The second Major of the year tees off on Thursday, as the game's great and good gather for the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania.
After Rory McIlroy claimed another Green Jacket by winning last month’s Masters at Augusta, the biggest names in golf reconvene at Aronimink Golf Club this week for the second Major of the year, the PGA Championship, which starts on Thursday.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is the favourite and claimed a six-shot win at Quail Hollow last year, so all the hopefuls will know that a fast start will be essential if they are to give themselves a chance of winning the Wanamaker Trophy.
In this article, we have selected three players to consider in the golf betting market for the first-round leader.
Young now a Major player
Cameron Young has risen to third in the world rankings behind Scheffler and McIlroy, and a Major victory looks the next attainable step for a player who has really pushed on in the last nine months.
Young claimed his first PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship in August and that has been a catalyst in him becoming one of the game’s top performers as he added the illustrious Players Championship to his collection in March.
From a first-round-leader-betting perspective, you only have to go back two weeks to the Cadillac Championship when he opened with a 64 on his way to a six-shot victory.
So the recipe is there for a player who averages 69.1 per opening round and another blistering start cannot be ruled out.
Tip 1: Cameron Young @ 22/1
Fitzpatrick a man in form
Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the 2022 US Open, has already had a year to remember and he should be champing at the bit to get off to a good start following a 74 in the opening round of last week’s Truist Championship.
He was 52nd at the end of that tournament, but it came after a run of three victories in five appearances, and it would not take him long to get back into the groove.
The Sheffield swinger averages 69.4 in opening rounds and with his confidence levels going through the roof, expect him to feature prominently on the opening day.
Tip 2: Matt Fitzpatrick @ 33/1
Chris has clearly Gott something
Chris Gotterup has had an excellent 12 months and while he missed the cut on his only previous US PGA appearance two years ago at Valhalla, he is a much-improved player as he goes into battle this week.
His third place at The Open at Royal Portrush shows he believes he can mix it in illustrious company and he built on that performance by winning the Sony Open and the Phoenix Open since the turn of the year.
His strong opening rounds have also been notable as he stands second in the first-round scoring statistics with an average opening score of 68.67 this year, so don’t be surprised if he features prominently in the early scoring at Aronimink this week.
Tip 3: Chris Gotterup @ 50/1
