Tiger Woods will always be the favorite. This should never surprise you or catch you off-guard. He is the public face of golf, and regardless of whatever form he’s in, the oddsmakers will put him up top as the betting favorite. But the Tiger Woods who’s won five times in a season, including by seven strokes the previous week, is going to be in a separate class when it comes to setting the lines. And much like the season’s first three majors, Tiger is an overwhelming favorite, and barring a meltdown early, he’ll probably stay that way until the weekend. He begins the week at 7/2.
PGA Championship odds: Rory McIlroy drops, Tiger Woods overwhelming favorite
The top three players in the world start the season’s final major with their games in completely different places.
Stuart Franklin
The No. 2 player in the world, Phil Mickelson, is trying to double up at the majors this season and win his sixth at another one of the world’s classic layouts. Mickelson’s second place at Merion, his sixth runner-up at the U.S. Open, was probably the toughest loss of his career. But he then followed that up with two wins in Scotland, including what he called the biggest accomplishment of his golfing life, the 66 on Sunday at Muirfield that sealed up an elusive British Open. Mickelson emphatically stated after that victory that he’s playing the best golf of his life, adding to the narrative earlier that week when he indicated he had found his “secret” to putting. Phil was spotty last week in Akron, but he’ll be in the hunt this week and is 14/1.
Rory McIlroy, the No. 3 player in the world and the defending champion at this event, is down the board a bit at 28/1. It was McIroy, and not Mickelson, who was the one trying to chase down Tiger at the first couple majors this season. But the Northern Irishman has never been comfortable, missing it both ways off the tee, taking incoming fire about his equipment switch to Nike as well as his dating life, and simply not contending at any of the biggest events. It’s unlikely Rory finds it this week, but he has the talent to put it together for four days and he did seem encouraged by some stretches at Firestone. There are still, however, plenty of better options among the 20 or 25 other names around him.
Here are the odds with a little more than a day to go. Former PGA champs Rich Beem and Mark Brooks aren’t getting much love, down with all the club pro qualifiers at 1000/1.
| Player | Odds |
| Tiger Woods | 7/2 |
| Phil Mickelson | 14/1 |
| Adam Scott | 16/1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 25/1 |
| Justin Rose | 25/1 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 28/1 |
| Rory McIlroy | 28/1 |
| Hunter Mahan | 33/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 33/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 33/1 |
| Lee Westwood | 33/1 |
| Luke Donald | 33/1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 33/1 |
| Dustin Johnson | 40/1 |
| Zach Johnson | 40/1 |
| Bill Haas | 50/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 50/1 |
| Jason Day | 50/1 |
| Martin Kaymer | 50/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 50/1 |
| Steve Stricker | 50/1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 55/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 60/1 |
| Ian Poulter | 60/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 66/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 66/1 |
| Angel Cabrera | 80/1 |
| Jordan Spieth | 80/1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 80/1 |
| Ernie Els | 100/1 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 100/1 |
| Ryan Moore | 100/1 |
| Billy Horschel | 125/1 |
| Chris Kirk | 125/1 |
| Harris English | 125/1 |
| Nick Watney | 125/1 |
| Padraig Harrington | 125/1 |
| Paul Casey | 125/1 |
| Peter Hanson | 125/1 |
| Richard Sterne | 125/1 |
| Ryan Palmer | 125/1 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 150/1 |
| Branden Grace | 150/1 |
| Carl Pettersson | 150/1 |
| Francesco Molinari | 150/1 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 150/1 |
| Gary Woodland | 150/1 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 150/1 |
| George Coetzee | 150/1 |
| Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | 150/1 |
| Graham Delaet | 150/1 |
| Jamie Donaldson | 150/1 |
| John Senden | 150/1 |
| Jonas Blixt | 150/1 |
| K.J. Choi | 150/1 |
| Kevin Chappell | 150/1 |
| Kevin Streelman | 150/1 |
| Kyle Stanley | 150/1 |
| Martin Laird | 150/1 |
| Matteo Manassero | 150/1 |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | 150/1 |
| Nicolas Colsaerts | 150/1 |
| Robert Garrigus | 150/1 |
| Russell Henley | 150/1 |
| Stewart Cink | 150/1 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 150/1 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 150/1 |
| Tim Clark | 150/1 |
| Alexander Noren | 200/1 |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 200/1 |
| Boo Weekley | 200/1 |
| Brendon De Jonge | 200/1 |
| Brooks Koepka | 200/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 200/1 |
| Charley Hoffman | 200/1 |
| Chris Stroud | 200/1 |
| Chris Wood | 200/1 |
| David Lingmerth | 200/1 |
| David Lynn | 200/1 |
| David Toms | 200/1 |
| Davis Love III | 200/1 |
| John Merrick | 200/1 |
| Josh Teater | 200/1 |
| Ken Duke | 200/1 |
| Marc Leishman | 200/1 |
| Marcel Siem | 200/1 |
| Paul Lawrie | 200/1 |
| Peter Uihlein | 200/1 |
| Roberto Castro | 200/1 |
| Scott Piercy | 200/1 |
| Scott Stallings | 200/1 |
| Shane Lowry | 200/1 |
| Stephen Gallacher | 200/1 |
| Yong-Eun Yang | 200/1 |
| Ben Curtis | 250/1 |
| Brian Gay | 250/1 |
| D-A Points | 250/1 |
| David Hearn | 250/1 |
| Jason Kokrak | 250/1 |
| Jimmy Walker | 250/1 |
| John Huh | 250/1 |
| Joost Luiten | 250/1 |
| Luke Guthrie | 250/1 |
| Michael - H Thompson | 250/1 |
| Mikko Ilonen | 250/1 |
| Rafael Cabrera -Bello | 250/1 |
| Richie Ramsay | 250/1 |
| Sang Moon Bae | 250/1 |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 250/1 |
| Vijay Singh | 250/1 |
| Brett Rumford | 300/1 |
| Danny Willett | 300/1 |
| Darren Clarke | 300/1 |
| Kevin Stadler | 300/1 |
| Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 300/1 |
| Lucas Glover | 300/1 |
| Marc Warren | 300/1 |
| Marcus Fraser | 300/1 |
| Matt Every | 300/1 |
| Pablo Larrazabal | 300/1 |
| Ryo Ishikawa | 300/1 |
| Scott Jamieson | 300/1 |
| Woody Austin | 300/1 |
| Brendan Jones | 500/1 |
| Charlie Beljan | 500/1 |
| Derek Ernst | 500/1 |
| Hiroyuki Fujita | 500/1 |
| Jaco Van Zyl | 500/1 |
| Paul McGinley | 500/1 |
| Scott Brown | 500/1 |
| Shaun Micheel | 500/1 |
| Tom Watson | 500/1 |
| Tommy Gainey | 500/1 |
| Bob Gaus | 1000/1 |
| Bob Sowards | 1000/1 |
| Caine Fitzgerald | 1000/1 |
| Chip Sullivan | 1000/1 |
| Daniel Balin | 1000/1 |
| David McNabb | 1000/1 |
| David Muttitt | 1000/1 |
| J.C Anderson | 1000/1 |
| Jeff Martin | 1000/1 |
| Jeff Sorenson | 1000/1 |
| Kirk Hanefield | 1000/1 |
| Kohki Idoki | 1000/1 |
| Lee Rhind | 1000/1 |
| Mark Brooks | 1000/1 |
| Mark Brown | 1000/1 |
| Mark Sheftic | 1000/1 |
| Mike Small | 1000/1 |
| Rich Beem | 1000/1 |
| Rob Labritz | 1000/1 |
| Rod Perry | 1000/1 |
| Ryan Polzin | 1000/1 |
| Sonny Skinner | 1000/1 |
| Stuart Smith | 1000/1 |
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