After a long month and a half, it’s finally major season again. The PGA Championship has arrived, and you can feel the electricity in the air. We are heading over to Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma ready for the 104th PGA Championship.
Some big drama heading into the championship as our defending champion, Phil Mickelson, withdrew from the tournament. We have yet to see Phil play since his comments regarding the Saudi Golf League, and many are wondering when/if he will return to top competition. LIV Golf’s first event is June 9th — at this point there’s a chance that this is where Phil makes his big return.
The other yuge news — the last man to win a PGA Championship at Southern Hills is expected to be playing, and that man’s name is none other than Tiger Woods. Tiger has been camped out at Southern Hills for the last month and seems ready to go out and make a run to win the tournament.
Recap of Last Year
Last year was one of the more memorable tournaments in recent history. 50-year-old Phil Mickelson defied the odds and pulled out the win at one of the most difficult courses in the country. He went face to face with Brooks Koepka on Sunday and held his own to come away with another stellar win to add to his resume. The scenes last year were incredible – something that will be remembered for years to come, I’m sure. It’s a shame that isn’t the main story going into the tournament, but it is what it is I guess.. Here’s a quick highlight video of Phil’s final round in case you need a fast dose of nostalgia right to the bloodstream:
The Official Breakdown of the 2022 PGA Championship
Before I dig into the odds and picks, let’s get into some factors here:
The Course
Southern Hills Golf Course is an absolute beauty. The course is long, thin and painful. Strategy is absolutely key here — the greens are small, bunkers are everywhere and now with the deforestation of the course the wind will be even more of a factor. The players will need to prove every single part of their game if they plan on scoring well. The par 5’s are each over 630 yards, the par 3’s are almost all over 200 yards and the par 4’s demand constant decision making/risk taking if players want to score. To win this tournament, one player will have to put on a masterclass, lucky for you, I mention his name below….
Overview of the course:
The Weather
We will get a bit of everything over the weekend. Thursday will be painfully hot and dry, then Friday is likely to be humid andrainy, followed by cold rain and wind on Saturday, thenfinishing in classic major fashion with perfect Sunday weather. This mix should both level out the playing field as well as bring out the best of each player in their situational awareness and decision making.
The Field
Obviously, you can expect nothing but the best when field for a major, and the PGA has delivered again. 156 players will be out in Tulsa competing — rest assured they are all the best players in the world.
The Purse
The winner will receive a cool $2.16 Million and walk away a lifetime member of the PGA Championship. The lifetime membership means that even when you’re 56 and drunk like John Daly, you can still snag a tee time in case you get hot one weekend. Overall, the purse will equate to $12 Million across the 70 players that make the cut.
Featured Groups
ESPN finally decided to step up and fucking deliver with the groups for the championship. Our Thursday morning group will be Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.
How are we following this group up? The top three players in the world. Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa. It’s about goddam time ESPN. I think they finally read my blogs and realised how easy this one was.
Nowwwwww, IT’SSSSSSSS TIMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Odds for the Weekend
What I’m looking at:
- Our favorites are Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler
- Two powerhouses competing for number one in the world. I can’t give the favorite out, but at this point you shouldn’t be surprised if either of them take the trophy home.
- Scottie had this as his favorite course in his bio since joining the PGA Tour, so he knows Southern Hills extremely well and it really could be that painfully obvious..
- Justin Thomas was one of the top players last week and looked to be in top form, especially with his ball shapingability. He has proven time and time again that he is the best in the world at ball shaping and I think it will be crucial this weekend.
- Morikawa comes in at +1900, a little farther away from the top than expected, but he hasn’t been in his best , complete form
- Ball striking and long irons will be imperative here so you can’t overlook Collin
- Brooks Koepka is listed at +4800 in a major. I won’t give this out as an official pick, but I will be taking it on the side. Just saying.
- Last but not least, the Great One, the Messiah, the Reborn, Tiger Woods is +7000 to win his 16th major. Again, won’t give it out, but I will bet it because I believe.
THE PICKS
Winner – Xander Schauffele +2800
I know what you’re thinking, Xander? Yes, I know that nobody loves second place more than Xander but I think it is finally his time. The performance he had on Sunday and even throughout the entire weekend was incredible. I think it was the exact confidence booster he needed ahead of a major. He sank birdies at will and almost stole the tournament by shooting 23 under in just three rounds — including a 61 on Sunday. It’s time for Xander to claim his first major championship and Southern Hills is the place to do it.
Longshot – Adam Scott +12000
This is one I’ve been sitting on for a bit and think it could be a robbery. Only a handful of players have the experience at Southern Hills in a major setting — and Adam Scott is one of them. He finished in 12th place in 2007 and has the ability to check the boxes that matter this weekend. He can hit it far, he can putt (even with his dumbass putter), and he has plenty ofexperience in bad conditions plus the experience at the course. Let’s see if we can pull off a miracle.
Fuck This Guy – Justin Rose to Miss the Cut +126
I’ve never been a big Justin Rose guy so this is a pretty easy pick for me. The last three tournaments he has played have been The Masters, The Players and the Arnold Palmer; his last three results have been cut, cut and you guessed it, CUT. Trends are trends and something is wrong with Rosey’s game. He’s only playing the biggest tournaments and this will follow the same trend as the others.
Hold on to your nuts, I have a three pack of Mortal locks. Let’s fucking eat.
MORTAL LOCK – Tiger Woods to Make the Cut -115
I said this for The Masters and I will say it again. Tiger Woods does not go to a MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP to play a couple leisure rounds of golf. The man is a warrior, pushing his body to win each and every fucking tournament. He has not spent the last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma just to go home after two days of golf. He knows the course better than anyone else in the field and is ready to make a run at winning this tournament.
MORTAL LOCK Part 2 – Brooks Koepka Top 30 +115
This is just ridiculous. People are acting like Brooks career is over because he dyed his hair blonde for a month. Remember when he dusted Bryson and we said he was back? Remember when he came in second a year ago at this tournament? The disrespect to the man that only cares about majors is uncanny and this will be the easiest cashed ticket of the tournament.
MORTAL LOCK Part 3 – Final Score to be WORSE than 10 Under -105
This was flabbergasting to me. This course is designed to beat the living hell out of all these players yet somehow the line is set for them to tear it up and reach -10. The main focus of majors over the last few years has been to ensure players are not lighting the course up, PGA did it perfectly last year at Kiawah and this will be no exception to that. I anticipate this to finish at -8 or lower and we easily win this one.
Prop of the Week – Tom Hoge to Hit a Hole in One +8000
I asked the same source who told me to bet Shane Lowry to hit a hole in one on 17 at Sawgrass. Just know that if you read this and didn’t bet it, you are losing $80 for every $1 you didn’t bet. Yes, I just added more after rereading that too.
Parlay of the Week – Top 30’s Scottie, Rahm, JT, Hideki and Tiger +1050
This will be the easiest win of our lives and should be a nice add on to all the wins we have above. Might even let you all vote on how much I bet on this.
Three Putt Bogeys 