Another Winner of the PGA?

The PGA Championship takes place from May 19-22. Will we see a seventh win in a row for an American player or will an overseas contender win the Major?

This year the PGA Championship is being held at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It’s the first time since 2007 that the Major has been held on the course. On that occasion, it was Tiger Woods who won by two strokes from Woody Austin.

That winning margin has been popular in the USPGA Championship. The last five champions have all won the title by two strokes. Last year it was Phil Mickelson who was the surprise winner. It’s unlikely he’ll be heading to Tulsa to defend his title.

In the five years before Mickleson won the Major, there had been two wins for Brooks Koepka and one each for Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Jimmy Walker. Total American domination, therefore, with the last non-US winner being Jason Day from Australia in 2015.

There’s been one Major played this year and that was won by world number one Scottie Scheffler. That was his fourth success of the year and has seen him rise from 12^th in the rankings to the very top.

Many who bet on golf are still kicking themselves for not taking the attractive odds on offer of the world number one winning the Masters. He’s available at 12/1 to win a second Major in 2022. Another bold win to finish ahead of the field is very likely later this month.

Collin Morikawa is third in the world rankings and will bid to win this title for the second time in three years. When it comes to the Majors, you want to be backing a player who constantly finishes high on the leaderboard in them.

Morikawa fits the bill and is 16/1 to win the title. He’s had a top ten finish in his last four Majors, including a fifth place at the Masters. The last three have seen him end up in the top five and with consistency like that, he must be on the shortlist to win his second PGA title.

The leading non-US player in the world rankings is Jon Rahm from Spain. He’s second in the world rankings and recently won the Mexican Open. Rahm is 12/1 with the most bookies offerings and will be out to win his second Major after success in the 2021 US Open.

He only finished tied for 27^th in the 2022 Masters but before that had four consecutive top eight finishes in Majors. He’s just hit form and could well be the first non-American to win the PGA since 2015.

It was an Australian who was the last non-American winner and that could happen again in 2022. Cameron Smith began this year ranked 21^st in the world but has risen to fifth. He has won the Tournament of Champions and The Players’ Championship this year.

Smith was in contention for a fair while at the Masters and eventually finished third behind Scottie Scheffler. At odds of 18/1, Smith may well be in contention again in the PGA.

Rory McIlroy won the PGA in 2014 and that was two years after winning the title by eight strokes. He’s had only one top ten finish in the tournament since but was second in the 2022 Masters. At odds of 14/1 he looks a good each-way bet to end the years of US success in the PGA.