Scottie Scheffler Entering Tiger Woods Territory As Massive Favorite To Win PGA Championship
Not since Tiger Woods in his prime have we seen someone dominate golf like Scottie Scheffler is right now. Scheffler won his second green jacket after winning The Masters on Sunday. Looking ahead to the next major of 2024, the PGA Championship, sportsbooks have Scheffler as a big favorite to win there, too.
The 2024 PGA Championship will be contested at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky from May 16-19. As incredible as Scheffler has played over the last few years, he's actually only won one of the four majors.
He finished second at the PGA Championship last year and second at the U.S. Open in 2022. His best finish at The Open came with an eighth place finish in 2021.
Despite that, sportsbooks like his chances to add to that total this year. Scheffler entered The Masters as the biggest favorite since Tiger Woods.
Sportsbooks have Scottie Scheffler as a big favorite to win the PGA Championship next month, similar to Tiger Woods in his prime.
(Getty Images)
According to ESPN Stats and Information, "Scheffler [had] the shortest [pre-tournament] odds to win the Masters since Woods in 2013 (+350) and the shortest odds to win any major since Woods at the 2013 PGA Championship (+400)."
Well, that +400 number for Woods at the 2013 PGA Championship is exactly where Scheffler finds himself right now. At DraftKings, Scheffler is +400. He's +450 at FanDuel and none of the big legal online sportsbooks have him higher than +550.
It's really wild to see a guy have those kinds of pre-tournament odds a major championship, especially since there are some other excellent players in golf right now. Jon Rahm is a former #1 ranked golfer and a two-time major champion.
2023 Masters Champion Jon Rahm helps 2024 Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler put on his green jacket.
(Rob Schumacher/USA Today Network)
Rory McIlroy is another former #1 ranked golfer with four major championship victories (two PGA Championships). Both of those guys are between +1000 and +1500, depending on the book, to win this year's PGA Championship.
Then, there's Brooks Koepka, a two-time PGA Champion and the defending champion, who beat Scheffler by two shots in 2023.
But, none of those guys have the juice that Scottie Scheffler has right now. He's won three of the last four tournaments he's played, including the PLAYERS Championship (often considered the "fifth major").
In the only tournament of the four he didn't win, he finished in a tie for second.
Interestingly, the guy who Scheffler is being compared to right now – Tiger Woods – never won the Masters and the PGA Championship in the same year. Scheffler is the favorite to accomplish one of the few golf feats that eluded Woods.
Can he do it? We'll find out next month…