With the year’s second major taking place this week, the SB Nation golf staff at Playing Through has picked who will win the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club:
Playing Through: SB Nation staff reveals PGA Championship predictions
The season’s second major is upon us, with the 105th PGA Championship being held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.
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Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Kendall Capps, Editor
I’m taking Collin Morikawa to win his third major championship. He has such terrific ball striking and consistent iron play; Oak Hill seems like a course that will suit him well. He ranks fourth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaching the green and third in driving accuracy.
Morikawa puts himself in a position to hit good iron shots from the fairway, which is the key to success this week. If he can perform with his putter, watch out for the 2020 PGA Champion.
Luke Robitaille, Producer
Jon Rahm said this course feels like the ones he grew up playing. He also said it feels much like Torrey Pines, and we all know what happened there.
Rahm will win his first PGA Championship, now needing just the Claret Jug to complete the career grand slam. The Spaniard is having a historic season. He ranks first in strokes gained overall, scoring average, and birdies made, and first in the FedEx Cup and OWGR standings.
Savannah Richardson, Staff Writer
Brooks Koepka is my pick, as I am going with a LIV guy to shake it up. After seeing how he played at Augusta, it’s hard to bet against him. If he is in major Brooks form, it’ll be hard to keep him from winning his third Wanamaker Trophy. Numerous players and pundits have compared Oak Hill East to Bethpage Black, and we saw Koepka eviscerate the famous Long Island track four years ago. If Koepka keeps the ball in the fairway and makes some putts, he will be there on Sunday.
Jack Milko, Staff Writer
Great ball strikers win at Oak Hill, so I am picking Tony Finau to win his first major championship in Western New York. He ranks first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaching the green while ranking third in strokes gained tee to green.
Finau has had a terrific 2023: he won the Mexico Open and has yet to miss a cut. His worst finish this calendar year came at Harbour Town, where he tied for 31st. He is due for a major championship breakthrough and similar to what Lee Trevino did in 1968 at Oak Hill, Finau wins his biggest tournament yet.
