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PGA Championship 2020: Betting Odds, Favorites and Tournament Preview
August 3, 2020
Brooks Koepka will try to carry over the momentum gained from his best performance of the PGA Tour season to win his third consecutive PGA Championship.
The favorite to win the first of the season's three majors finished second at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational thanks to three rounds in the 60s.
Justin Thomas, who won at TPC Southwind, is listed directly beneath Koepka on the odds chart to win at TPC Harding Park.
Thomas was the last golfer to win the PGA Championship before Koepka's title reign began in 2018.
Two-time PGA champion Rory McIlroy is also one of the favourites, but he comes into the tournament in worse form than Koepka and Thomas.
PGA Championship Odds
Brooks Koepka (+1000; bet $100 to win $1,000)
Justin Thomas (+1100)
Rory McIlroy (+1400)
Bryson DeChambeau (+1600)
Jon Rahm (+1600)
Xander Schauffele (+1800)
Dustin Johnson (+2000)
Patrick Cantlay (+2200)
Tiger Woods (+2500)
Preview
The first major in 12 months could come down to a duel between Thomas and Koepka, who finished first and second at the FedEx-St. Jude Invitational.
Thomas won with three rounds of 66 or better, and that landed him back on top of the Official World Golf Ranking.
The 2017 PGA champion has been a fixture atop the leaderboard since the restart of play in June. Thomas owns four top-10 finishes in the last six tournaments.
Since he won at Quail Hollow, Thomas has put together two top-10 finishes in majors, and he landed in the top 20 in another three,
That form pails in comparison to the results Koepka produced over the last three years at major tournaments. Since the start of 2017, Koepka has finished in the top 13 in all but one of the 11 majors he has competed in.
The tie for second at TPC Southwind could create momentum for Koepka to extend that streak. He noted to GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard that his game is moving in the right direction.
"I feel good. I feel like my game's right there. This is where we wanted to be, peaking for the PGA. I feel like my game's right there, everything's solid. I hit a lot of good putts today, just didn't go in. I'm pleased with it."
In the last three years, Koepka has carded 22 rounds in the 60s at majors, with eight of them occurring at the PGA Championship.
Koepka is one of two players to finish in the top 10 in the last two PGA Championships, Adam Scott is the other. Scott will be participating in his first competition since the shutdown at TPC Harding Park.
McIlroy could be the tournament's biggest wild card since he has been inconsistent over the last few seasons.
The Northern Irishman has six top-10 placings in majors since 2017, but he also missed three cuts in that span.
McIlroy made the cut in his five starts since the shutdown, but he has not been in contention for victories, like Thomas and Koepka have.
Since he has four major titles, McIlroy will be discussed as a potential winner in the buildup to the PGA Championship, but his recent form suggests he may not be on the same level as the two favorites right now.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from PGATour.com.