After shooting a final-round 61 in last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational to claim his fourth win of the season, Hideki Matsuyama will resume the pursuit of his first major tournament victory on Thursday when he tees off at +1100 on the odds to win the PGA Championship at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Last weekend’s impressive final-round performance set a course record at Firestone Country Club and cemented Matsuyama’s position at No. 3 on the World Golf Ranking entering Thursday morning’s opening round of the 99th PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The 25-year-old has now shot 69 or better in eight of his past 11 rounds. Matsuyama earned a share of second place at this year’s US Open, which he entered sporting +3000 odds, and also had a 14th-place finish at last month’s Open Championship as a +2000 bet.
Matsuyama finished a career-best fourth at last year’s PGA Championship as a +5500 wager, marking the first time he has finished higher than 19th at the final major tournament of the season. Despite such impressive recent performances, though, Matsuyama still sits well back of tournament favorite Rory McIlroy, who leads the way at +700 on the odds.
It has been a tough campaign for McIlroy, who has failed to pick up a tournament victory since last September’s TOUR Championship. However, the native of Northern Ireland has produced steady results since missing the cut at the US Open as a +1200 bet. McIlroy shot a final-round 64 to finish the Travelers Championship in 17th place and now has cracked 70 in seven straight rounds, including the final three rounds of the Open Championship, where he finished in a tie for fourth with +2000 odds.
Following an impressive three-stroke victory at the Open Championship, which he opened alongside McIlroy as a +1400 co-favorite, Jordan Spieth is a solid +800 to complete the career grand slam with a win at the PGA Championship this week.
Spieth rebounded from a disappointing 35th-place performance at the Masters to claim consecutive wins at the Travelers Championship and Open Championship and finished a strong 13th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. But the 24-year-old Texan turned in mixed results in previous PGA Championship appearances, twice missing the cut before finishing second two years ago at Whistling Straits.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson rounds out the front of the pack at +1200, followed by Rickie Fowler at +1600, while Jon Rahm joins Brooks Koepka at +2500. 2015 PGA Championship winner Jason Day trails at +2800, well ahead of last year’s champion Jimmy Walker, who sports long +10000 odds.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
