Winning a major championship is a defining moment in any golfer's career. Many players will seek their first major title at TPC Harding Park starting Thursday at the 2020 PGA Championship. Bryson DeChambeau has the shortest odds of any player without a major title at 11-1, while Jon Rahm (14-1), Xander Schauffele (22-1) and Patrick Cantlay (24-1) are all exciting young pros gunning for their first major victory. Which players in the 2020 PGA Championship field should you target?
Brooks Koepka (10-1), Justin Thomas (10-1), Rory McIlroy (14-1), Dustin Johnson (20-1) and Tiger Woods (22-1) are among the favorites to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy, according to oddsmakers from William Hill. Other past major champions like Jason Day (40-1), Patrick Reed (45-1) and Jordan Spieth (50-1) will also try to add to their collection when the first 2020 PGA Championship tee times begin at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday. Before locking in your 2020 PGA Championship picks or entering any PGA DFS tournaments on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been on fire since the return of the PGA Tour in June. In fact, it's up over $9,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament. At the 3M Open, McClure's best bets returned a whopping $1,100 as he nailed a top-five pick on Max Homa (+1200) and a top-20 pick on Talor Gooch (+400).
At the Memorial Tournament, McClure used the model to identify winner Jon Rahm (22-1) as one of his best bets from the start. It also had him as the projected winner heading into the weekend. The model was also all over long shot winner Collin Morikawa at the Workday Charity Open. It identified him as a top contender from the start despite his long odds and McClure recommended an outright bet on him to win at 33-1. The model also called Bryson DeChambeau taking the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
McClure returned a whopping +788 during the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, including nailing top-five bets on Xander Schauffele at 13-2 and Collin Morikawa at 9-1. The model was also extremely high on 30-1 long shot winner Webb Simpson at the RBC Heritage. The model had him in the top five from the start and McClure's best bets included Simpson winning outright. And last week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, the model was all over Justin Thomas at 12-1 from the start, and he cruised to a three-shot victory.
In all, the advanced computer model has nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend, including two of the last three. Anyone who has followed its golf picks has seen massive returns returns.
Now that the PGA Championship 2020 field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the model's projected leaderboard.
The model's top 2020 PGA Championship predictions
One huge shocker the model is calling for at the PGA Championship 2020: Tiger Woods, who's seeking his record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour victory, stumbles big-time and doesn't even crack the top 20. With a win at TPC Harding Park, Woods will tie Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus for the most PGA Championship victories all-time with five. Woods, a 15-time major champion, has had success at TPC Harding Park, winning the WGC-American Express Invitational 15 years ago with a score of 10-under.
However, Woods has struggled mightily at the PGA Championship in recent years. In fact, he's missed the cut in three of his last four starts at this event while recording just one top-10 finish in his last eight appearances. The 44-year-old also struggled throughout the week at the Memorial, his first tournament since February, shooting a pair of 76's at Muirfield Village, which led to a 40th place finish. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in this loaded PGA Championship 2020 field.
Another surprise: Tyrrell Hatton, a 45-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. Hatton enters the first major of the year brimming with confidence. That's because the 28-year-old Englishman has finished in the top 10 in five of his last seven starts, which includes his first career PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. Hatton is a prolific ball-striker who has the ability to shape his iron shots. In fact, Hatton enters this week's event ranked in the top 10 in birdie average (4.71) and scoring average (69.579).
He's also been one of the best putters on the PGA Tour this season, appearing in the top 10 in strokes gained putting (.764), total putting (74.5) and overall putting average (1.702). Those impressive stats, plus his long odds, make him a strong value pick for your 2020 PGA Championship bets this week.
How to make 2020 PGA Championship picks
Also, the model says five other golfers with odds of 22-1 or longer will make a strong run at the Wanamaker Trophy, including a massive long shot going off higher than 45-1. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big. You can only see them here.
So who wins the 2020 PGA Championship? Where does Tiger Woods finish? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine now to see the projected 2020 PGA Championship leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed six golf majors and is up more than $9,000 since the restart, and find out.
2020 PGA Championship odds (via William Hill)
Brooks Koepka 10-1
Justin Thomas 10-1
Bryson DeChambeau 11-1
Rory McIlroy 14-1
Jon Rahm 14-1
Dustin Johnson 20-1
Xander Schauffele 22-1
Tiger Woods 22-1
Patrick Cantlay 24-1
Webb Simpson 28-1
Collin Morikawa 35-1
Rickie Fowler 40-1
Hideki Matsuyama 40-1
Jason Day 40-1
Daniel Berger 40-1
Viktor Hovland 40-1
Tyrrell Hatton 45-1
Patrick Reed 45-1
Justin Rose 50-1
Jordan Spieth 50-1
Tony Finau 50-1
Tommy Fleetwood 50-1
Gary Woodland 50-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 50-1
Adam Scott 50-1
Paul Casey 66-1
Sergio Garcia 66-1
Louis Oosthuizen 66-1
Marc Leishman 66-1
Matt Kuchar 66-1
Sung-Jae Im 66-1
Abraham Ancer 66-1
Shane Lowry 70-1
Matthew Wolff 80-1
Henrik Stenson 80-1
Brendon Todd 80-1
Phil Mickelson 80-1
Bubba Watson 100-1
Billy Horschel 100-1
Scottie Scheffler 100-1
Byeong Hun An 100-1
Joaquin Niemann 100-1
Adam Hadwin 100-1
Chez Reavie 100-1
Danny Willett 100-1
Max Homa 125-1
Kevin Kisner 125-1
Harris English 125-1
Kevin Streelman 125-1
Ian Poulter 125-1
Tom Lewis 125-1
Cameron Champ 125-1
Matt Wallace 125-1
Corey Conners 150-1
Emiliano Grillo 150-1
Kevin Na 150-1
Michael Thompson 150-1
Joel Dahmen 150-1
Bernd Wiesberger 150-1
Brendan Steele 150-1
Martin Kaymer 150-1
Rory Sabbatini 150-1
Erik van Rooyen 150-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 150-1
Brandt Snedeker 150-1
Charl Schwartzel 150-1
Lucas Glover 150-1
Ryan Moore 200-1
Hao-Tong Li 200-1
Danny Lee 200-1
Sepp Straka 200-1
Sung-Hoon Kang 200-1
Kurt Kitayama 200-1
Cameron Smith 200-1
Zach Johnson 200-1
Rafa Cabrera Bello 200-1
Dylan Frittelli 200-1
Scott Piercy 200-1
Matthias Schwab 200-1
Graeme McDowell 200-1
Cameron Tringale 200-1
Joost Luiten 200-1
Russell Henley 200-1
Troy Merritt 200-1
Mackenzie Hughes 200-1
Keegan Bradley 200-1
Brian Harman 200-1
Luke List 200-1
Si-Woo Kim 200-1
Jason Kokrak 200-1
Doc Redman 200-1
Robert MacIntyre 200-1
J.T. Poston 200-1
Ryan Palmer 200-1
Adam Long 200-1
Keith Mitchell 250-1
Jason Dufner 250-1
Wyndham Clark 250-1
Talor Gooch 250-1
Lanto Griffin 250-1
Nick Taylor 250-1
Andrew Putnam 250-1
Harold Varner 250-1
Jim Furyk 250-1
Matt Jones 300-1
C.T. Pan 300-1
Bud Cauley 300-1
Vaughn Taylor 300-1
Marcus Kinhult 300-1
Andrew Landry 300-1
Denny McCarthy 300-1
Jazz Janewattananond 3-1
Victor Perez 300-1
Sebastian Munoz 300-1
Joohyung Kim 300-1
Jimmy Walker 350-1
Carlos Ortiz 400-1
Tyler Duncan 400-1
Benjamin Hebert 400-1
Mike Lorenzo-Vera 400-1
Tom Hoge 400-1
Mark Hubbard 400-1
Jorge Campillo 400-1
Shaun Norris 500-1
Brian Stuard 500-1
Steve Stricker 500-1
Zach J. Johnson 500-1
Lucas Herbert 500-1
Ryo Ishikawa 500-1
Chan Kim 500-1
Nate Lashley 500-1
Davis Love 750-1
Jim Herman 750-1
Ken Tanigawa 1000-1
Rod Perry 1000-1
Rich Beem 1000-1
Shaun Micheel 1500-1
Alex Knoll 1500-1
Jeff Hart 1500-1
Rob Labritz 1500-1
Jason Caron 1500-1
Ryan Vermeer 1500-1
Justin Bertsch 1500-1
Shawn Warren 1500-1
Alex Beach 1500-1
Judd Gibb 2000-1
Michael Auterson 2000-1
Ben Cook 2000-1
Rich Berberian 2000-1
John O'Leary 2000-1
David Muttitt 2000-1
Danny Balin 2000-1
Jeff Roth 2000-1
Bob Sowards 2000-1
Marty Jertson 2000-1
