At a visually stunning 7,849 yards, Kiawah Island's Ocean Course is rated the toughest in America by the USGA. The course, which is on the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina and was made famous by the 1991 Ryder Cup, gets its second shot at major-championship golf as the host site for the 2021 PGA Championship. Nine years ago, Rory McIlroy tamed the Ocean Course to the tune of 13-under par to win by eight strokes. Now, he will return to the scene of his victory when the PGA Championship 2021 begins on Thursday, May 20.
McIlroy will face plenty of stiff competition, most notably from current world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who is the favorite at 10-1 in the latest 2021 PGA Championship odds from William Hill Sportsbook. Jon Rahm is close behind at 11-1, with Thomas at 12-1, defending U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau at 14-1, and McIlroy at 16-1 on the PGA odds board. Before locking in your 2021 PGA Championship picks, be sure to see the 2021 PGA Championship predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been on fire since the return of the PGA Tour in June. In fact, it's up over $10,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
At the 2021 Masters, McClure nailed Jon Rahm's (+250) top-five finish, as well as Corey Conners' (+550) top-10 showing. All told, McClure's best bets netted over $450 at the Masters.
In addition, McClure was all over Daniel Berger's win at +1400 in his best bets at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. McClure also nailed Viktor Hovland's (+2500) victory in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December. That was one of many huge calls he's made in the past few months.
After nailing Sergio Garcia (+5500) finishing on top of the leaderboard at the Sanderson Farms Championship, McClure finished up over $6,200 yet again on his best bets in that tournament. The model had him in the top five from the start and McClure's best bets included Garcia winning outright. He also finished profitable at the U.S. Open, nailing two of his best bets, including a +1100 top-five bet on Matthew Wolff.
This same model has also nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed its golf picks has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2021 PGA Championship field is taking shape, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected 2021 PGA Championship leaderboard.
One major surprise the model is calling for at the PGA Championship 2021: Bryson DeChambeau, the defending U.S. Open champion and one of the top favorites, struggles and barely cracks the top 10. DeChambeau has been one of the hottest players on tour this season, finishing on top of the leaderboard at the U.S. Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The eight-time PGA Tour champion has been sensational off the tee this season, ranking first in driving distance, strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained off the tee. DeChambeau's length off the tee also has him ranked inside the top 12 in both scoring average and birdie average.
However, DeChambeau is hitting fewer than 60 percent of fairways off the tee, which can cause plenty of trouble at Kiawah Island. His inability to find the fairway off the tee has resulted in DeChambeau finishing outside the top 40 in his last two starts on the PGA Tour, which includes a 46th finish at the Masters. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in the PGA Championship 2021 field.
Another surprise: Patrick Reed, a 33-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. It would be fitting for Reed, who has played perhaps the best golf of his career in the Ryder Cup, to win at the home of the 1991 event. "Captain America" was a star in the 2014, 2016 and 2018 Ryder Cups and will assuredly feel the same vibes at the Ocean Course.
Reed has three top-20 finishes at the PGA Championship in his career, including a second-place performance in 2017 at Quail Hollow. That six-under finish, two strokes behind winner Justin Thomas, was Reed's best effort to date at a major until his triumph the following spring at the Masters. A winner already this season at the Farmers Insurance Open, Reed is a threat to hoist the trophy any time he tees it up and will have a strong shot at finishing on top of the PGA Championship 2021 leaderboard.
The model is targeting four other golfers with PGA Championship odds 2021 higher than 20-1 to make a strong run at the Wanamaker Trophy. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big. You can only see them here.
So who will win the 2021 PGA Championship? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2021 PGA Championship leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed six golf majors and is up over $10,000 since the restart.
Dustin Johnson 10-1Jon Rahm 11-1Justin Thomas 12-1Bryson DeChambeau 14-1Jordan Spieth 16-1Brooks Koepka 16-1Xander Schauffele 16-1Rory McIlroy 16-1Collin Morikawa 22-1Patrick Cantlay 25-1Hideki Matsuyama 25-1Daniel Berger 30-1Viktor Hovland 30-1Tony Finau 30-1Will Zalatoris 33-1Tommy Fleetwood 33-1Tyyrell Hatton 33-1Webb Simpson 33-1Patrick Reed 33-1Justin Rose 40-1Harris English 40-1Jason Day 40-1Cameron Smith 40-1Scottie Scheffler 45-1Joaquin Niemann 50-1Louis Oosthuizen 50-1Matthew Wolff 50-1Matthew Fitzpatrick 50-1Adam Scott 50-1Paul Casey 50-1Sung-Jae Im 60-1Sergio Garcia 60-1Shane Lowry 66-1Lee Westwood 66-1Marc Leishman 66-1Corey Conners 66-1Francesco Molinari 80-1Gary Woodland 80-1Max Homa 80-1Rickie Fowler 80-1Si-Woo Kim 80-1Abraham Ancer 80-1Matt Kuchar 100-1Henrik Stenson 100-1Bubba Watson 100-1Cameron Champ 100-1Brendon Todd 100-1Robert Macintyre 125-1Kevin Kisner 125-1Branden Grace 125-1Billy Horschel 125-1Jason Kokrak 125-1Martin Kaymer 125-1Christiaan Bezuidenhout 125-1Kevin Na 125-1Sebastian Munoz 125-1Alex Noren 125-1Zach Johnson 125-1Ian Poulter 125-1Phil Mickelson 125-1Bernd Wiesberger 150-1Thomas Pieters 150-1Danny Willett 150-1Byeong Hun An 150-1Chez Reavie 150-1Rafa Cabrera Bello 200-1