The 2022 PGA Championship returns to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, OK for the fifth time in tournament history and the club’s eighth major championship. The second major tournament will showcase arguably the strongest field of the four majors. Tournament play begins on May 19th with the winner hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday, May 22nd. Let’s have a look at what should we expect for the upcoming tournament so you can plan your bets against the PGA Championship Odds.
2022 PGA Championship: What to Expect and Golf Betting Opportunities
2021 PGA Championship Recap
Phil Mickelson is expected to return to defend his title after missing the Masters and not teeing it up since the Farmers Insurance Open in January. Mickelson became the oldest player to win a major at 50 years old, besting Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes.
About Southern Hills Country Club
The club is a private golf course that was established in 1936. The course stretches 7,556 yards and plays as a par-70. When the last major tournament was hosted here (2007), the layout measured 7,131 yards.
Perry Maxwell designed the Championship Course with a restoration done by Gil Hanse in 2019 to reflect Maxwell’s original design. Many of the trees that grew from the time the course was opened have been eliminated, creating spacious fairways just like 1936. The newly revised layout will require golfers to have second-shot precision with perimeter hole locations.
Hitting the center of the green and trusting the putter is a fine strategy with the small greens and tight pin locations. Players can expect contouring around the green complexes, adding another wrinkle to the approach shots. Shooting a level even-par is not going to hurt you like it might have in past PGA Championships.
Betting Opportunities
When Tiger Woods won the last title held here in 2007, he kept the driver in the bag for most of the tournament due to the existence of narrow fairways throughout the course. Those fairways have been widened, so accuracy off the tee won’t be as important as it was 15 years ago.
Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and Proximity to Hole will be two key statistics heading into the tournament. Players with accuracy from the fairway will have a leg-up on their fellow competitors. Like any major golf tournament, the short-game has a profound effect on the outcome and this tournament will be no different.
Players to Target
Scottie Scheffler (+1200) – The No. 1 ranked player in the world picked up his first major victory at Augusta National in April. No one has been hotter than Scheffler over the last six months, and the 25-year-old has a pair of top-10 finishes (T4, T8) in two appearances at the PGA Championship.
Shane Lowry (+3500) – Lowry has the iron game you are looking for to win at this venue. The 2019 Open Champion ranks 5th in SG: Approach and heads into May with three-straight T3s, including at the Masters.
Billy Horschel (+8000) – A darkhorse bet, Horschel is a magician with the putter, ranking tenth in SG: Putting. The six-time PGA Tour winner is still searching for his first major title, but his game is trending up with four top-10 finishes this season.