Whether it was a little gamesmanship or an earnest opinion (probably the latter), Jordan Spieth said on Sunday that Rory McIlroy is “probably the guy to beat” at the PGA Championship. So much of the hype will be surrounding Spieth, who has a chance at becoming the youngest ever to complete the career grand slam, which immediately took over as the topic of discussion after he hoisted the Claret Jug two weeks ago. Quail Hollow may favor the biggest hitters on Tour, but given Spieth’s form and what we just watched at The Open, it’s hard to envision him not getting in the mix in Charlotte.
PGA Championship odds 2017: Rory McIlroy edges Jordan Spieth as favorite at Quail Hollow
Until the balls are in the air on Thursday, the 99th PGA is going to be a lot of Rory vs. Jordan hype.
But Spieth was correct in his prediction, if you count the oddsmakers as corroboration. Rory McIlroy is the very slight favorite to win his fifth major championship, coming in at 7/1 at the top of PGA Championship week. Spieth, who was a co-favorite with Rory right after the British Open, is right behind him at 8/1.
So why Rory and not the guy who just won and is on the verge of history? Rory has owned this course over the course of his career. Quail Hollow is an annual stop on the PGA Tour’s regular season for the Wells Fargo Championship. Rory has won that event twice, lost once in a playoff, finished in the top 10 a bunch, and holds the course record. The PGA of America bringing a major to the venue has had Rory licking his chops all year and it’s a natural fit that he’s the favorite. You’ll hear all about his track record at Quail this week and his attempt to block Spieth from achieving the career slam before he can get his own chance again at Augusta next April.
Spieth is not exactly chopped liver though, and he and McIlroy have separated themselves a bit from the rest of the pack. By Thursday morning, he may be back to a co-favorite. Either way, this week leading into the first round will have a Rory vs. Jordan dynamic with the career slam in play and the personal history here for McIlroy.
After Spieth and McIlroy comes world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who is 12/1 to win his second career major. DJ hasn’t been the same player since his tumble at the Masters, struggling to find the form that made him so dominant throughout the first quarter of the year and put him firmly in that spot atop the world rankings. But as noted above, this is an enormous setup with multiple par-4s over 500 yards and big par-5s that will accentuate the advantage the biggest hitters have off the tee. DJ, as maybe the best driver in the world, obviously has that advantage along with McIlroy. So maybe this is a week where he’s back among the top five on the leaderboard and contending at the finish on Sunday.
The PGA often gets poked as the “fourth major” and the least prestigious in men’s golf. It may not have the instantly recognizable identity of the other three, but it’s been a great event in recent years (save for last year’s Baltusrol bore). This may be one of the most hyped PGAs we’ve ever had. Here are your odds to win at the start of the week (via GolfOdds.com):
2017 PGA Championship Odds.csv
Player | Odds to Win |
|---|---|
| Rory McIlroy | 7/1 |
| Jordan Spieth | 8/1 |
| Dustin Johnson | 12/1 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 12/1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 15/1 |
| Jon Rahm | 20/1 |
| Jason Day | 25/1 |
| Brooks Koepka | 25/1 |
| Justin Rose | 30/1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 35/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 35/1 |
| Adam Scott | 35/1 |
| Justin Thomas | 35/1 |
| Paul Casey | 40/1 |
| Thomas Pieters | 40/1 |
| Phil Mickelson | 50/1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 50/1 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 50/1 |
| Branden Grace | 50/1 |
| Charley Hoffman | 50/1 |
| Alex Noren | 60/1 |
| Patrick Reed | 60/1 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 60/1 |
| Marc Leishman | 60/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 60/1 |
| Daniel Berger | 60/1 |
| Zach Johnson | 60/1 |
| Rafael Cabrera Bello | 80/1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 80/1 |
| Kevin Kisner | 80/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 80/1 |
| Ian Poulter | 80/1 |
| J.B. Holmes | 80/1 |
| Kevin Chappell | 80/1 |
| Jimmy Walker | 100/1 |
| Brian Harman | 100/1 |
| Tony Finau | 100/1 |
| Xander Schauffele | 100/1 |
| Gary Woodland | 100/1 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 125/1 |
| Lee Westwood | 125/1 |
| Francesco Molinari | 125/1 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | 125/1 |
| Bill Haas | 125/1 |
| Russell Henley | 125/1 |
| Webb Simpson | 125/1 |
| Adam Hadwin | 125/1 |
| Shane Lowry | 150/1 |
| Ryan Moore | 150/1 |
| Si Woo Kim | 150/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 150/1 |
| Patrick Cantlay | 150/1 |
| Haotong Li | 150/1 |
| Steve Stricker | 150/1 |
| Ross Fisher | 150/1 |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 150/1 |
| Kyle Stanley | 150/1 |
| Jamie Lovemark | 150/1 |
| Russell Knox | 150/1 |
| Brendan Steele | 150/1 |
| Peter Uihlein | 150/1 |
| Jhonattan Vegas | 150/1 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 200/1 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 200/1 |
| Byeong Hun An | 200/1 |
| Chris Wood | 200/1 |
| Emiliano Grillo | 200/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 200/1 |
| David Lingmerth | 200/1 |
| Andy Sullivan | 200/1 |
| Pat Perez | 200/1 |
| Billy Horschel | 200/1 |
| Wesley Bryan | 200/1 |
| Danny Lee | 200/1 |
| Patrick Rodgers | 200/1 |
| William McGirt | 200/1 |
| Kevin Na | 200/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 200/1 |
| Bud Cauley | 200/1 |
| Lucas Glover | 200/1 |
| Sean O'Hair | 200/1 |
| James Hahn | 200/1 |
| Grayson Murray | 200/1 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 200/1 |
| Cameron Smith | 250/1 |
| Graeme McDowell | 250/1 |
| Padraig Harrington | 250/1 |
| Hideto Tanihara | 250/1 |
| Daniel Summerhays | 250/1 |
| Sung Kang | 250/1 |
| Hudson Swafford | 250/1 |
| Martin Laird | 250/1 |
| Robert Streb | 250/1 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 250/1 |
| Jonas Blixt | 250/1 |
| Luke List | 250/1 |
| Andrew Johnston | 250/1 |
| Soren Kjeldsen | 250/1 |
| Luke Donald | 250/1 |
| Alexander Levy | 250/1 |
| Ryan Fox | 250/1 |
| Jordan Smith | 250/1 |
| Jason Kokrak | 250/1 |
| Nicolas Colsaerts | 250/1 |
| Graham DeLaet | 250/1 |
| Scott Hend | 250/1 |
| Mackenzie Hughes | 300/1 |
| Kelly Kraft | 300/1 |
| Scott Brown | 300/1 |
| Chez Reavie | 300/1 |
| Dylan Frittelli | 300/1 |
| Ernie Els | 300/1 |
| Pablo Larrazabal | 300/1 |
| Jeunghun Wang | 300/1 |
| Joost Luiten | 300/1 |
| Danny Willett | 500/1 |
| Cody Gribble | 500/1 |
| Rod Pampling | 500/1 |
| D.A. Points | 500/1 |
| Davis Love III | 500/1 |
| Vijay Singh | 500/1 |
| Y.E. Yang | 500/1 |
| Brandon Stone | 500/1 |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 500/1 |
| Richar Sterne | 500/1 |
| Younghan Song | 500/1 |
| Kyung-Tae Kim | 500/1 |
| Satoshi Kodaira | 500/1 |
| Yuta Ikeda | 500/1 |
| Fabrizio Zanotti | 500/1 |
| Jim Herman | 500/1 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 500/1 |
| Matt Dobyns | 1000/1 |
| John Daly | 1000/1 |
| Paul Claxton | 1000/1 |
| Rich Beem | 2000/1 |
| Shaun Micheel | 2000/1 |
| Stuart Deane | 2000/1 |
| Rod Perry | 2000/1 |
| Rich Berberian, Jr | 2000/1 |
| Omar Uresti | 2000/1 |
| David Muttitt | 2000/1 |
| Adam Rainaud | 2000/1 |
| Jamie Broce | 2000/1 |
| Dave McNabb | 2000/1 |
| Mike Small | 2000/1 |
| Jaysen Hansen | 2000/1 |
| Chris Moody | 2000/1 |
| J.J. Wood | 2000/1 |
| Alex Beach | 2000/1 |
| Scott Hebert | 2000/1 |
| Brian Smock | 2000/1 |
| Kenny Pigman | 2000/1 |
| Greg Gregory | 2000/1 |
| Ryan Vermeer | 2000/1 |
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