PGA Championship 2013 Picks: Smartest Bets for Top-10 Contention

The PGA Championship is the year's final major, and my prognostication skills have rounded into form. As such, I have picked three players headed toward top-10 finishes this week. 

To tackle the difficult layout of the Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., players will need the entirety of their games working for them.

Check out the ominous view from the 10th hole:

In 2003, the last time the PGA was held at this venue, Shaun Michael won at four under. He was just one of three golfers to finish under par. I expect scoring to be similarly difficult this time around. 

*All stats via PGATour.com. 

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is the player everyone likely has on his or her list.

I think this tweet does a nice job of summing up why that is the case:

While there are many reasons to support a win by Woods, there is also cause for concern. He hasn't won a major in over five years. Also, in the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, Woods finished at 12 over par and in 39th place. 

He hit 46.43 percent of his fairways in that tournament, which will be a problem for Woods again this year. Woods has struggled with accuracy off the tee this season, but he's made great strides recently.

He has opted to leave his driver in the bag, and his driving accuracy for the season is up to 63.7 percent.

At Bridgestone, Woods hit his driver more often and still managed to hit 57.1 percent of his fairways while also averaging 302 yards off the tee. This bodes well for Woods.

However, the greens do not. 

Here is Woods during a recent practice round at Oak Hill: 

According to Bob Harig of ESPN, Woods called the greens "spotty" and "slow" following that round and said, "They don't have much thatch to them, so it'll be interesting to see what they do for the tournament and how much they're able to speed them up with kind of a lack of grass."

Woods thrives when the greens are fast, and it certainly doesn't look like they will be at Oak Hill. I have real concern this could wind up costing him the victory, but it won't be enough to keep him out of the top 10.

Zach Johnson

Zach Johnson has spent the majority of this year playing terrible golf. In his first 11 PGA starts of the year, Johnson's best finish was a tie for 18th. He also suffered three missed cuts in that span. 

Now, the light has come on. Johnson finished fourth, sixth and second in his last three starts. His sixth was at the British Open, and his fourth was at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. 

Johnson has been consistent in all phases of his game in this stretch. He has hit at least 65 percent of his fairways and greens in regulation. He is also drilling his putts. Strokes gained putting aren't tracked for the British Open, but he hit at least 1.442 in that mark in the other two of his last three starts.

Johnson has been playing brilliantly on tough courses and against tough fields. He is a major champion, and he will finish in the top 10 at Oak Hill.  

Brandt Snedeker 

Brandt Snedeker was quiet this past week as he coasted to a 33rd-place finish. That was his worst finish in the last seven weeks.

In that span, Snedeker proved he had regained the elite consistency he lost while missing time due to his rib injury. While his performance last week was not overly impressive, it also wasn't surprising.

Snedeker had won the previous week at the Canadian Open, and it is hard to follow up a win.

That win was the culmination of solid recent play, which included a 17th at the U.S. Open and an 11th at the British Open. 

Snedeker has a history of unraveling at majors. However, he has learned how to close out tournaments, and there is a good chance he puts that together at this major.