The PGA Championship was at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, in 2013. And a number of golfers in the field this week played in that event a decade ago. But not one data point from that event, and those golfers, is valuable in 2023.
“Basically, the only thing that’s the same is that it’s a par-70,” said Jason Ballad, Oak Hill’s head golf professional. “We’ve redone pretty much the whole golf course. All of the green complexes have been rebuilt. Every single bunker has been rebuilt.“
“We’re excited to debut the golf course to the world.”
Note his use of the word “debut” when talking about a course that has been around for more than a century and has hosted the PGA Championship three times, the U.S. Open three times, and the Ryder Cup in 1995.
This old golf course is brand new.
Favorites to Win PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm (+750)
- Scottie Scheffler (+750)
- Rory McIlroy (+1300)
- Xander Schauffele (+1700)
- Patrick Cantlay (+2000)
- Brooks Koepka (+2100)
- Tony Finau (+2100)
- Dustin Johnson (+2400)
- Justin Thomas (+2900)
- Jason Day (+2900)
It’s not a fun or sexy pick to go with Jon Rahm, but it is probably the smartest pick. He has four wins in 12 events this year, and eight times he has finished in the top 10. He wins on tough courses like Oak Hill, and he wins in majors, as he just did at the Masters.
All of the hyperbole around Rahm is true of Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 2 ranked player. He also wins on tough courses, and he wins at majors. He won the PGA Championship in 2020, The Open Championship in 2021, and both the Masters and U.S. Open in 2022. He won The Players Championship in March, and he’s a good bet to win at least one major for a fourth straight year.
Rory McIlroy was at the previous PGA Championship at Oak Hill, finishing T8 at 3-under par. He was the PGA’s defending champion in 2013, he won it again in 2014, and he also won The Open Championship that year. But that was the last time that McIlroy tasted victory at a major. He finished 2022 as the world’s No. 1 ranked golfer, but he missed the cut at Augusta in April.
Outside of the big three are a number of other solid betting choices. Justin Thomas is the defending champion at the event, staging a seven-stroke comeback to win it in 2022. But he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since then.
Brooks Koepka nearly won the Masters a month ago, he’s won two of the last five PGA Championships, and he would undoubtedly be ranked in the top five in the world if he hadn’t moved to the LIV Tour.
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