‘This is Major’ is the PGA’s chosen slogan for their flagship major event, as the PGA, European and Japanese Tours all arrive in Tulsa, in what is traditionally known as golf’s hardest competition. No non-professionals are allowed to play in the PGA Championship, and places are distributed only to the finest players in the world.
Amongst the headlines of the second major of the season will be the continued developments of LIV Golf, the golf league funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. The reigning champion, Phil Mickelson, will not be defending his title this year as his request to leave the PGA Tour to play in said tournament. Many more big name European players expected to join him.
Where: Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
When: May 19th, 2022 - May 23rd, 2022
How To Watch: Sky Sports Golf & Main Event will be showing coverage of all four days of the tournament, with the former showing all of the action from 1pm to 1am on Thursday & Friday, and 2pm to 12am on Saturday & Sunday.
Daily highlights will also be available on the Sky Sports app, as well as the BBC Sport website.
The Course: Southern Hills last hosted the PGA Championship back in 2007, when Tiger Woods lifted the Wanamaker Trophy, but the course has gone through major renovations since then. There has been a focus on opening up the course by removing trees and leaving wide open fairways before the new improved greens. They now act like greens should, incredibly fast and treacherous.
Players will have to have their spin and accuracy on point if they want to have a chance of setting up easy putts. Many players in last year’s Senior PGA Championship admitted that they often missed the greens to give themselves an easier shot of holing out from off the green, rather than attempting to land on the savage target. Think of Augusta lite edition, with less foliage and friendlier rough.
Defending Champion: Phil Mickelson won the Championship last year, but will not be returning to the competition to defend his title as he continues to take a break from the sport after his comments about Greg Norman’s LIV Golf and its Saudi-backing.
Prize Money: The total prize purse is $12 million, with the champion pocketing a cool $2.16 million for themselves. 50th place will get $30,840.
Who’s Playing: All of the usual suspects from the world of golf will be attending, and the storylines continue. Rory McIlroy will be hoping he can end his drought without a major win, Jordan Spieth has another chance of completing his grand slam and Bryson DeChambeau is still competing to be fit in time, after undergoing wrist surgery after he missed the cut at The Masters.
The biggest stories of the week will contend with world number one Scottie Scheffler, as he looks to continue his incredible hot streak of competition wins, as well as the return of Tiger Woods, who has been listed to play this week. The warm weather will no doubt suit him more than the icy temperatures over in Georgia as he continues his tour of the majors this year. He recently practised with club chairman Carl Cozby, playing a full 18 at Southern Hills to get him back into the swing of things.
Odds: The two favourites entering the competition are Spain’s Jon Rahm, and the world number one, Scottie Scheffler, both sitting at 12/1 outright winners with Betfred.
Betfred are also seeing Rory McIlroy as the third favourite, a 14/1 outright shout that could land if the Northern Irishman can finally end his drought. Tiger Woods is 66/1 in the outright market, but Betfred’s ten-place outright market could be better, as he sits at 55/1, with a £10 each-way bet returning £680 if he wins, and a top ten finish returning £120.
Schedule:
Monday 16th to Wednesday 18th May: Practice Rounds (1pm to 1:30am BST)
Thursday 19th May: Round One (Tee times from 1pm to 8:42pm BST)
Friday 20th May: Round Two (Tee times from 1pm to 8:42pm BST)
Saturday 21st May: Round Three (Tee times from 1:45pm to 8pm BST)
Sunday 22nd May: Round Four (Tee times from 1:45pm to 8pm BST, trophy presentation expected around 11:30 - midnight BST)
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
