Xander Schauffele held onto his first-round lead, currently holding a one-stroke advantage over the field following 36 holes of the PGA Championship.
However, I'm more focused on some guys further down the board, with a big name giving plus money on a group bet, plus a couple of intriguing Top-20 finish plays.
Here are my best PGA Championship picks ahead of today's Round 3.
Best PGA Championship Round 3 picks
Bryson DeChambeau – Winner of Group B (+150)
Group B on FanDuel consists of DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay. This is essentially a two-horse race between Morikawa and DeChambeau, as Homa and Cantlay are 5+ strokes back of Bryson... who trails Morikawa by two shots.
With that said, I like the plus-money value on DeChambeau to surpass Morikawa with two rounds to go, as he has arguably been the better player thus far. Entering today, DeChambeau outranks him in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, driving distance and greens in regulation percentage.
Morikawa has scrambled better and is sinking more putts, but that is an unsustainable method of winning a head-to-head matchup when the other guy is striking the ball so much better.
Sure, Morikawa could keep getting up-and-down to salvage holes, but at +150, I will back the better ball striker to overcome that gap.
Pick: Bryson DeChambeau – Winner of Group B (+150 at FanDuel)
Will Zalatoris – Top 20 (+300)
Zalatoris enters Round 3 at T41, and there is more than enough time for him to make up ground and secure a Top 20 finish — especially at PGA Championship odds of +300. After shooting par in Round 1, Zalatoris rebounded on Saturday with a 3-under 68 as his short game dramatically improved.
That is always the case with Z: We know the ball striking is there, but how will he handle the short game? Well, the answer to that question is trending in the right direction after yesterday, so it’s worth taking a shot at that continuing over the weekend.
Zalatoris always seems to elevate his game at majors, making the cut in five consecutive events heading into this week, while posting four Top-10 finishes over that stretch.
Two of those events he finished as the runner-up, so I feel — even at his current position — a Top-20 finish at this price is too good to pass up.
Pick: Will Zalatoris – Top-20 finish (+300 at FanDuel)
Min Woo Lee – Top 20 (+190)
The other guy I'm targeting in that same betting market is Min Woo Lee, who currently sits T29 at -4. After a disappointing 72 in the opening round, Lee fired back on Friday with a tremendous 66 that now has him within striking distance of this market.
I want to keep riding the hot hand, after his performance improved across the broad in Round 2, especially at +190 odds. Like Zalatoris, Lee is another promising young golfer who has proven he can handle the elevated competition of major championships.
He has made the weekend in four consecutive major championships, including his fifth-place finish at last year’s U.S. Open — an event at Los Angeles Country Club where the play over the first two days was far easier than the play over the weekend.
I think that's is a good indicator for Lee's success, as I expect this weekend at Valhalla will also play more difficult than the first two days as well.
Pick: Min Woo Lee – Top-20 Finish (+190 at FanDuel)
Latest PGA Championship odds
- Xander Schauffele (+250)
- Scottie Scheffler (+320)
- Collin Morikawa (+500)
- Bryson DeChambeau (+900)
- Sahith Theegala (+1200)
- Brooks Koepka (+1800)
- Viktor Hovland (+2000)
- Rory McIlroy (+3300)
- Tony Finau (+3500)
- Thomas Detry (+4000)
Odds courtesy of FanDuel.
