The 108th PGA Championship gets underway Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia. It’s a course that most golf fans know mostly by reputation — a classic Donald Ross design that was restored to its roots ahead of this week, with 174 bunkers (more than double the previous count) and expansive, contoured greens that will punish anyone who misses in the wrong spot. At 7,394 yards and playing to a par 70, Aronimink doesn’t need length to bite. It needs precision.
Nobody is shocked that Scottie Scheffler is once again the man to beat. The world No. 1 comes in at +450 (via FanDuel), defending the title he won last year at Quail Hollow. Scheffler has been practically untouchable across the last two seasons, and this year is no different — only three players have beaten him across his last three Tour events. He finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the Masters and was edged by Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage, which for most players would represent a career highlight. For Scheffler, those are near-misses.
The question for bettors isn’t whether Scheffler is the best player in the world — he clearly is. The question is whether +450 is enough juice to make the bet worthwhile. At a par 70 course loaded with positional demands, his ball-striking and green-reading give him a legitimate edge. If you’re building a PGA Championship betting portfolio, he’s hard to leave out entirely, but his price alone shouldn’t be the reason you back him.
Behind Scheffler, a handful of players have made a strong case to be on your ticket heading into Thursday. Rory McIlroy checks in at +800, fresh off his Masters victory and playing some of the best golf of his career. He’s a two-time PGA Championship winner — including a dominant eight-shot victory at Kiawah Island in 2012 — and ranks second in Strokes Gained: Total on Tour this year, trailing only Scheffler. This is a player who loves big stages and has shown no signs of slowing down after finally completing the career Grand Slam.
Cameron Young at +1100 is arguably the hottest name in golf right now. He’s already collected wins at the Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship in 2026 and finished T3 at the Masters. Young is playing with the kind of confidence that gets dangerous at major venues, and his price reflects a player who has earned his seat at the top of the board.
Jon Rahm (+1400) and Bryson DeChambeau (+1800) represent the best of what LIV Golf is sending into Aronimink. Rahm has the complete game and major pedigree to contend anywhere. DeChambeau’s raw power becomes slightly less of an advantage on a course that rewards precision over distance, but his short game improvement keeps him in the conversation.
Matt Fitzpatrick at +2200 deserves serious attention. He won the U.S. Open at Brookline in 2022 — a course with similar Donald Ross design DNA — and he’s been one of the most consistent ball-strikers on Tour this season, coming off a win at the RBC Heritage. Fitzpatrick thrives in exactly the kind of precision-based test Aronimink sets up to be. He is a legitimate sleeper at this price.
Ludvig Aberg (+2000) is another name worth a longer look. The young Swede has elite iron play and solid course management, and has shown he can compete at the major level. He came close at Augusta in 2024 and has continued to develop into one of the most dangerous young players in the world. His price feels like it hasn’t fully caught up with his talent.
Tommy Fleetwood (+2500) is a perennial major contender who keeps putting himself in position without quite breaking through. On a Donald Ross layout with difficult greens, his touch and creativity should play well. At this number, the reward-to-risk ratio is attractive for anyone building a multi-ticket approach to the week.
Aronimink last hosted the PGA Championship back in 1962, and the course was significantly revamped ahead of this week. The restoration doubled the bunker count to 174 and expanded the greens to restore Ross’s original vision. The result is a course that demands precise approach play and elite putting on surfaces with significant slope and movement. Holes 8 and 10 are expected to separate the field — No. 8 is a long downhill par 3 that can play several different distances depending on pin position, while No. 10 features a pond guarding the front left and a severely sloping green surrounded by thick rough and daunting collection areas.
A par 70 layout at 7,394 yards sounds manageable for Tour pros, but the combination of the greens, the bunker placement, and positional demands off the tee means brute force alone won’t win here. That’s good news for the precision players like Fitzpatrick, Fleetwood, and Aberg, and it arguably favors Scheffler’s all-around game over pure bombers. If you’re building a betting card for the week, compare lines across the top books before you lock anything in — small differences in outright odds add up fast over a 156-man field. Check the best betting sites to make sure you’re getting the best number available.
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