Blake Davis
The man who donned the green jacket is the man to beat at the 2024 PGA Championship. Scottie Scheffler heads into the season’s second major championship as the favorite to lift the Wanamaker Trophy, all while talks about a Grand Slam bid swirl by number 1 in the world.
Scheffler comes to Valhalla Golf Club as a winner in four of his last five tournaments, including the last two, the latest coming the week after the Masters at the RBC Heritage. Scheffler has not been seen since as he took care of family matters and the birth of his first child.
Competitive rust is highly unlikely, but if Scheffler is even a little off, it opens the door for others to come through. No one else has a better chance of getting into Brooks Koepka’s winner’s circle. The defending PGA champion is seeking his third successful defense of a major and will attempt to win his sixth title at Valhalla. A win would put Koepka alongside football legends like Phil Mickelson, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo in terms of major titles.
Someone who can tie Koepka is the man who hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy the last time this major tournament was played in Louisville. Rory McIlroy, fresh off his fourth career win at Quail Hollow and back-to-back wins overall (Zurich Classic, alongside Shane Lowry), is getting into form at the right time. Now, 10 years after his last major victory, McIlroy hopes to re-enter the winner’s circle on the main stage, at the site of his last victory.
Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele and a host of others are among the likely candidates to compete this week in the Bluegrass State. Let’s take a look.
2024 PGA Championship Odds, Favorites
In his 15 major starts since the start of 2020, Scheffler has recorded two wins and eight other top-10 finishes. Two of those came at the PGA Championship, where he finished T4 at Harding Park and runner-up last season at Oak Hill after holding the lead at the halfway point. There may be nothing that can stop him at the moment, although the last time he won the Masters he missed the cut when the PGA was played at Southern Hills.
- Rory McIlroy: 7-1
- Brooks Koepka: 12-1
- John Rahm: 16-1
- Xander Schauffele: 16-1
- Ludvig Aberg: 16-1
Do you want the guy who won the last PGA Championship or the guy who won the last PGA Championship at Valhalla? Koepka reaches his title defense after a victory at LIV Golf, apparently pushing the start of the season forward, putting his problems behind him. He is a tough defender and has entered the final round of every PGA Championship since 2018 with a chance to win – if you remove the 2022 tournament where he was injured.
As for McIlroy, he has turned a corner since the Masters, with his driver peaking and his iron game following suit. His major championship record since the start of 2022 has been excellent, with three podiums and four other top 10s, including a pair at the last two PGAs. Oh, and the last time he won three in a row was 2014, with the PGA Championship at Valhalla serving as his third victory.
- Bryson DeChambeau: 22-1
- Colin Morikawa: 22-1
- Maximum Homa: 30-1
- Joaquín Niemann: 33-1
- Cameron Smith: 35-1
- Viktor Hovland: 35-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 35-1
- Wyndham Clark: 40-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 40-1
- Justin Thomas: 40-1
- Cameron Young: 40-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 45-1
Almost every player in this group is capable of winning a major championship, but who can you trust? Was it DeChambeau who took first-round leads at last year’s Masters and PGA Championship en route to quality results? Maybe it’s Clark, who despite his boom-or-bust nature, has played in some of golf’s biggest tournaments this season and has proven he’s not afraid of the spotlight.
- Will Zalatoris: 55-1
- Jason Day: 55-1
- Dustin Johnson: 60-1
- Jordan Spieth: 60-1
- Tyrrell Hatton: 60-1
- Sungjae Im: 65-1
- Min Woo Lee: 65-1
- Byeong Hun An: 70-1
- Sahith Theegala: 70-1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 70-1
- Tony Finau: 80-1
- Talor Gooch: 90-1
- Sam Burns: 90-1
- Shane Lowry: 90-1
Spieth is the star of this crop looking for the grand slam of his career at a time when expectations may never be lower. He has struggled with his game since late winter, with four missed cuts and one disqualification in his last nine matches. Spieth’s iron play has been poor and his wrist injury is concerning. Speaking of injuries, Zalatoris could be ready for remote selection if everything falls in his favor. In 10 majors as a professional, he has achieved three runner-up finishes and another four top-10 finishes.
- Corey Conners: 100-1
- Sepp Straka: 110-1
- Si Woo Kim: 120-1
- Adam Scott: 120-1
- Russell Henley: 120-1
- Tom Kim: 120-1
- Dean Burmester: 150-1
- Rickie Fowler: 150-1
- Alex Noren: 150-1
- Akshay Bhatia: 150-1
- Brian Harman: 150-1
- Nicolai Hojgaard: 150-1
- Patrick Reed: 150-1
There is a player here who has made nine consecutive major cuts and scored his 41st consecutive major this week. That player is Reed. The former Masters champion has an excellent major championship resume with a T4 at last year’s Masters and a T18 at Oak Hill. He will need to drive the ball well by his standards, but Reed continues to possess some of the best hands in golf that should come in handy in Valhalla.
- Stephan Jaeger: 170-1
- Denny McCarthy: 170-1
- Tiger Woods: 170-1
- Keith Mitchell: 200-1
- Cam Davis: 200-1
- Christian Bezuidenhout: 200-1
- Jake Knapp: 220-1
- Poston: 220-1
- Harris English: 220-1
- Billy Horschel: 220-1
- Tom Hoge: 250-1
- Lucas Herbert: 250-1
- Mackenzie Hughes: 250-1
- Chris Kirk: 250-1
- Kurt Kitayama: 250-1
- Phil Mickelson: 250-1
