The second Grand Slam of this year begins with the 2025 PGA Championship, which takes place from Thursday to Sunday at the Quail Hollow Club.
Which players do our golf experts think will win? What does our betting experts think are valuable? We broke down favorites before the 2025 PGA Championship, bigger.
Skip to a section:
Experts' Draft Picks | Betting Roundtable
Expert choice
Matt Barrie
Rory McIlroy: I believe there are players who are "running". Rory is on him now. After earning his career-long boobs grand slam, he came to where he won four times. This is his playground. He will win again.
Tory Barron
Justin Thomas: Call it a new bias, but JT is ready to win the PGA championship for the third time. After winning the playoffs in April and ending his nearly three-year unwind drought in the playoffs in April and finishing second in the Truist Championship, his confidence in Quail Hollow (and putters) makes some noise on Quail How, in 2017 he snatched Wanamaker Trophy. Leaf.
Michael Collins
Scottie Scheffler: We will not respect World #1? ! ? People mistakenly thought his behavior was not a killer. The competitors in him will be boiling. But, they will learn again.
Jeff Darlington
Justin Thomas: In October 2024, Thomas clicked on something. He tied for second place in the Zozo Championship - he has been on the Elite Form ever since. He returned to the scene of his first PGA championship victory… Now, he will win again.
Michael Eaves
Rory McIlroy: Finally won the Masters, taking a huge burden from his shoulders. He is probably playing the edge of the easiest golf game he has ever played in nearly a decade, and free-swing Rory is the horrible Rory of the rest of the field. Plus, he has won four previous wins at Quail Hollow, and he owns the course. Who is ready for a Grand Slam speech?
Peter Lawrence-Riddell
Rory McIlroy: Sometimes, if the choice seems too easy, the best way to do it. He got the Master/Grand Slam on his back and was the best golfer in the world in 2025. Added that he won a prize four times, which would be the reward distance, and he was the draft pick.
Andy North
Shane Lowry: He was a great ball driver and hit a great iron.
Mark Schrabach
Bryson DeChambeau: If the winner will need the length of the tee, solid far iron and consistent putts, give me Bryson. He will want to prove that he was underperforming in the Masters Sunday, a kind of fl luck, he won in the LIV Golf League South Korea. He has finished the top six in four of the last five majors, including the runner-up at the 2024 PGA Championship held at Valhalla Golf Club. He will add the Wanamaker trophy to his two U.S. Open trophys.
Marty Smith
Rory McIlroy: He made the PGA championship and has won two of the most prestigious games he participated in this year - the Player Championship and the Masters. Fourteen years of continuous problems and constant pressure disappeared. Full of confidence in every aspect of his game and every club in his bag. Spiritual, emotional, spiritual, physical freedom.
Now he returns to Quail Hollow, where he has the lowest score in PGA Tour history, with 246 players recording at least 20 rounds. Oh, he's already won four times in Quail.
Curtis is strange
Rory McIlroy
right
Rory McIlroy: Given Rory's match and the recent form at Quail Hollow, it feels too obvious as the winner of the week, but I can't convince myself to go somewhere else. Maybe we were caught up at this moment - he just showed us the hardship of winning a professional, let alone two in a row - but for this guy who obviously played the best golf in the world this year, nothing was good this week.
Scott has fur
As the saying goes, Bryson Dechambeau: Quail Hollow is a big court. This week is also a very wet golf course. The advantage of DeChambeau length will be magnified this week and I think he won.
Betting Roundtable
ESPN BET odds 
Who is your choice?
Tyler Fulghum, host of ESPN BET LIVE
Xander Schauffele (+2000). It's hard to avoid choosing McIlroy or Scheffler, but the +500 price (or worse) for two golfers is very expensive. If I were looking outside that first two, I would consider Schauffele. Schauffele has a disciplined and comprehensive game genre that can perform well in such a game, with a long distance and a deep game.
David Gordon, ESPN Research
Shane Lowry (+4500). It can be said that Laurie should be near the top of the second-tier player, but his odds are not fully reflected. If it weren't for Rory or Xander, I would have finished the top six in two of the last four PGA Championships and would have been the current third place for the player: Tee to Green.
Pamela Maldonado, betting analyst
Rory McIlroy (+475). I know he just won the Masters, but Quail Hollow is another story. This is his kingdom. The course plays to his strengths – the driving force of thriving and the towering long irons – which is why McIlroy won four times here. He knows every outline of the course, and his playing style is tailored to this layout. It was a short price, but when McIlroy was in Quail, he was defending his throne.
Who is your favorite bet in the top 10?
Fulghum: Patrick Reed (+550).
Apart from Bryson DeChambeau, the Liff golfer is mostly out of sight. This provides value for these names in the majors, and other Liv golfers who perform relatively well outside of DeChambeau are Reed. He finished third in Augusta in April and finished T2 in 2017 when the PGA last played in Quail How.
Gordon: Bryson DeChambeau (+140)
Since 2020, DeChambeau has top five (three) more than any other player in the PGA Championship. He has participated in different venues in the six top five of his majors since 2020, which proves his ability of course anyway. Compared to Shorter Rough's tee, he worked for the latest winners at Quail Hollow (like McIlroy and Wyndham Clark), and although I think Bryson is a great top five, I'm on the forward insurance for the previous 10.
Maldonado: Jon Ram (+190)
Rahm has long been off his tee, his long iron, to be precise, and has not retreated from the tough track. The Quail was built for someone who could cross 4 poles and cope with green miles pressure, and Ram had two things. Even on a day off, Ram's floor may be higher than most people's ceilings. Even when his putts are cold, he is still a threat because his goal performance has a lot of looks.
What is your favorite Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy bet?
Fulghum: McIlroy Top-10 Finish, Round 1 (+200)
It's hard to find attractive add-on bets on McIlroy's name, but I'll jump on this one. McIlroy is not usually a professional quick starter, but this is a course he leads. In Augusta's victory, he can start here quickly, free and easily.
Gordon: McIlroy at Scheffler: Match (-110)
Pam and Tyler have already said their best in McIlroy. Although he beat the PGA Tour's 72-hole scoring record in the final game, McIlroy has an advantage in class knowledge, length and putting, which makes him difficult.
Maldonado: McIlroy's top ten, round 1 (+200)
The difficult part is done. He completed a professional grand slam. McIlroy is about to enter the hollow quail ground, forming and controlling. Golf is the spirit of skill, he has clarity and confidence. If he just takes part in his own nature game without the urgency, given his course comfort, McIlroy's mindset will focus and his game will be methodical.
Who is your favorite long shot/value bet (assuming 100-1 or more)?
All below: Tony Discover (+200500)
Finau's current game actually shows nothing that he will compete for his game in this game, except for his distance from Tee. However, the price is very attractive to those of Finau's talent level, and unlike the other three majors, the PGA champion is the most likely winner to win the first time.
Gordon: Danny McCarthy (+17500)
McCarthy was sixth in Quail Hollow last year, and McCarthy was one of the three-rounders or better in the past two years (the others are Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood). McCarthy's lack of tee distance is worrying, but apparently he made up for it elsewhere when he came to Quail. His best result of the season was the T-5 from Torrey Pines, one of the longest courses on the tour throughout the season, and I'm going to put an avid player on that putt.
Maldonado: Keith Mitchell (+11,000)
His recent form is interesting. Mitchell has shown a strong upward trend in five straight top 20 in the past four games, including the T-7 at Truist last week. His batting was always solid when he kept making noise with Tee-to-green gain. He does have two top ten in Quail Hollow, so +320 makes more sense for the top 20, +320, and a few dollars of +11,000 can bring some fun.
Are there any other bets that stand out for you?
Gordon: Corey Conners completed as Low Canada (+165)
Conners have cashed in this market in four of the past five majors, the only exception to last year’s Open Championship – six of the last eight majors, both of which were low-ranking Canadian champions in the PGA Championship. He ended in the top 10 five times this season’s tour, with just Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy. He has also completed the T-13 and T-8 at Quail Hollow over the past two years.
Maldonado: Justin Thomas (-120) and Xander Schauffele
Thomas knows how to win here, and Schauffele doesn't stack his approach game while having the tools to compete for. Thomas's Iron was even stronger, giving him an advantage in the rewarding steel competition. In a batting game, JT's consistency with his serving world makes a difference.