PGA Championship 2022: Xander Schauffele Betting Odds, Preview & Prediction
This week, the second major of 2022 gets underway in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Southern Hills Country Club hosts the 104th annual PGA Championship.
Temperatures have been steamy in Tulsa, but the tournament forecast looks agreeable. Weather.com predicts a high of 89 degrees for Thursday, but temperatures are expected to top out at 82 degrees over the following three days. Other than a chance of scattered thunderstorms on Sunday, the weather is expected to be dry, making for firm, fast conditions. It will be breezy for the tournament, especially on Thursday and Friday, so we could see high scores.
Southern Hills has hosted three U.S. Opens and four PGA Championships. The most recent major to be played here was the 2007 PGA Championship. Tiger Woods finished -8 to beat Woody Austin by two shots in that event.
The course will play as a par 70 at 7,546. Three of the par-3s measure over 200 yards, with the longest topping out at 251 yards. The two par-5s play at 656 and 632 yards. Four of the par-4s are 489 yards or longer. This course is a brute.
Defending PGA champ Phil Mickelson, who topped the field at Kiawah Island last year to become the oldest player to win a major, won't be playing this week. But it's still a star-studded field, and Woods expects to play after returning to the Masters last month following a car crash in February 2021.
For those interested in betting on the tournament, we have some thoughts on the outlooks for the top players.
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Xander Schauffele Stats to Know
- Best Odds to Win: 27-1 (via FanDuel)
- World Ranking: 10
- Best PGA Finish: T10 (2020)
- Last Four PGA Finishes: MC, T10, T16, T35
- Last Four Tournament Finishes: T5, 1, MC, 35
Xander Schauffele Tournament History
Last year, Xander Schauffele had a forgettable performance at Kiawah Island, shooting 73-77 to miss the cut. He had cracked the top 20 in his two previous PGA Championship appearances, finishing tied for 10th at TPC Harding Park in 2020 and tied for 16th at Bethpage Black in 2019.
Xander Schauffele Recent Form
How much does a player's performance in his pre-PGA tune-up matter? It actually matters quite a bit.
Andy Lack (@adplacksports) of OddsChecker and the “Inside Golf Podcast†noted that each of the last 15 PGA champions made the cut in his previous start, 14 of the last 15 champions finished top 30 in their previous start, and seven of the past 15 champs finished top five in their previous start.
That would seem to bode well for Schauffele, who tied for fifth at last week's AT&T Byron Nelson, thanks to a blistering final-day 61. Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans teams event two starts ago. Momentum matters and Schauffele has it.
Xander Schauffele PGA Championship Prediction
Not only is Schauffele hot, but his game would seem to fit Southern Hills. The length of the course is going to make driving critical. Schauffele ranks 32nd in driving distance and fourth in total driving. There will be many balls rolling off the edges of the contoured Southern Hills greens this week, so getting up and down will be of the essence. Schauffele ranks 22nd in scrambling.
With momentum on his side and a game that seems well-tailored to Southern Hills, Schauffele is worth an investment. He's a value at 25-1 on DraftKings (and an even better value at 27-1 on FanDuel), and in addition to betting him to win, you might want to consider taking the 5-1 odds on a top-five finish.
PGA Championship 2022 Golfer Profiles
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