Tiger Woods will be at Valhalla Golf Club next week when the best golfers in the world tee it up at the PGA Championship. Woods had won the PGA four times, including at Valhalla in 2000. His last PGA win was in 2007.
He is one of the 16 prior PGA Championship winners in the field, including three-time winner and defending champion Brooks Koepka.
The full list of former champions that will be at the event include Woods, Koepka, and Justin Thomas, Phil Mickelson, Collin Morikawa, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Y.E. Yang, Padraig Harrington, Shaun Micheel, Vijay Singh, and John Daly.
Absent from the list of PGA champions is the No. 1 golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler. But he will be there, and he will have the eyes of the golf world following his every shot. Scheffler’s last five tournaments have been Arnold Palmer Invitational (Win), The Players Championship (Win), Texas Open (T2), Masters (Win), and RBC Heritage (Win).
Prior to Scheffler winning four of five tournaments, the last male golfer to do it was Tiger Woods. He won five of six to close out 2007. In that streak for Woods was his PGA Championship win.
Scheffler is an incredible +350 to win at Valhalla and claim his first PGA Championship. McIlroy is +1200 and Jon Rahm is next at +1400.
LIV Golfers in Field
Rahm qualified for the PGA based on his win at the Masters in 2023. Mickelson is another LIV golfer who will be in Louisville because he’s a former PGA winner. Koepka is also a qualifier because of his wins at the PGA.
Cam Smith won the Open in 2022, Dustin Johnson was the Masters winner in 2020, Bryson DeChambeau was the U.S. Open winner in 2020, and all three will be at Valhalla because of those wins.
The PGA Championship hasn’t been as anti-LIV as other majors, and they have also extended an invitation to Talor Gooch. Gooch won LIV’s individual points title last season, and while that didn’t automatically qualify him for the PGA, the tournament has invited him because of it.
The PGA prides itself on having the most competitive field available, and they have also extended invitations to LIV golfers that didn’t qualify for the PGA Championship, but rank in the top 100 in the world. That includes Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann, Dean Burmester, Lucas Herbert, and Adrian Meronk. David Puig, who ranks No. 106 in the world, was also given an invite on the strength of his two wins on the Asian Tour this season.
Two Qualifying Spots This Weekend
At the moment, the PGA is holding two spots in the field for the possible winners of the two events being played this weekend, the Wells Fargo Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic. Should the winner of either event be someone not already in the field, they will get an automatic invite.
At the Wells Fargo Championship, McIlroy is the betting favorite at +650. Xander Schauffele is +900, and Wyndham Clark is third at +1600. The non-PGA qualifier with the shortest odds on the board is Seamus Power, paying +15000.
At the Myrtle Beach Classic, Erik Van Rooyen, Daniel Berger, and Ben Griffin are tied atop the odds board at +2500. Van Rooyen and Griffin will be at the PGA. Berger needs the win to join them.
With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.
