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PGA Championship: Expert Picks

It’s time for some Majors

By Mark Abell
PGA Championship - Final Round Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Tournament Information

PGA Championship
Date: August 6th – 9th
Course: TPC Harding Park
Purse: $11MM ($1.9MM to winner)
FedEx points: 600 to winner
2019 Winner: Brooks Koepka (-8)
OWGR Points: 100

Course

TPC Harding Park — Established in 1925, this municipal park (formerly Harding Park before it became part of the tournament players club) is a 7,169 yard par 72 with a course rating of 74.3 and a slope rating of 129. The course was designed by Willie Watson and Sam Whiting and it is named after Warren G Harding (he died in office while visiting two years earlier). This course hosted the Presidents Cup in 2009.

PGA TOUR - The Presidents Cup - Round Two Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

My Starting 4

Bryson DeChambeau (2nd selection this year) — DeChambeau has been among the best since the restart and hitting his drives a mile doesn’t hurt.

Rory McIlroy (3rd selection this year) — McIlroy has been one of the better golfers on California courses over the last two years. He has averaged a 5th place finish on all CA courses over that time. 5th in FedEx Ranking, 3rd in OWGR.

Jon Rahm (3rd selection this year) — The #1 overall player has been lights out on California courses over the last few years.

Brooks Koepka (2nd selection this year) — Back pains aside, Koepka looked real dominant last week and as the back to back winner here, there is no reason to not give it a shot. He’s currently 6th in official world golf ranking.

My Bench 2

Justin Thomas (4th selection this year) — Thomas wasn’t bad by any means in California last year but he was generally outside the top 25. He was electric here in 2018. He is 1st on the tour in total strokes gained.

Jason Day (3rd selection this year) — Day has succeeded at the PGA Championship (see win) and at California where he has a handful of top 10 finishes recently. He’s 1st in strokes gained around the green and 21st in total strokes gained.

Fun Fact: This is the first PGA Championship in Western US since 1998.

2020 Stats
Starting 4: Avg finish 46th (32nd percentile)
Bench 2: Avg finish 63rd (44th percentile)