2011 PGA Championship Predictions
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
Last week we watched Adam Scott put on an impressive performance at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and the biggest headline of the event was the fact that Scott won with caddie Steve Williams, who was just recently fired by Tiger Woods. That switch seems to have done wonders for Scott, who hadn’t won on TOUR since winning the Valero Open back in 2010. Scott will look to build off that impressive 4-shot win this week at the PGA Championship. The final major of the season will take place at Highlands Course at Atlanta Athletic Club.
The tournament was last held at this course back in 2001. David Toms shot a 15-under 265 to take home a one-shot win over Phil Mickelson. The defending PGA Champion is Martin Kaymar, who won the 2010 event with a 11-under 277 at Whistling Straits. The fact that it has been so long since the last time the PGA Championship was held at Highlands, keeps us from looking too much into how players performed on this course. Many of the top young players of today didn’t even play in that event.
This is also a much different course than the one we saw in 2001. The greens have been replaced with Champion Ultradwarf Bermuda to withstand the summer heat, the fairways have been converted to Diamon Zoysia grass, and the rough now consists of Tifton 10 Bermuda. The change that will likely have the biggest impact on the field this week is the rough. Players who don’t find the fairways will have a very difficult time of hitting anywhere near the pin. To score well on this course, players have to really manage their shots and show a lot of patience as there are going to be times when you simply can’t attack the pins and just have to settle for par.
For those of you looking to make a little extra cash on the final major of the season, here is a look at the three players I feel have the best shot at walking away with a win this week.
Rory McIlroy (+1000) – The youngster comes into the PGA Championship as the odds on favorite to win this week, and I believe he is ready to back up his incredible performance at the U.S. Open and really put his stamp on the game. I picked McIlroy to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last week. While he didn’t get the win, he did play some very good golf, finishing tied for sixth. McIlroy definitely has the game to attack Highlands Course, and I would be shocked if he wasn’t at the top of the leaderboard with a chance to win come Sunday.
Phil Mickelson (+2500) – Mickelson hasn’t had a great 2011 season with just one win to date, but getting him at +2500 in a major is a complete steal. The lack of respect that Mickelson is getting is shocking. Tigers Woods has better odds to win this week, and he hasn’t shown any reason at all to believe he is going to contend. While the course is different than 2001, you can’t ignore how well Phil played at this event nine years ago. At this point in his career, Mickelson only cares about winning the big events, and I am confident he will be up to the task this week.
Zach Johnson (+4500) – My third and final pick this week is a bit of a sleeper, but I really like Johnson’s chances of playing well at the PGA Championship. Johnson backed up his 16th place finish at the British Open with a tie for sixth last week at the WGC-Bridestone Invitational. What really makes Johnson a good pick to bet on this week, is his ability to consistently find the fairway, which will allow him to avoid the troubles of the rough. Johnson is 8th in driving accuracy, 16th in putting, and 3rd in bogey avoidance.
Complete Odds to Win the PGA Championship
| Rory McIlroy | +1000 |
| Luke Donald | +1400 |
| Lee Westwood | +1400 |
| Adam Scott | +2000 |
| Tiger Woods | +2000 |
| Phil Mickelson | +2500 |
| Dustin Johnson | +2500 |
| Jason Day | +2500 |
| Steve Stricker | +2500 |
| Rickie Fowler | +3000 |
| Nick Watney | +3000 |
| Martin Kaymer | +3000 |
| Matt Kuchar | +4000 |
| Zach Johnson | +4500 |
| Charl Schwartzel | +5000 |
| Sergio Garcia | +4500 |
| Bubba Watson | +5500 |
| David Toms | +5500 |
| Hunter Mahan | +5500 |
| KJ Choi | +6000 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | +7500 |
| Anthony Kim | +7000 |
| Gary Woodland | +8000 |
| Webb Simpson | +8000 |
| YE Yang | +8000 |
| Lucas Glover | +8000 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | +9000 |
| Martin Laird | +9000 |
| Justin Rose | +9000 |
| Graeme McDowell | +9000 |
| Aaron Baddeley | +10000 |
| Brandt Snedeker | +10000 |
| Robert Karlsson | +10000 |
| Ryo Ishikawa | +10000 |
| Andres Romero | +10000 |
| Francesco Molinari | +10000 |
| Bo Van Pelt | +9000 |
| Jim Furyk | +10000 |
| Simon Dyson | +12500 |
| Ryan Moore | +10000 |
| Bill Haas | +10000 |
| Matteo Manassero | +12500 |
| Charles Howell III | +10000 |
| Peter Hanson | +10000 |
| Stewart Cink | +10000 |
| Ernie Els | +12500 |
| Padraig Harrington | +10000 |
| Kyung-Tae Kim | +12500 |
| Angel Cabrera | +12500 |
| Sean OHair | +12500 |
| Paul Casey | +12500 |
| Davis Love III | +15000 |
| Ross Fisher | +12500 |
| Robert Allenby | +15000 |
| Keegan Bradley | +15000 |
| Trevor Immelman | +15000 |
| Darren Clarke | +15000 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | +15000 |
| Jeff Overton | +15000 |
| Retief Goosen | +9000 |
| Ricky Barnes | +15000 |
| Ian Poulter | +12500 |
| Ryan Palmer | +15000 |
| Alvaro Quiros | +15000 |
| Brendon De Jonge | +15000 |
| Oliver Wilson | +17500 |
| Alexander Noren | +15000 |
| JB Holmes | +17500 |
| Camilo Villegas | +17500 |
| Edoardo Molinari | +20000 |
| Spencer Levin | +17500 |
| Brian Gay | +20000 |
| Ben Crane | +20000 |
| Steve Marino | +17500 |
| Thomas Bjorn | +20000 |
| Rory Sabbatini | +17500 |
| John Senden | +17500 |
| Anders Hansen | +17500 |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | +20000 |
| Scott Piercy | +20000 |
| Vijay Singh | +17500 |
| Jonathan Byrd | +20000 |
| Charley Hoffman | +20000 |
| Scott Stallings | +20000 |
| Richard Green | +20000 |
| Jason Dufner | +20000 |
| Chris Kirk | +20000 |
| Raphael Jacquelin | +20000 |
| Scott Verplank | +20000 |
| Kevin Na | +20000 |
| Brian Davis | +20000 |
| Seung-yul Noh | +20000 |
| Heath Slocum | +25000 |
| D A Points | +20000 |
| Robert Garrigus | +25000 |
| Jhonattan Vegas | +25000 |
| D J Trahan | +25000 |
| Thomas Aiken | +25000 |
| Brandt Jobe | +25000 |
| John Rollins | +25000 |
| Bryce Molder | +25000 |
| Kevin Streelman | +20000 |
| Cameron Tringale | +25000 |
| J J Henry | +30000 |
| Tommy Gainey | +25000 |
| Charlie Wi | +20000 |
| Ryuji Imada | +25000 |
| Johan Edfors | +25000 |
| Stephen Gallacher | +25000 |
| David Horsey | +30000 |
| Pablo Larrazabal | +30000 |
| Jamie Donaldson | +25000 |
| Brendan Steele | +30000 |
| Johnson Wagner | +35000 |
| Bill Lunde | +30000 |
| Harrison Frazar | +35000 |
| Fredrik Andersson Hed | +35000 |
| Steve Elkington | +30000 |
| Yuta Ikeda | +40000 |
| Gregory Bourdy | +30000 |
More Golf Predictions
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