PGA Championship Picks, Best Bets and Golf Odds:
The 108th edition of the PGA Championship, the second major of the 2026 calendar, will be held at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., around 30 minutes northwest of Philadelphia, this weekend.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler returns to defend his Wanamaker Trophy from winning last year’s PGA Championship at +450, which is the same price he is at this year.
Rory McIlroy (+850), the 2012 and 2014 PGA champion, captured the first major of 2026 by repeating at the Masters last month.
Cameron Young (12-1) has already won two big-time events this season: The Players Championship and two weeks ago at the Cadillac Championship, plus he held the lead at one point in the final round of the Masters.
Jon Rahm (16-1) and Bryson DeChambeau (20-1) have both seen a bit of an odds drift, with neither being a factor last month at the Masters and the uncertain future of LIV Golf.
Xander Schauffele (18-1), the 2024 PGA champion, is still looking for his first victory of 2026, as are Ludvig Åberg (20-1) and Tommy Fleetwood (25-1).
Matt Fitzpatrick (22-1) has already found victory three times this year.
Brooks Koepka (40-1) is now back on the PGA Tour full time and is a three-time (2018, 2019, 2023) PGA Championship winner.
2020 PGA champion Collin Morikawa (40-1) has been battling a back issue since The Players Championship, while 2017 and 2022 PGA champion Justin Thomas (45-1) just returned in March from offseason back surgery.
The Event
The 108th PGA Championship returns to Aronimink Golf Club for the first time since 1962, when Gary Player (-2/278) won by one stroke over Bob Goalby.
Aronimink has held several majors on different tours over the years, including the 2020 Women’s PGA and 2003 Senior PGA.
Some players in this field have played events on this course, including the 2018 BMW Championship (won by Keegan Bradley -20/260), the 2011 AT&T National (won by Nick Watney -13/267) and the 2010 AT&T National (won by Justin Rose -10/270).
The PGA of America, with its current membership of 29,000 members, is an organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916 by one-time American department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker, and the PGA Championship trophy bears his name. From 1916-1957, the PGA was a match-play event.
It remained in a match play format until 1957, during which time Walter Hagen recorded five wins (the joint most in the tournament’s history), with players such as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson also claiming the trophy.
Jack Nicklaus tied Hagen for most wins in the stroke-play era, winning five times between 1963 and 1980.
Tiger Woods is third on that list of most PGA Championship wins with four, twice defending his title in 2000 and 2007. Gary Player and Lee Trevino, along with Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson in recent times, are among the list of players to hoist the Wanamaker trophy on more than one occasion.
The Field
Even with 20 PGA of America club and teaching professionals in the field of 156 players, the PGA Championship is arguably the strongest field of the year. The top 70 and ties will make the 36-hole cut for the weekend.
Here are the 156 players in this week’s field for the 108th PGA Championship:
The Course
Aronimink Golf Club was designed in 1928 by the legendary Donald Ross. Gil Hanse, who has been the go-to guy of late for golf course restorations at major championship venues along with design partner Jim Wagner, began the renovation in 2018.
Among the bigger changes from when we last saw Aronimink in a PGA Tour event in 2018 is the number of bunkers being increased from just 74 to 176 (the most bunkers on any course these players see all year), with more clusters throughout the course to be more in line with the original Ross design.
The tree-lined parklands layout plays as a par-70 of 7,394 yards. No holes are the same here as players are rerouted across valleys and ridges to provide different angles and lies on their shots.
The goal was to make Aronimink play at least a little more difficult than in 2018, with not only substantially more bunkering but also narrowed Bentgrass fairways (32 yards on average) and growing out the Fescue/Poa annua rough to the 3.5- to 4-inch range.
There are only three water holes on the design with the bunkers and rough being the main defenses here.
As for the Bentgrass greens, they are very large (8,200 square feet average), but they are traditional Donald Ross crown or “turtleback” greens with tightly mown chipping areas, steep runoffs, collection areas and sharply contoured surfaces. So, while the greens should be fairly easy to hit, they will not always be easy to hold.
Most of the greens will tilt from the back to the front, as is commonplace on Ross designs. The speed will be around 12.5-13 on the stimpmeter, thus the putts will be fast but not lightning fast. Nevertheless, players will try to leave their putts below the hole because the downhill putts will be faster than normal here.
The front nine is shorter and less difficult than the back nine, which includes a difficult stretch from 10-12 and one of the longest par-4s players will see all year at the 15th.
Golf Digest provides a hole-by-hole video of the Aronimink Golf Club.
By and large, this is a typical Northeast Donald Ross design, perhaps most similar to Oak Hill, another Ross design that hosted the 2023 PGA Championship.
In terms of course correlations, Oak Hill is an obvious one. Other recent major championship venues Oakmont, Olympia Fields and Winged Foot share some similar characteristics. Philadelphia Cricket Club (site of last year’s Truist) and Muirfield Village (The Memorial) are in the same vicinity as well. Other Donald Ross designs regularly featured on the PGA Tour or in major championship rotation to examine would be Pinehurst No. 2, East Lake (Tour Championship) and Sedgefield (Wyndham Championship).
Weather
Aronimink is set up to play firm and fast. If it does, the winning score could be around 10 under. If not, then high teens under par is a likely outcome here.
While it has been a relatively dry spring in the Philadelphia area, conditions will be cool early in the week and rain is forecasted for both Wednesday and early Thursday, so it is likely that the course softens up a bit more.
PGA Championship Recent History/Winners
2025: Scottie Scheffler (-11/273) Quail Hollow; 4-1
2024: Xander Schauffele (-21/263) Valhalla; 14-1
2023: Brooks Koepka (-9/271) Oak Hill; 20-1
2022: Justin Thomas (-5/275) Southern Hills; 16-1*
2021: Phil Mickelson (-6/282) Kiawah Island; 250-1
2020: Collin Morikawa (-13/267) TPC Harding Park; 35-1
2019: Brooks Koepka (-8/272) Bethpage Black; 10-1
2018: Brooks Koepka (-16/264) Bellerive; 20-1**
2017: Justin Thomas (-8/276) Quail Hollow; 45-1
2016: Jimmy Walker (-14/266) Baltusrol; 125-1
2015: Jason Day (-20/268) Whistling Straits; 14-1
2014: Rory McIlroy (-16/268) Valhalla; 5-1***
2013: Jason Dufner (-10/270) Oak Hill; 40-1
2012: Rory McIlroy (-13/275) Kiawah Island; 20-1
2011: Keegan Bradley (-8/272) Atlanta Athletic; 175-1****
2010: Martin Kaymer (-11/277) Whistling Straits; 50-1*****
Playoff win over Will Zalatoris – *
All-time PGA Championship 72-hole scoring record – **
Largest margin of victory at PGA Championship – ***
Playoff win over Jason Dufner – ****
Playoff win over Bubba Watson – *****
PGA Championship Recent Trends
- 11 of the last 16 PGA champions have been younger than 30 years of age.
- 10 of the last 10 PGA champions have been Americans.
- 8 of the last 14 PGA champions were ranked in the OWGR (Official World Golf Rankings) top 10 and seven of the last 10 were top 15.
- 9 of the last 14 and six of the last nine PGA champions had already picked up at least one victory earlier in the season.
- 13 of the last 15 PGA champions earned at least a top-20 finish in their previous start before the PGA.
- 12 of the last 17 PGA champions had five or fewer starts in the PGA.
- 8 of the last 10 PGA champions had at least a top-10 or better in a previous PGA Championship start.
- 13 of the last 14 PGA champions had at least a top-20 or better in a previous PGA Championship start.
- 19 of the last 20 PGA champions had at least a top-30 or better in a previous PGA Championship start.
- 7 of the last 10 PGA champions had at least one top-10 in one of their previous two major championship starts.
- 5 of the last six PGA champions finished in the top 10 at the Masters in the month prior (since the PGA Championship moved from August to May).
Statistical Analysis
Based on some of the above trends, recent and incoming form has certainly mattered in most years at the PGA Championship. A good, overarching gauge of recent and incoming form from a statistical standpoint is Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green.
Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green — Average Per Round (Last 36 rounds)
- Jon Rahm 2.119
- Rory McIlroy 1.823
- Scottie Scheffler 1.745
- Alex Fitzpatrick 1.701 (14 rounds)
- Mikael Lindberg 1.632 (12 rounds)
- Cameron Young 1.558
- Matt Fitzpatrick 1.550
- Brooks Koepka 1.447
- Ludvig Åberg 1.419
- Collin Morikawa 1.384
- Patrick Reed 1.373
- Joaquin Niemann 1.357
- Adam Scott 1.211
- Patrick Cantlay 1.159
- Xander Schauffele 1.133
- Tyrrell Hatton 1.061
- Nicolai Højgaard 1.013
- Angel Ayora Fanegas 1.007 (8 rounds)
- Bernd Wiesberger 1.007 (12 rounds)
- Jordan Gumberg 0.991 (8 rounds)
- Tommy Fleetwood 0.967
- J.J. Spaun 0.940
- Bryson DeChambeau 0.901
- Alex Smalley 0.879
- Daniel Hillier 0.873 (22 rounds)
As it is in most events, Strokes Gained: Approach will likely be the most important statistical category, especially on the par-4s. It is a bit of a Pete Dye risk/reward philosophy from Donald Ross where safer tee shots leave more difficult approach shots from a length standpoint and also uneven lies.
The greens are massive at Aronimink, so hitting greens on approach should not be much of a problem, but holding the greens and hitting the greens on the preferred contours will not be as easy.
Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (Last 36 rounds)
- Alex Fitzpatrick 1.137 (14 rounds)
- Brooks Koepka 1.035
- Collin Morikawa 0.933
- Adam Scott 0.886
- Patrick Reed 0.835 (20 rounds)
- Matt Fitzpatrick 0.740
- Bernd Wiesberger 0.729 (12 rounds)
- Ludvig Åberg 0.701
- J.J. Spaun 0.697
- Kurt Kitayama 0.692
- Jon Rahm 0.654
- Sepp Straka 0.627
- Xander Schauffele 0.626
- Daniel Berger 0.615
- Rory McIlroy 0.595
- Austin Smotherman 0.528
- Justin Rose 0.528
- Alex Smalley 0.521
- John Parry 0.514 (27 rounds)
- Ryan Gerard 0.512
- Akshay Bhatia 0.511
- Nicolai Højgaard 0.483
- Scottie Scheffler 0.449
- Casey Jarvis 0.449 (14 rounds)
- Cameron Young 0.444
Aronimink is a shorter course than we have seen in the recent PGA Championship and U.S. Open rotations, so there is a likelihood that we see more wedge shots from 100-150 yards.
Average Proximity to the Hole 100-125 Yards (2026 season)
- Jason Day 13′ 11″
- David Lipsky 14′ 5″
- Collin Morikawa 15′ 1″
- Jacob Bridgeman 15′ 2″
- Wyndham Clark 15′ 5″
- Davis Riley 16′ 5″
- Chandler Blanchet 16′ 6″
- Dan Brown 16′ 8″
- Ryan Gerard 16′ 9″
- Johnny Keefer 16′ 10″
- Bud Cauley 16′ 11″
- Sepp Straka 17′ 2″
- Nicolai Højgaard 17′ 10″
- J.J. Spaun 18′ 0″
- Sam Stevens 18′ 1″
- Nico Echavarria 18′ 2″
- Billy Horschel 18′ 3″
- Keegan Bradley 18′ 6″
- Keith Mitchell 18′ 7″
- Patrick Cantlay 18′ 7″
- Russell Henley 18′ 7″
- Shane Lowry 18′ 9″
- Maverick McNealy 18′ 10″
- Austin Smotherman 19′ 0″
Average Proximity to the Hole 125-150 Yards (2026 season)
- Aaron Rai 16′ 7″
- Brian Harman 18′ 11″
- Viktor Hovland 19′ 5″
- Akshay Bhatia 19′ 8″
- Corey Conners 20′ 2″
- Nick Taylor 20′ 2″
- Si Woo Kim 20′ 6″
- Chandler Blanchet 20′ 9″
- Jacob Bridgeman 20′ 9″
- Jordan Spieth 20′ 10″
- Chris Gotterup 21′ 1″
- Ryan Gerard 21′ 1″
- Austin Smotherman 21′ 3″
- Daniel Berger 21′ 3″
- Sahith Theegala 21′ 5″
- Rory McIlroy 21′ 5″
- Max Homa 21′ 6″
- Adam Scott 21′ 7″
- Davis Riley 21′ 8″
- Tommy Fleetwood 21′ 9″
- Kurt Kitayama 21′ 10″
- Pierceson Coody 22′ 0″
Aronimink has numerous sloping fairways and substantially more bunkering than the last time players competed here in 2018. While distance is important, it is equally important for players to place the ball in the proper sections of the fairway.
Distance From the Edge of the Fairway measures the average distance (in feet and inches) from the edge of the fairway when the player hits the fairway.
Distance From the Edge of the Fairway (2026 season)
- Russell Henley 17′ 11″
- Si Woo Kim 19′ 10″
- Daniel Berger 19′ 11″
- Matt Fitzpatrick 20′ 0″
- Brian Harman 20′ 0″
- Collin Morikawa 20′ 1″
- Austin Smotherman 20′ 3″
- Ryan Gerard 20′ 10″
- Brian Campbell 21′ 1″
- Cameron Young 21′ 2″
- Lucas Glover 21′ 10″
- Corey Conners 22′ 0″
- Aaron Rai 22′ 7″
- Harris English 22′ 10″
- Alex Noren 22′ 11″
- Jacob Bridgeman 22′ 11″
- Matt McCarty 23′ 1″
- Andrew Putnam 23′ 5″
- Andrew Novak 23′ 6″
- Sepp Straka 23′ 9″
- Tommy Fleetwood 23′ 10″
As is typical of a Donald Ross design, Aronimink’s biggest challenges to the players will be both around and on the greens.
Strokes Gained: Around The Green — Average Per Round (Last 36 rounds)
- Cameron Smith 0.813 (26 rounds)
- Brandt Snedeker 0.786 (20 rounds)
- Scottie Scheffler 0.608
- Jon Rahm 0.514
- Nick Taylor 0.483
- Patrick Cantlay 0.460
- Andrew Putnam 0.438
- Justin Thomas 0.418
- Sungjae Im 0.417
- Matt Fitzpatrick 0.401
- Padraig Harrington 0.394 (8 rounds)
- Kota Kaneko 0.391 (12 rounds)
- Cameron Young 0.390
- Patrick Reed 0.360 (20 rounds)
- Stephan Jaeger 0.344
- Harry Hall 0.342
- Sahith Theegala 0.341
- Jason Day 0.338
- Tommy Fleetwood 0.326
- Joaquin Niemann 0.312
- Rory McIlroy 0.311
- Russell Henley 0.303
Scrambling (2026 season)
- Hideki Matsuyama 73.68%
- Robert MacIntyre 72.78
- Russell Henley 71.33
- Xander Schauffele 69.68
- Jason Day 69.47
- Andrew Putnam 69.27
- Nick Taylor 69.00
- Kurt Kitayama 68.92
- Tommy Fleetwood 68.10
- Matt Wallace 67.79
- Patrick Cantlay 67.69
- Sahith Theegala 67.56
- Jordan Spieth 67.55
- Nicolai Højgaard 67.27
- Brandt Snedeker 67.24
- Rory McIlroy 67.12
- Si Woo Kim 66.67
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 66.67
- Adam Scott 66.45
- Cameron Young 66.41
The Bentgrass greens will not only be a challenge from a speed standpoint, but also the various contours and slopes will really test a player’s lag putting ability and three-putts loom everywhere.
Strokes Gained: Putting — Bentgrass Greens — Average Per Round (Last 36 rounds)
- Alex Fitzpatrick 1.080 (14 rounds)
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju 0.982 (28 rounds)
- Daniel Brown 0.940 (25 rounds)
- David Puig 0.892
- Adrien Saddier 0.848
- Matt McCarty 0.790
- Pierceson Coody 0.779
- Harry Hall 0.733
- Denny McCarthy 0.703
- Brian Campbell 0.694
- Haotong Li 0.611
- Brandt Snedeker 0.544 (20 rounds)
- Patrick Reed 0.499 (20 rounds)
- Jayden Trey Schaper 0.496 (18 rounds)
- Andy Sullivan 0.480 (16 rounds)
- Alex Noren 0.472
- Harris English 0.466
- Kristoffer Reitan 0.461
- Rickie Fowler 0.438
- Luke Donald 0.416
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 0.414 (27 rounds)
- Xander Schauffele 0.405
- Maverick McNealy 0.403
Three-Putt Avoidance (2026 season)
- Jacob Bridgeman 0.52% (percentage of time a player three-putts or worse)
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju 1.27
- Brandt Snedeker 1.31
- Shane Lowry 1.39
- Rickie Fowler 1.39
- Nico Echavarria 1.44
- Nick Taylor 1.47
- J.T. Poston 1.50
- Ricky Castillo 1.56
- Ryan Gerard 1.56
- Matt McCarty 1.63
- Adrien Saddier 1.71
- Nicolai Højgaard 1.79
- Sam Stevens 1.80
- Ryan Fox 1.85
- Scottie Scheffler 1.85
- Billy Horschel 1.96
- Rory McIlroy 1.98
- Robert MacIntyre 1.98
- John Parry 2.01
- Viktor Hovland 2.02
- Jordan Smith 2.04
- Chris Gotterup 2.04
- Harris English 2.04
Bogey Avoidance (2026 season)
- Rory McIlroy 9.92% (percentage of time player makes bogey or worse)
- Robert MacIntyre 10.71
- Jason Day 10.88
- Russell Henley 10.88
- Kurt Kitayama 11.11
- Hideki Matsuyama 11.28
- Jacob Bridgeman 11.28
- Si Woo Kim 11.42
- Nick Taylor 11.44
- Cameron Young 11.57
- Scottie Scheffler 11.57
- Patrick Cantlay 11.81
- Xander Schauffele 11.97
- Rickie Fowler 12.10
- Tommy Fleetwood 12.22
- Matt Fitzpatrick 12.30
- Adam Scott 12.50
- Nicolai Højgaard 12.50
- Shane Lowry 12.50
- Sahith Theegala 12.57
- Sam Stevens 12.58
- Akshay Bhatia 12.67
The par-4s are the showcase of the course, especially on the more difficult back nine.
Par-4 Performance (2026 season)
- Jacob Bridgeman -38 (cumulative under par on par-4 holes)
- Si Woo Kim -35
- Robert MacIntyre -29
- Scottie Scheffler -25
- Kurt Kitayama -23
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju -22
- Sam Stevens -20
- Akshay Bhatia -18
- Alex Smalley -18
- Rickie Fowler -18
- Ryo Hisatsune -17
- Matt Fitzpatrick -16
- Xander Schauffele -15
- Ricky Castillo -14
- Cameron Young -13
- Ryan Gerard -13
- Collin Morikawa -12
- Harris English -12
- Justin Rose -11
- Ryan Fox -11
- Sahith Theegala -11
- Min Woo Lee -10
- Gary Woodland -10
- Russell Henley -10
Selections
Cameron Young (+1650, DraftKings)
A little less than a year ago, Young was in a five-for-one playoff just to qualify for the field at the U.S. Open. Now, he is a three-time PGA Tour winner and a clear top-3 player in the world.
While Scheffler and McIlroy deserve their No. 1 and No. 2 OWGR rankings, aside from a 25th at the RBC Heritage (the week after the near-miss at Augusta), Young has arguably been the best player in the world for three months now, finishing seventh, third, first, third, 25th, first and 10th in his last seven events.
His breakthrough last fall for his first PGA Tour victory was at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield CC, another Donald Ross design.
Ludvig Åberg (22-1, Circa Sports)
Åberg finished eighth last week at Quail Hollow for his fifth top-10 finish in his last six events (four top-5s in his last five).
The Swede is always at or near the top for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green with the driver being his biggest weapon. He was also third for Strokes Gained: Approach last week at the Truist.
The largest improvement in his game has been around the greens. Last season, Åberg ranked 129th on the PGA Tour for Strokes Gained: Around The Green. This year, he is 17th.
His putting has been a bit up and down, but he took to the Bentgrass greens at Augusta two years ago on his debut at the Masters (second in 2024) and then the following year (seventh in 2025).
Tommy Fleetwood (29-1, Bet365)
Despite five top-10 and two top-5 finishes thus far, 2026 has been a bit if a disappointing campaign for Fleetwood.
He finally broke through with his first victory on U.S. soil last year and won the FedExCup, so he was expected to contend in majors this year. It did not happen at the Masters (T-33), but Aronimink and Shinnecock Hills (second in 2018) for the U.S. Open are courses better suited for “Fairway Jesus” to capture his first major championship.
Fleetwood ranks fourth on the PGA Tour for Strokes Gained: Around The Green and ninth for Driving Accuracy.
He is certainly a bit under the radar this week.
Russell Henley (65-1, Circa Sports)
At 37, Henley is an outlier to the age trend in recent years at the PGA Championship, but some players are late bloomers, and Henley is starting to become a proven commodity in major championships with five top-10 finishes in his last seven majors, including a career-best T-3 last month at the Masters, where he briefly held a share of the lead in the final round.
Henley ranks second on the PGA Tour for Driving Accuracy, and a shorter layout by modern standards like Aronimink looks to be a great fit.
He also has six top-10 finishes in his last seven starts on Donald Ross designs, including a seventh in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Rickie Fowler (68-1, DraftKings)
Fowler is playing his best golf in several years with consecutive top-10s at the RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship, and he capped it with a runner-up finish last week at the Truist, where he shared the lead late on Sunday.
He has a solid record on Donald Ross designs, with a runner-up in the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 and finishes of eighth and 13th in two events at Aronimink.
Fowler currently ranks 12th on the PGA Tour for Strokes Gained: Putting, so he should take to these difficult greens more than most.
Kurt Kitayama (90-1, DraftKings)
Kitayama has had a solid 2026 season with a runner-up at the Genesis Invitational and back-to-back top-10s at the RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship.
He finished just T-19 last week but ranked fourth in the field for Strokes Gained: Approach.
His best major championship finish was T-4 at the 2023 PGA Championship held at Oak Hill, also a Donald Ross design in the northeast.
Placement markets, matchups, and/or other bets will be up Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks
