Round 1 confirmed what many of us thought entering this week: Oak Hill is an absolute beast of a course.
The score to beat is just 5-under, with Eric Cole leading the pack.
Below, I look ahead at the current PGA Championship odds and give you my best PGA Championship picks for the second round.
PGA Championship Round 2 picks
Picks made on 5/18/2023 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
Best PGA Championship bonuses
Looking to do some PGAbetting? Here are two of the best bonuses* available:
A) Add +300 onto any golfer to win the PGA Championship at DraftKings! Opt-in Now
B) New users at FanDuel can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets! Sign Up Now
*Eligible USA locations only. Also, check out our full list of best sportsbook promotions for 2023.
21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
Best 2023 PGA Championship Round 2 picks
Scottie Scheffler over Rory McIlroy (-145)
Simply put, this is a bad line. Regardless of whether this play cashes or not, Scottie Scheffler should not only lay –145 to score lower than Rory McIlroy in the second round of this tournament, especially considering that a draw is listed as no action.
These guys are in two completely opposite head spaces and places in their respective games right now. Scheffler hasn’t finished lower than 12th in a tournament since October, while also finishing inside the Top 10 in seven of his past 10 major championship appearances.
Meanwhile, it has been a whirlwind of a season for McIlroy. He hasn’t finished above 47th place in any of his three previous tournaments, including his missed cuts at both the Masters Tournament and THE PLAYERS Championship.
Whether it be McIlroy’s poor body language on the course, his short one-word answers in media scrums, or his withdrawal from an elevated event last month, you can look both on and off the course to see that things are just not going well for McIlroy at the moment. He didn’t even play that poorly in Thursday’s opening round, finishing 1-over to place him around the 30th place mark.
However, that still doesn’t mean that he‘s likely to keep pace with Scheffler, who currently sits one shot behind the lead at 3-under. Scheffler’s current positioning isn’t shocking in the slightest, especially considering how Oak Hill sets up for his game.
With thin fairways, thick rough, and hazards lining the fairways and protecting the greens, accuracy is key at this track. On TOUR this year, Scheffler ranks first in greens in regulation percentage (GIR%) and 22nd in fairways in regulation percentage (FIR%).
On the other hand, McIlroy ranks 172nd and 193rd in those two respective categories. Not only was Scheffler’s score four strokes lower than McIlroy’s on Thursday, but his underlying metrics suggest to expect more of the same on Friday.
Among the field on Thursday, Scheffler ranked 89 spots higher than McIlroy in strokes gained putting, 13 spots higher in strokes gained around the green, 65 spots higher in strokes gained off the tee, and five spots higher in strokes gained tee to green.
He ‘s performing better in every aspect of the game outside of the approach, and considering all of the other aforementioned variables, there is no reason to believe that Scheffler will not score lower than McIlroy once again in the second round.
Best odds: Scottie Scheffler over Rory McIlroy in Round 2 (-145 at DraftKings)
