off and looking for his 2nd major after winning the Masters.

#1 Scottie Scheffler 7/1 Played well enough to win last week.  I think he will win.

#2 Rory McIlroy 11/1 I doubt if he can win, but should make the top 10.

#3 Patrick Cantlay 18/1 Does not play well at majors.

#3 Brooks Koepka 18/1 He faded in RD4 at the Masters, maybe he will be better prepared.

#4 Justin Thomas 20/1 He has been very inconsistent this year, no chance.

#4 Dustin Johnson 20/1 Won last weeks LIV in a playoff.  He may win this.

#4 Jason Day 20/1 Great win last week.  His game may be back but I don’t see him winning.

#5 Xander Schauffele 22/1 He has come close several times this year.  I think he is a good bet.

BEST LONG SHOTS

#17 Cameron Smith 30/1 He is my #1 Long Shot.

#21 Taylor Gooch 40/1 He has been the best player on LIV for 2 years.

#12 Cameron Young 25/1 Tied for 3rd last year and 2nd in last years OPEN.

#11 Tony Finau 25/1 Looking to win his first major and has won 5 times in the last 2 years.

#24 Patrick Reed 60/1 Maybe the 2nd best player from LIV but I don’t think he will play well. 

#14 Jordan Spieth 28/1 He is looking for this event to complete career Grand Slam.

#33 Joaquin Niemann 75/1 Very good golfer and wants to legitimize LIV.  Could win.

#28 Rickie Fowler 65/1 Still looking for a much needed win.  Not this week.

#35 Phil Mickelson 85/1 Played extremely well at the Masters, but here too many distractions.

#38 Bryson DeChambeau 90/1 This guy seems lost!!!

I am 90% sure the champion will come from the 10 favorites, 10% from the Long Shots.

INTERESTING PARTICIPANTS WITH NO CHANCE TO WIN

#1 John Daly won this tournament as the last to qualify in 1991 and was 2000/1 but unfortunately had to withdraw due to an inflamed knee.

#2 Siwan Kim 500/1 this is a Kim no one has heard of and he is a member of LIV.  It makes  Phil’s rants about the conspiracy of PGA  against LIV players being left out ridicules. 

#3 Dean Burmester 175/1, Thomas Pieters 200/1, Brendan Steele 250/1 All LIV no names!!

Oak Hill East Course

Course architect Andrew Green worked to reimplement some of the concepts of Donald Ross who designed the course in 1922 when over 75,000 oak trees from all over the world were planted.  Many of those trees were removed in the restoration because they had grown and were crowding the classic golf course design. Oak Hill East is 7334’ Par 70.  17 & 18 are considered 2 of the toughest closing holes in golf.In 2019 Golf Digest rated it as #22 in their top 100 US courses.  The field is 156.