2026 PGA Championship: Expert Picks and Betting Tips

The second main event of the season, the PGA Championship, might be held at Aronimink Golf Membership in Newtown Sq., Pennsylvania. Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion and Rory McIlroy enters after profitable the Masters, the primary main of the season.

Scheffler and McIlroy are the clear favorites, adopted by Jon Rahm and Cameron Younger.

Who do golf consultants assume will win? What betting recommendation does Pamela Maldonado have?

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Soar forward: Pamela Maldonado’s betting and fantasy recommendation this week

Knowledgeable Suggestions

Matt Barry: Cameron Younger
Younger is the one participant on the earth who has confronted Scheffler and McIlroy this season. His father is a membership skilled and that’s the foundation of this event. His window of victory is open. And this week he holds up Wanamaker.

Mark Brooks: Scotty Scheffler
Essentially the most full participant since Tiger Woods in 2000. A fierce competitor with zero weaknesses.

Ken Brown: Schaeffler
Profitable a significant championship requires commanding each division, however Scheffler has probably the most rounded sport on the planet. I watched him follow placing with coach Phil Kenyon on Tuesday. They labored onerous for an hour holing out brake putts from inside 8 toes. His professionalism and delight of the sport is second to none.

Tory Cabrera: Schaeffler
It is 2026, however Scheffler’s arrival continues to be inevitable. The world’s No. 1 golfer hasn’t gained since January, however three consecutive second-place finishes imply it is about time. Two years after “Free Scotty” merchandise took the golf world by storm, he continued the PGA Championship legend by profitable the Wanamaker Trophy (once more).

Roberto Castro: Chris Gotterp
It is primarily a house occasion for him. Taking part in on the grass you grew up on offers you an unbelievable sense of familiarity and luxury. Two wins earlier than Augusta. Bomb it. Do not be afraid to win.

michael collins: younger
Cam may be very snug taking part in the fashion of golf required to win at Aronimink.

Jeff Darlington: Justin Rose
The golf course has hosted solely three PGA Tour occasions since 2010. Justin Rose gained a type of occasions and was runner-up in one other. This course wants a totally rounded, top-level participant, and Rose checks these bins.

Michael Eaves: Rose
Nobody involves Aronimink feeling higher than Rose. He gained right here as soon as, however misplaced in a playoff, the final time the PGA Tour held an occasion right here. Plus, he is among the finest iron gamers on the earth, and that is going to be a giant issue on this “Second Shot Golf Course” this week.

Peter Lawrence-Liddell: Rory McIlroy
It could be a variety of enjoyable to chase single-season Grand Slams in the summertime. Rory primarily mentioned it himself on Tuesday – Aronimink likes gamers who will be explosive off the tee – and there’s no participant within the sport who can try this higher than the reigning Masters champion. Sure, the toe is a little bit of a priority, however give McIlroy a snug shoe and he’ll discover a solution to handle it.

John McGuinness: Jordan Spieth
Oh, cease it! Do you actually assume a participant who gained 13 occasions between the ages of 20 and 29 is floating round at 32? He is driving higher than ever and is as inventive across the greens as anybody within the sport.

Hunter Mahan: Tommy Fleetwood
I like Fleetwood this week! His previous success in 2018, alongside along with his calm demeanor and ball-striking, made him the Aronimink Main Champion.

Andy North: Younger
He is very lengthy and has lovely putts.

Karl Paulson: Schaeffler
Just because he’s the very best participant on the earth. It additionally feels prefer it’s time for him to win once more. Sorry, nothing may very well be extra unique than this.

Mark Schlabach: Schaeffler
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer on the earth, hasn’t gained since his first begin of the season at American Categorical. He has completed runner-up three years in a row and is the defending PGA Championship winner. It is stunning that Scheffler did not win once more. He ranks within the prime 5 on tour in strokes gained, and is 14th in complete (2.056), tee-to-green (1.535), off the tee (.659), across the inexperienced (.585) and in placing (.522). The one factor holding him again is his iron play, which isn’t as much as the historic requirements seen the previous few seasons. He put it collectively this week and gained his fifth main.

Marty Smith: Collin Morikawa
It might appear unreasonable given his erratic placing, however method play is a very powerful factor this week, and there is no one on the earth higher than Morikawa.

Paolo Ughetti: in his youth
I attempt to not assume an excessive amount of about this. Younger is without doubt one of the greatest gamers on the earth nowadays, and this golf course might be an amazing surroundings for him. The one query stays about his placing. It is an space of ​​his sport that has improved significantly, however might be correctly examined on Aromininck’s devilish greens.

Scott Verplank: Rickie Fowler
He is a cowboy…

Susie Whaley: Jacob Bridgman
It has sufficient energy for this golf course, together with moist circumstances. However that is primarily as a result of Donald Ross sporting inexperienced.

Pamela Maldonado’s Picks and Recommendation of the Week

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook Topic to vary.

The final time the PGA visited Aronimink, Keegan Bradley gained with a placing efficiency that was unprecedented amongst his friends. Justin Rose practically beat him regardless of shedding strokes on his method all week, and Rory McIlroy struck the ball higher than anybody and completed fifth.

This course prompts particular talents relatively than merely rewarding current varieties. In different phrases, I did not give a lot weight to current rounds. Now, a couple of years later, the course has grow to be much more tough. The restoration doubles the variety of bunkers, the tough is deeper with out buffers, and the greens run like glass.

This week I primarily used weighted method play, with bentgrass putts and fairway beneficial properties as danger filters. What struck me most concerning the lens was its bent grass-specific efficiency at key speeds.

As all the time, guess on what helps you sleep at evening. The very best analysis on the earth means nothing if the dimensions of the place is what drives the choice. They’re my favourite gamers on the board. Alter your guess kind and publicity to fit your danger tolerance.

My favourite to win: Scotty Scheffler +385

Though this isn’t a really excessive worth, it could nonetheless be a superb worth. It is no coincidence that Scheffler wins the event. his efficiency over the previous two seasons, he seems like a man who merely performs at a special stage when the floor is correct. Aronimink will demand precisely what Scheffler does greatest beneath strain, discovering the proper components of quick greens with giant contours from the golf green. In the beginning of the yr, his irons have been the weakest a part of his sport, however he is ironed that out in current weeks, gaining greater than 5 strokes on his approaches in current occasions. Reasonably than overpowering the course, Scheffler manages it and builds momentum with every spherical.

The sphere within the majors is deep, however while you ask who probably the most constantly transferred gamers are, it all the time comes again to Scheffler. That is the worth.

My favourite guess to complete within the prime 10: Justin Rose +355 (tie)

A basic method and placing numbers on probably the most related surfaces/programs on the schedule makes Rose a lovely candidate. He gained a sport towards Torrey Pines at Bentgrass in February by greater than six strokes on his method. When Rose performs on bent grass, his mixture of ball putting and brief sport is best than anybody on the sphere. Aronimink’s 2018 model clearly hit the spot. Though he misplaced a stroke on his method, he nonetheless completed in second place as a result of he mainly performed towards the inexperienced with heroic scrambling and brief sport play relatively than iron play. That is his fashion. Besides now he has emerged as a greater ball striker with the identical brief sport means.

My Favourite Scottie Scheffler Wager: High 5 -122 (Tie)

Will you attempt to be within the prime 5? Nicely, it isn’t enjoyable for different gamers. For Scotty, that is his baseline, so it is a clear guess. He has completed within the prime 5 in 20 of the previous 30 tournaments. Being runner-up for the third yr in a row means he’s now at his peak. Bentgrass fits him, and the course requires him to be constant and have the persistence to run by the powerful again 9 with out overdoing it. (-122) Worth respects the file as a matter after all. Gamers who make a behavior of ending within the prime 5 are being paid a sure amount of cash.

My favourite lengthy shot: Justin Rose +4700

He virtually gained at this course in 2018 with a weaker method profile than in 2026. From a pure information level, he has sturdy major stats, however hitting (or lacking) the golf green is a priority, and his placing floor stats are mediocre. Nonetheless, it’s within the event-level information that the sample is noticeable. On a bent grass course, he turns into a totally completely different participant. Principally, his outcomes on different surfaces are considerably reducing his season complete. When remoted to related comps, he’s elite. Utilizing season information, his subpar numbers are inflated by unrelated occasions. That is a beneficiant worth to pay for a participant who can spend a spike week on a course he is come near profitable up to now.

Different notable bets

Matt McCarty High 40 +172 (tie)

The case is easy. He ranks within the prime 15 for placing in bentgrass and placing on quick greens. His profile is putter-dependent on programs that require an method first, however maybe he discovered one thing along with his irons. He struggled a lot of the starting of 2026, however has now improved along with his method for 3 weeks in a row. His T14 and T24 in fast succession at Augusta reveals he can maintain his personal in a powerful discipline. High 30 +265 could be extra helpful as a result of he will get paid for the numbers he is hitting each day, however I am conservative and assume he’ll get constructive cash over a wider vary.

Tyrrell Hutton LIV prime gamers +520

He’s clearly excellent and is on the rise relatively than counting on his status. Hatton is the one participant within the group whose major trajectory has improved. At Augusta, his outcomes have improved yearly for 3 consecutive years, and this yr’s T3 has additionally achieved an elite quantity. Different outcomes are lowering, inconsistent, or there’s one outlier end result. This can be a course that exposes the weaknesses of different gamers, and the price of being the striker with the cleanest ball on this course is big.

patrick reed High 30 +138

He is not constructed on elite iron play, however relatively across the greens and a placing combo that may face up to nice strain on quick surfaces. That is precisely what Aronimink Inexperienced calls for all week. Reed is ready to scramble, convert and evade explosive rounds which he has proven he can dodge if the street is appropriate for him. All we are able to actually draw on is his August efficiency, however with 4 straight years of top-12 finishes, this sample is price supporting.

fantasy golf

High 3 DFS performs in fantasy golf:

Rickie Fowler +7,400: Three consecutive prime 10 finishes, together with T2 at Truist, imply he is in nice type proper now. He is been within the prime 25 placing on these greens and is on a roll, with prime 10 being a practical ceiling this week. He’s out there as a event possibility if wage aid is required.

Alex Nolen $6,900: Noren makes a minimize. That reliability is the muse. He’s within the prime 30 in irons, placing and fairway hitting. Listed here are three stats particular to Aronimink that time you in the proper path at a worth that displays none of them. If you need a secure ground, regular cutmaker with real course match, he is the kind of participant you construct round. Riviera’s T12 offers perception into his ceiling.

Alex Fitzpatrick $5,900: Though the pattern dimension out there may be very small, he had back-to-back wins on the Euro Tour, mixed along with his brother Matt Fitzpatrick to win in Zurich, and had two prime 10s within the PGA. With simply two monitor occasions, his irons are elite at this level. He has excessive upside, low roster ratio, and robust key stats set at a cut price worth. Spend your financial savings on one elite title, maybe one which rhymes with Dottie.

High 3 DFS fades:

Cameron Younger $10,200: That is an enormous sacrifice in wage flexibility for a participant whose two most course-specific stats are 71st in placing on this floor and 93rd in quick greens. Again gamers with stronger bentgrass profiles may have their cash higher spent elsewhere.

Jon Rahm $10,400: You are paying close to peak costs for gamers who’ve tailored to non-PGA occasions. LIV’s win suggests his total sport is sharp, however his weighted method shot ranks exterior the highest 50 when competing in PGA Tour occasions. That is the principle divide on this course. That is the best quantity to have a variety of belief. onerous move.

Patrick Cantlay $8,900: His irons are strong, however he tends to overlook the golf green and his putts on bent grass and quick greens are all exterior the highest 50. You want a number of applicable ability units to match your wage. He has completed within the prime 12 for 4 straight years, however misplaced 4 strokes on his putt at Harbor City, however improved by practically 4 strokes at Quail Hole. You by no means know which model you may see. It is the greens that determine the event right here. fade.