PGA Championship 2013 Odds: Locating Top Bets on Day 1

Golf may be the most difficult sport in the world to predict, but if you look at trends and developments, you stand a much better chance of projecting the general outcome of a tournament.

Oddsbooks tend to favor the big names of golf in many categories, even if certain categories aren't favorable to the big names. For example, a player may historically finish strong, but struggles in the early rounds and vice versa.

There are several prop bets you can win this year if you look at all of the factors. Here are some of my top bets as the 2013 PGA Championship tees off on Thursday at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester.

*Odds via Bovada

Lowest Score of Round 1: Group B (Dufner, Schwartzel, Garcia, Stricker, McDowell, Haas)

Bet: Steve Stricker (9-2)

Steve Stricker trails Jason Dufner, Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia for the lowest Round 1 score of this group.

I find that hard to believe, considering Stricker leads all players on tour in scoring average before the cut, per PGATour.com. That's no fluke, either. He ranked fourth in the category last year.

Beyond that, Stricker finished seventh at the PGA Championship last year. He also placed eighth at the U.S. Open this year and is coming off a 13th-place finish at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Lowest Score of Round 1: Group D (Donald, Day, Simpson, Watson, Kaymer, Poulter)

Bet: Bubba Watson (9-2)

Bubba Watson hasn't won a tournament since the Masters last year. He's also not having the greatest 2013 campaign, posting three top-10 finishes and no victories in 19 PGA Tour events.

That being said, it hasn't been the first round that has doomed him in 2013, nor has it been the second round. The final two rounds are when he has taken a nosedive.

Among Group D on Bovada, Watson ranks way behind Luke Donald and Webb Simpson for the lowest score in Round 1. That's despite the 34-year-old ranking 33rd on tour in first-round scoring average, per PGATour.com. That, by the way, is the lowest scoring average in Round 1 among all golfers in the group.

Even when Watson placed 32nd at the British Open this year, he posted a one-under-par 70 in the first round.

Keegan Bradley: Top-10 Finish (11-4)

Considering Keegan Bradley's history at the PGA Championship (heck, even his usual history at this time of year), it would seem safe to bet on the 27-year-old to finish in the top 10 at the major this year.

Bradley won the PGA Championship in his first year on tour in 2011, then placed third at last year's PGA Championship. 

Bradley seems to be in the zone at this time of year in general. Last year, he won the Bridgestone Invitational ahead of the PGA Championship. This year, he placed second at Firestone.

Not only do I believe Bradley will finish in the top 10 this year, I also wouldn't be surprised if he finished in the top five or won. His current odds to finish in the top five are 13-2 while his odds to win are 35-1.