This is the 100th year of the PGA Championship and it will be held at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. This prestigious event was last held here in 1992. It is a par 72 and a 7,247 yards course that Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed in 1960. Jones’ son, Rees Jones, has done recent work at Bellerive, restoring some of his father’s design elements and modernizing other aspects.
Let’s jump right into this and give you a few of the players we like in the event.
Justin Thomas is first listed as he is the defending champion and is fresh off a win this past weekend. His strength is in the iron play which is need on this course.
Dustin Johnson– How could he not be one of the first player listed? Bellerive has huge greens and Johnson will use this to his advantage. He drives the ball as well as any o the tour with great power.
Tommy Fleetwood has been in and around the leaderboard almost every week but he hasn’t finished strong enough to win. It will come soon. Fleetwood is one of the best at keeping the ball out of the trees and there are many at Bellerive.
Jason Day is one of the best at playing the ball out of the sand and this course is filled with them. Look for him to put himself close to the pin on each hole.
Rory McIlroy hasn’t had any problems lately except not winning. He does well in majors as he has had eight Top 10 finishes since 2015. He has the due factor going for him.
Jordan Spieth is always near the top but he has had a long dry spell in the winner’s circle. He is another player that is strong in iron play. This course may be to his liking.
Justin Rose has come very close recently in major events and is very consistent in his play. He is always a threat.
Ricky Fowler is simple to review. His is likely the best golfer in the world to have never won a major.
Francesco Molinari is on this list as the overall hottest golfer on the planet with a major, to other wins and a few runner-up finishes. The issue for him comes from taking time off and now powering up again for the stretch run.
Tiger Woods has been playing well but not finishing in the same fashion as his prior seasons. Can he handle the newfound pressure? Maybe.
Current odds:
Dustin Johnson +800
Rory McIlroy +1200
Justin Thomas +1400
Jordan Spieth +2000
Brooks Koepka +2000
Jason Day +2000
Rickie Fowler +2200
Justin Rose +2200
Jon Rahm +2500
Tiger Woods +2800
Tommy Fleetwood +2800
Francesco Molinari +3300
Patrick Reed +3500
Tony Finau +4000
Alex Noren +5000
Henrik Stenson +5000
Patrick Cantlay +5000
Paul Casey +5000
Xander Schauffele +5000
Bubba Watson +5000
Hideki Matsuyama +6600
Marc Leishman +6600
Joaquin Niemann +6600
Webb Simpson +7500
Thorbjorn Olesen +7500
Bryson DeChambeau +8000
Louis Oosthuizen +8000
Matt Kuchar +8000
Kyle Stanley +8000
Phil Mickelson +10000
Sergio Garcia +10000
Branden Grace +10000
Charley Hoffman +10000
Ian Poulter +10000
Kevin Kisner +10000
Zach Johnson +10000
Brian Harman +10000
Daniel Berger +10000
Keegan Bradley +10000
Gary Woodland +10000
Byeong-Hun An +12500
Kevin Chappell +12500
Luke List +12500
Aaron Wise +12500
Matthew Fitzpatrick +15000
Russell Knox +15000
Adam Scott +15000
Brandt Snedeker +15000
Charl Schwartzel +15000
Rafa Cabrera-Bello +15000
Russell Henley +15000
Ryan Moore +15000
Shane Lowry +15000
Thomas Pieters +15000
Tyrrell Hatton +15000
Si Woo Kim +15000
Beau Hossler +20000
Billy Horschel +20000
Emiliano Grillo +15000
J.B. Holmes +20000
Jason Dufner +20000
Jimmy Walker +20000
Kevin Na +20000
Haotong Li +20000
Kiradech Aphibarnrat +20000
Eddie Pepperell +20000
Alexander Bjork +20000
Anirban Lahiri +20000
Cameron Smith +20000
Dylan Frittelli +20000
Jamie Lovemark +20000
Jhonattan Vegas +20000
Julian Suri +20000
Nick Watney +20000
Paul Dunne +20000
Shaun Micheel +20000
Shubhankar Sharma +20000
Stewart Cink +20000
Troy Merritt +20000
Whee Kim +20000
Brendan Steele +25000
Charles Howell III +25000
Chesson Hadley +25000
Chris Wood +25000
Pat Perez +25000
Danny Willett +25000
James Hahn +25000
Ross Fisher +25000
Adrian Otaegui +25000
Alexander Levy +25000
Andrew Landry +25000
Brandon Stone +25000
Brian Gay +25000
J.J. Spaun +25000
Jim Furyk +25000
Jordan Smith +25000
Jorge Campillo +25000
Matt Wallace +25000
Michael Kim +25000
Padraig Harrington +25000
Ryan Armour +25000
Martin Kaymer +30000
Ollie Schniederjans +30000
Peter Uihlein +30000
Ryan Fox +30000
Austin Cook +30000
Scott Piercy +30000
Adam Hadwin +30000
Brice Garnett +30000
Chris Stroud +30000
Mike Lorenzo-Vera +30000
Patton Kizzire +30000
Satoshi Kodaira +30000
Scott Brown +30000
Sungjae Im +30000
Vijay Singh +30000
Yusaku Miyazato +30000
Yuta Ikeda +30000
Andy Sullivan +40000
Chez Reavie +40000
Justin Harding +40000
Mikko Korhonen +40000
Paul Broadhurst +40000
Ryuko Tokimatsu +40000
Seungsu Han +40000
Shugo Imahira +40000
Ted Potter Jr. +40000
Y.E. Yang +40000
Craig Bowden +40000
Bill Haas +40000
Davis Love III +50000
Jason Kokrak +50000
Matt Borchert +50000
Sean McCarty +50000
Thomas Bjorn +50000
Jaysen Hansen +75000
John Daly +75000
Matt Dobyns +75000
Michael Block +75000
Brian Smock +100000
Craig Hocknull +100000
Danny Balin +100000
Jason Schmuhl +100000
Marty Jertson +100000
Rich Berberian Jr. +100000
Shawn Warren +100000
Ben Kern +150000
Bob Sowards +150000
David Muttitt +150000
Rich Beem +150000
Ryan Vermeer +150000
Omar Uresti +200000
Odds updated 8/6/2018
Our Picks:
- First choice– Rory McIlroy loves majors
- Second Choice- Ricky Fowler is due
- Third Choice– Justin Thomas is hot.
Here is the TV Schedule for this event:
(all times ET)
- Thursday- TNT — 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Friday- TNT — 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday- TNT — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CBS — 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday- TNT — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CBS — 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
