As the PGA Tour stops at TPC Sawgrass in Florida for this week’s Players Championship, we’re betting there’s going to be a back-to-back winner.

And there are two players in this star-studded field with the chance to go back-to-back.

Aug 04, 2020 Only last week's winner Justin Thomas (+900) has better odds then the aforementioned Brooks Koepka (+1100), who are followed by Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm all at +1500. 2 days ago As the PGA Tour stops at TPC Sawgrass in Florida for this week’s Players Championship, we’re betting there’s going to be a back-to-back winner. And there are two players in this star.

Confused? Well, we’ll clear it up for you.

The first back-to-back winner we are looking at is Rory McIlroy at +1600 at DraftKings. Last year’s Players Championship was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic so the defending champion is McIlroy who won the event in 2019.

But then there’s our second back-to-back winner possibility, Bryson DeChambeau at +1500. DeChambeau won last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational and is hitting his stride and a second straight victory is certainly not out of the question.

THE PLAYERS Championship Odds: 113 Tour Winners At TPC Sawgrass

Odds To Win The Players Championship From DraftKings

Big-Time Field Means Big-Time Payday

Many players will tell anyone and everyone that if they can’t win a major, this event is the next one they want to put on their resume. It’s that prestigious.

Plus the payouts don’t hurt either. The winner will pocket $2.7 million of the $15 million purse.

McIlroy Looking For That Little Spark

With that in mind, we’re leaning to McIlroy who knows a thing or two about winning big events as he’s won four majors in his PGA Tour career.

We’re leaning heavily on McIlroy to repeat this week for one simple fact: He’s on his game.

Since 2011 only 12 golfers have successfully defended their titles. One guy, Brooks Koepka, has done it twice.

This week we figure McIlroy has the drive and the momentum to join that elite group.

McIlroy tuned up for this event with a T-10 at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. But his game has been strong for most of 2021. He’s recorded six top 20s in his last seven events. His one non-top-20 was a missed cut at The Genesis Invitational. And, believe it or not, we’re looking at that MC as a positive.

It’s All About Focus

But there’s an even better sign that McIlroy is laser-focused because of what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Cue the ‘Jaws’ theme: It’s just about time for the Masters.

See, McIlroy is still haunted by the one that got away…the one he couldn’t land back in 2011 when he had a four-shot lead heading into Sunday at Augusta National.

Jon Rahm

We know…what does this have to do with the Tournament Players Championship?

Well, in a word, everything. See McIlroy was headed to unprecedented heights back in 2011 with, gasp, talk of Tiger Woods-like expectations.

But then came that fateful Sunday that stalled out his skyrocketing career as he carded an 80 and finished T-15. It didn’t derail the Irishman but it sure put a dent in the armor. He’s been battling back shot by shot, tournament by tournament, and win by win.

We’re thinking he is back focused on his game and winning this week is that next step.

The 17^th Hole Is The Star

TPC Sawgrass, the headliner in the TPC family of 32 courses, is highlighted by one of Pete Dye’s best innovations–the par-3 17^th hole and the island green. Well, if you want to get technical it was Pete’s wife, Alice, who actually came up with the idea of the island green but that’s a different story.

But, yes, that island green will again take center stage.

Plenty of tournaments have been won right here. Just ask Rickie Fowler. This is the site of the nine-time Tour winner’s most historic victory as he claimed the 2015 title.

He did it in style, winning in a playoff. And he did it with a birdie on that tough-as-nails 17^th. In fact, he birdied that hole five of the six times he played it that week…including both times in the playoff.

Don’t Forget About DeChambeau

DeChambeau is on quite the roll in this wraparound season. He won his first major, the 2020 U.S. Open. He also won last week so he’s used to dealing with stacked fields.

And this one is filled to the brim.

And for our third betting pick we’re going to look down the odds board at Jason Day at +5000. He won here in 2016 and was T-7 in 2019 and T-5 in 2018 so he knows his way around TPC Sawgrass.

• August 4, 2020
• By Matt Blunt
• VegasInsider.com

Weekly PGA
Picks & Predictions

Golf Major Betting Resources
2020 PGA Championship

It's the first Major of this unique 2020 season this week, as the Tour heads out west to San Francisco for the PGA Championship. It's a tournament where last week's runner-up Brooks Koepka, is the two-time defending champion of this event, and will amazingly have his second crack at three-peating as a Major champion in as many years.

His form at the St Jude was what many wanted to see from Koepka before pulling the trigger on him this week, and on a course where having length is definitely an advantage, Koepka's price (+1100) is only going to get shorter.

However, only one other player has had an opportunity to win three consecutive PGA Championships, and both times he had that opportunity, Tiger Woods came up short. In 2001 it was David Toms who thwarted Tiger's three-peat, and in 2008 it was Padraig Harrington.

There is a first time for everything I know, but Koepka's price, the history he's up against, and the idea that his T2 at St Jude was really thanks to a lights out Thursday (-8) and then holding in the pack shooting -2 total over the final three days, has me passing on him this week.

• Tour: PGA
• Date: Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020 to Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020
• Venue: TPC Harding Park
• Location:San Francisco, California
• Par-Yardage: 70, 7,235 yards
• TV: ESPN, CBS

The course is virtually identical in length to last week's trek at the St Jude, but there should be some drama on the Back 9 over the weekend. The 17th hole is a 250-yard Par 3 hole, that comes directly after a 340-yard, potentially driveable Par 4. Finish the round with the 510+ yard Par 4 18th hole and who knows what kind of numbers we could see from guys late.

Rough and fast greens are always going to be the main ways guys get in trouble at PGA Championships, and it will be interesting to see how many guys choose to dial it back at times just to keep things easier by being in play. It's not a foreign track to many of these guys either, as Rory McIlroy won the 2015 WGC Match Play here, and the USA won the 2009 President's Cup at this venue as well.

PGA Championship
Betting Odds

Only last week's winner Justin Thomas (+900) has better odds then the aforementioned Brooks Koepka (+1100), who are followed by Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm all at +1500. Xander Schauffele (+1800), Dustin Johnson (+2300), and Patrick Cantlay (+2500) are the only other names below 30-1, as it's in that group where Tiger Woods (+3300) and a host of other great names sit.

Interestingly enough, the fact that nobody in the stroke play era of the PGA Championship has ever three-peated as champion wasn't the only interesting historical note I came across this week.

• Brooks Koepka: +1000
• Justin Thomas: +1100
• Jon Rahm: +1400
• Rory McIlroy: +1400
• Bryson DeChambeau: +1600
• Dustin Johnson: +2000
• Xander Schauffele: +2000
• Webb Simpson: +2500
• Patrick Cantlay: +3000
• Collin Morikawa: +3300
• (Odds Subject to Change)

More recent history shows that each of the past eight PGA Champions, and nine of the past 10, have had a Top 18 finish or better in at least one of the two previous PGA Championships. In other words, Justin Thomas finished 18th at the PGA Championship in 2015, he then won it two years later. Each of the past eight champions can say the same. The only outlier in the bunch?

Keegan Bradley's 2011 PGA Championship win when that tournament was his first career Major of any kind.

There are some interesting names when you go back to consider this week when you go back and break down who finished 18th or better in the 2019 and 2018 PGA Championships, and it was a nice way to break down the field. But that breakdown also includes Koepka three-peating as a potential outcome too, so I guess we will see if any of these historical runs hold up for another year.

Golfers to Watch - TPC Harding Park
Top Picks and Predictions

Contender to Back
PGA Championship

Xander Schauffele +1800

Schauffele's seemingly taken all the right steps upward throughout his young career so far, as he's won, and won big events, but just not that Major yet. With three rounds of 68 or better, and no rounds over par at the St Jude last week, that's an example of what I mean when one scorching hot day didn't carry the result, and that form is just something I prefer.

No previous experience at this track may hurt him slightly, but it will be so negligible relative to his talent that it shouldn't take but a solid week of practice to feel comfortable. Five Top 20's in six starts over the past two months, and three Top 14's in his last three outings overall should bring no concerns in form either.

The fact that Xander has beaten quality, deep fields like this in the past tells you he knows what to do late if he's there, and winning a Major is that ultimate next step he's got to take in his career. I believe that if you were to put odds on which Major Xander would win first assuming you knew he got at least one, the PGA Championship would likely be one of the top two favorites no matter where it's held. Why not a PGA Championship in his home state of California, when he's playing some of his most consistent and best golf of his career?

Mid-Range Value
PGA Championship

Gary Woodland +5000

Woodland is one of six names in the field this week that has actually finished in the Top 18 in each of the past two PGA Championships, although there is no correlation to those guys being more likely to win in that historical run.

But Woodland actually has two Top-8's at this event the past two years, and it was just a month later after last year's 8th place finish that he broke through and won the US Open. Knowing he has that ability can be huge down the stretch, and while his finishes have been going the wrong way his last three starts, he's still gaining strokes on the field in putting every week. A steady putter will take guys a long way in a Major championship.

If Woodland spends too much time around the green his outright's take a hit, but the approach game is still relatively dialed in if you look at every event he's played in 2020, and he's never lost strokes to the field in approach in two consecutive weeks during that time. He lost strokes last week at the St Jude.

Therefore, the confidence is there that Woodland should be able to turn that part of his game around at a place he does actually have great memories of. He finished 2nd to Rory in that 2015 WGC Match Play event at Harding Park. Dial things back to the way they were that week, with the head on his shoulders he's got now, and Woodland could have his second Major title in as many seasons this week.

Long Shot Pick
PGA Championship

Chez Reavie +10000

Reavie is another one of those six players to have a Top 18 finish at this tournament each of the past two years (T14 in 2019, T12 in 2018), and he's just quietly gone about his business since the restart. In Reavie's last five starts starting with last week, he's finished 6th, 22nd, 17th, 46th, and 74th. That's not bad at all and clearly trending in the direction you'd want a 100-1 shot to be. And that 22nd at the Memorial could have been much better had he not shot 79 on a final Sunday that was still one of the worst scores on a day where nobody put up pretty numbers.

Furthermore, he's done nothing but stripe the ball relative to the field in recent weeks - +2.10 SG: Approach last week – and is just at the mercy of how good he's rolling the ball with the putter. If that's the biggest concern for a guy that's playing well and sits at this price, I'll gladly take on that risk.

Top Props & Matchup Wagers
PGA Championship

72 Hole Matchup to Take
PGA Championship

Shane Lowry (-112) over Justin Rose

Might as well keep the theme going of backing these recent Top 18 finishers, as Lowry is another one of those six names to do it each of the past two years. Like Woodland, Lowry is another guy that found a way to break through on the biggest stage last year (British Open) and from a mental/confidence perspective that's always only a plus. But this play is more about fading Justin Rose and his play of three straight missed cuts of late.

Statistically, Rose isn't doing a whole lot of things all that well right now, and if the approach game waivers, that's when those awful weeks come about. He didn't particularly like his stay here in 2015 where he failed to get out of the group stage, and ultimately, there has been nothing he's shown lately that suggests he's anything but a fade this week.

Top 40 Finish – Yes
PGA Championship

Adam Scott +100
Jordan Spieth +100

Had Scott shown anything in competition prior to this being his first event since the restart, outright futures would have been more strongly considered. But the unknown (on the handicapping end at least) of the shape of his game has taking the cushion with placing in this prop the more desired way to support him this week.

Scott is the fourth name of six to have consecutive Top 18 finishes in the PGA the past two years to appear in this piece, and like Rose, he played here in 2015 but failed to get out of the group stage. But when ball striking is highly important, Scott's name is always one to at least glance at, scenarios working against him or not.

He's been around long enough that the break shouldn't bring too much rust, and trusting him to make the weekend and go from there for even money isn't the worst option out there.

Spieth is the final name to have Top 18 finishes here the past two years (Koepka would be the 6th), and he's actually shown some positive things in his game from top to bottom the past couple of starts. He's gained strokes on the field in every category but off the tee the past two starts, and those have been some quality-laced fields themselves (Memorial and St Jude).

He's another guy that it wouldn't surprise me if he finished outside the Top 40 this week, but at the same time he's done enough recently where wanting to kick yourself becomes an option on Monday if you don't take him at even money to finish in the Top 40. If Spieth keeps things in play off the tee, his advantages in the rest of his game should pay off enough to reach this spot.

PGA Championship
Betting History

Recent Winners (Odds to win)

• 2019 - Brooks Koepka (10/1)
• 2018 - Brooks Koepka (18/1)
• 2017 - Justin Thomas (35/1)
• 2016 - Jimmy Walker (125/1)
• 2015 - Jason Day (12/1)

Brooks Koepka captured the 2019 PGA Championship at the infamous 'Black Course' at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York on Long Island. Koepka entered the tournament as the defending champion and he posted a wire-to-wire victory with a score of 8-under.

Koepka joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win back-to-back titles in that major. Most sportsbooks had Koepka listed as the 10/1 co-favorite (Bet $100 to win $1,000) to win the 2019 PGA Championship.

How to Bet on Golf

Golf betting has gained much more exposure and interest in the past few years, and with plenty of plus-money prices littered throughout the various forms of golf wagers, the chance for bigger scores is part of the reason behind that increased popularity.

Sportsbooks ensure that there are no shortage of wagering options on golf tournaments every week, and it isn't all about picking the winner. Grabbing the outright winner of a golf tournament is the best way to get that 'big score' but it's also the hardest wager to cash. After all, a typical professional golf tournament has a field of 140+ different players to consider.

Understanding Golf Odds and Bets

Most golf odds are listed in the fractional format – 10/1 on Dustin Johnson for example – and in that particular case you would multiply the amount bet by that first number to project your winnings. So a $100 bet on DJ to win that particular event would win you $1000.

If you are more comfortable with the American version of odds listings that you typically see across the other major North American sports – ie +1000 – these numbers are easily convertible. Online and app based books may already have that option built in, but the easiest way to do it yourself is to add two zeros to the first number in the fraction. So a 10/1 price on DJ converts to +1000 in that format.