With one Major in the books, it won't be long until the Tour is gearing up for the PGA Championship, which takes place at Bethpage Black, one of the toughest tee-to-green tests around, on beautiful Long Island from May 16 to 19.
Bethpage Black hasn't hosted a major since 2009 when Lucas Glover won a rain-soaked U.S. Open. Tiger Woods also won his 2002 U.S. Open here, which will help us from a betting standing point as the 2019 Masters Champ has already dropped to +850 and will likely push other high-level players down the board.
Bethpage is a 7,400-yard behemoth that has played as a par 70 for the two U.S. Opens and a par 71 for two FedEx Cup events, won by Nick Watney in 2012 and Patrick Reed in 2016.
2019 PGA Championship Early Betting Thoughts
I've already played Hideki Matsuyama (50-1) and Sergio Garcia (66-1) early this year. Matsuyama's number has dropped a bit, but Garcia is still hanging in that range and is worth a punt.
There is one player that I added to my card right after the final round Augusta. Tony Finau is starting to put together a resume that resembles the one Brooks Koepka built prior to his first Major. Finau has finished inside the top 10 in four of his last five Majors and will be an automatic top-20 play at plus money for any of these events.
Finau has played well at Bethpage Black before, finishing 12th in the 2016 FedEx Cup as a rookie. Of course the knock on Finau is that he's barely won on the PGA Tour, so how can win a Major? That was the same thing we heard about Koepka, who now has five tour wins — including three Majors.
Some players are just built for these big events and I think Finau has enough ability from tee-to-green to win against elite players. The 29-year-old ended up shooting even par in the middle of the Tiger Woods storm on Sunday, a better round than Francesco Molinari, a Major champion in his own right. Finau has been in the mix twice, playing in two final pairings in the last four Majors.
Bethpage Black is a course that suits Finau's game well and I don't think this number will get any bigger. Most sportsbooks will likely have him 33-1 or shorter by the time we tee off.
PGA Championship Card to date
- Tony Finau +4500
- Hideki Matsuyama +5000
- Sergio Garcia +6600
