My friends, my loyal followers and of course my haters, we are back. I should apologize for not writing anything since The Masters but truth be told I haven’t been excited about a golf event since the RBC and that was really just adrenaline wearing off from Augusta. It’s been a pretty average stretch since then but we made it through and have finally arrived at major week. It is time for the motherfuckin PGA Championship and the TPB Board couldn’t be hotter. On Sunday, Jaltz hit his second winner of the year with Jason Day, making that our fifth win of the year and the haters are shaking. People are begging for our majors win streak to end but I’m not having it. I am putting my reputation on the line and leading this page to victory. Time to make it five majors in a row (six for my Players is the fifth major crew).
Remembering the 2022 PGA Championship
Last year was one of the craziest majors I can remember. Mito Pereira had this thing wrapped up and ready to take home until the very last hole of the tournament where we watched one of the greatest collapses in history. The swing he had on 18 looked like me about eight beers deep and telling the boys ‘im about to send this one.’ He sent that bitch right into the water and choked himself out of the playoffs, where we watched JT and Zalatoris battle it out. JT fought for his life with a final round 67 whilst being 7 strokes back and wasn’t going to let this one slip through his fingers. The shot he hit on 17 was one of pure beauty and Zalatoris fell just short for his second 2nd place in a Major Championship.
Couple vids if you want to relive it:
Now let’s stop living in the past and get ready to see the future of the 2023 PGA Championship:
The Course
Oak Hill is absolutely gorgeous. The course is one of the best in the northeast and they have completely redone it since the last time we were here in 2013. The course was designed by Donald Ross and plays a cool 7,350 yards, playing extremely long and each shot will need to be earned. I’m gonna step up here and say we’re not getting any average Joe’s winning this Championship, the course is going to be extremely difficult and only the best will shine.
https://www.pgachampionship.com/oak-hill
Weather
Little bit of everything this weekend and personally really hoping that rain goes away because one of our fellow board members is getting married so that would be lame. I also just can’t mentally take any more fucking rain delays this golf season, feel like I’ve watched every huge tournament play two rounds on Sunday and it’s getting old. Here’s to perfect weather and the sun slaughtering the greens making them as fast as possible.
Featured Groups and TV Schedule
ESPN and CBS own this one and all the pressure of the world is on them. Coverage was pretty good for The Masters outside of the human rain delay in Cantlay so let’s hope that continues this week. Wish we had The Masters app for this one but PGA Championship does have their own app so probably worth giving it a shot.
Odds for the Weekend
It’s time to get into what really matters the most about this championship and that is who we’re going to bet on to take home The Wanamaker:
What it Takes to Win:
- This course is going to play extremely long and the biggest variable is going to be driving distance and accuracy. This is not the course for Matt Kuchar to hit his 250 yard drives, we need a bomber
- The greens are difficult to hit, have plenty of undulation and are surrounded by massive bunkers. Approaches and scrambling are imperative here so make sure to take someone that can hit greens consistently but also recover when needed. Pars are more than fine here.
- We’re playing bentgrass greens this week so here’s a list of some important events and winners with bentgrass greens
- Shriners – Tom KimCJ Cup – RoryAugusta – RahmLiberty – Finau
- 3M Open – Finau
- Putting. At a course that screams it’s all about the driver, it always comes down to the putter. We need someone that can putt the lights out and match their driver with making some deep putts and hitting each and every one of those 5-10 foot momentum putts.
- Tee to Green. Stunning, getting from the tee to the hole is important. Hate to be captain obvious here but we really are just looking at the top 15 guys in the world that can find birdies, have chances for eagle and always stay out of trouble.
- Approach to Green. This is really what separates every massive tournament from the rest. Majors always call for it and it’s a pretty key reason we get the type of champions that we do. If you’re not an elite ball striker, you’re just not going to win at a place like this so let’s be careful and find a guy that can hit greens all day with wedges but can also consistently find them from 180+.
Who I’m Looking At
- We all know the two favorites have extremely good chances to win here and it’s extremely hard not to jump on that train. Rahm and Scottie have shattered records, playing out of their minds this year and there’s no reason you should fade them. I don’t need to explain why and you don’t even need to watch golf to know why.
- Rory is an extremely interesting one here. He would normally be right there with Scottie and Rahm but has played like shit this last stretch. He got cut from The Masters, backed out of the RBC and barely made the cut at the Wells Fargo. Everyone is fading him going in but he also fits the stats here with his driving and ball striking.
- Brooks is gonna be an extremely popular pick and I think it’s well deserved. He easily could have won The Masters and a lot of people think he’s back to the killer we saw in 2018. He has plenty of experience on winning at courses like this such as Bethpage or any bentgrass so definitely someone to consider.
- DJ is another hot pick after his win at LIV: Tulsa this week and he’s definitely someone to watch out for. He fits everything I just broke down between driving, putting and finding ways to make pars so he is high on the list.
- I can’t write this without mentioning Spieth but I think he’s someone to stay away from with the injury. Love you Jordan but I need to see something before hammering your live odds. That being said, if he is healthy, Spieth can win this thing. He’s sneaky long and we all know what he can do with the putter.
- Tyrell Hatton has been low key one of the hottest players on tour. He is in almost every tournament and even had a chance to win at The Players. He can hit it far and as long as he keeps his temper in-tact can play with anyone in the world.
- Gooch has been on fire and is worth watching out for. He fought for his life to even get invited here and it’s unfortunately pretty clear he needs to earn himself an exemption if he wants to keep playing in the majors. After what he did in Adelaide and Singapore you absolutely have to give this guy a second look.
- Bryson has been different. He has leaned up and seems to be pretty happy with his life and I’m not sure what to think. He isn’t the douchebag we all know and love to hate but he still kind of is. I’m not sure if he’s the hardcore competitor he once was but if he starts playing like he can it might spark something. Either way the guy still bombs the ball and this course has some Winged Foot similarities so you gotta keep him on your radar.
THE PICKS
Winner – Rory McIlroy +1300
There comes a time in everyone’s life where they either need to follow the crowd and believe everything screaming to do it, or say fuck it and stand up to the people. This is my time. Rory has been abysmal as of lately and I’ll be the first to say it, but for the first time in however many majors, everyone is counting him out. He is a top three player in the world, he absolutely crushes the ball, his putter can get extremely hot and he knows how to get a par when he needs it most. The attention is not on him winning, it’s on whether he’ll miss another cut. Nobody is talking about how he’s a member of this course and has been playing it any time he goes back to his wife’s hometown. Nobody is talking about how he won on the scary bentgrass this year. Everyone wants Rory to go down, everyone is betting against him and this is when we fire. I have never bet Rory on this page because he has always been the public play and the time has finally come. We are about to witness Rory’s major drought come to an end at Oak Hill.
First Round Leader – Jon Rahm +1800
This is a fun one. I’m writing this with zero knowledge of tee times or real weather reports so I’m just taking a shot here. It’s not like I’m really blindly following some random and to be honest it’s just one of those times where if you see Jon Rahm +1800 anything you just take it. I don’t think a soul would be surprised to see this so let’s just cash an easy winner and have some free money to play with heading into the weekend.
Scottie Sprinkles – Scottie to Win +750
What do you want me to say? I have to do this. This has finally turned a profit and I want more. 750 is shit and I guess where we’ll need to settle here but I will not stand here and tell anyone not to bet on Scottie, nor will I watch this man win another tournament without me betting on it. I forgot to do it last weekend and almost got absolutely cucked because of it.
Dark Horse – Rickie Fowler Top 5 +1200
I’m so sorry that I’m doing this again. It is truly an addiction but I just can’t stop betting Rickie. I hate this pick so much but absolutely love it and don’t see how it can lose. Rickie has been playing extremely well this season and has finally fought to get himself back into the top 50. He earned his right to be here and I genuinely feel he is ready to prove that he belongs with the big dawgs. He has proven himself in distance, accuracy and bogey avoidance all year while constantly getting top 10’s and 20’s including courses with bentgrass greens. He is finding his way back to being a fantastic putter and if everything works he might have a chance to win this thing. Rickie was once the king of top 5’s at majors and it is time for him to get back to his old ways of making you think he could win just to finish barely inside the top 5.
Prop #1 – Scottie, Finau, Homa Top 20 +800
This is a fun one. Found this bad boy boosted on Caesars because we still can’t get a goddam sportsbook sponsor and stay loyal to anyone. It’s definitely a lot to happen but the odds feel extremely high to me and don’t see a reason to not take this one.
Prop #2 – Sam Ryder Hole in One +10,000
I have no reasoning behind this and realistically I’m probably heavily limiting my chances by taking someone favored to miss the cut but his name stuck out.
MORTAL LOCK – Tyrell Hatton Top 20 +160
I love this pick. I’m honestly gonna take Hatton to win as well as top 5, 10 and 20 but this is just to make sure I cash an easy ticket on the board. I don’t think Hatton gets the respect he deserves for being a long hitter, a fantastic putter and great at scrambling. He has taken the opportunity to become a face of the European Ryder Cup team but still seems to be under the radar at every tournament. Hatton has four top 5 finishes at elevated events and came in fifth last week proving he is plenty hot coming into this. His tee to green ranks along with the best and he has everything it takes to excel at this course.
Three Putt Bogeys 