Golf’s major season continues as the best male players in the world descend on upstate New York for the 2023 PGA Championship.
A month-and-a-half on from Jon Rahm’s triumph at the Masters, the Spaniard and the rest of the class of the golfing world now turn their attentions to Oak Hill’s East Course.
The course has thrice hosted this event before, and while a star-studded field includes plenty of obvious contenders, history suggests that Oak Hill is also a place at which a relative outsider can thrive.
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The largely unheralded Shaun Micheel claimed his only PGA Tour win in this championship on this course 20 years ago, while Jason Dufner’s only major title also came at Oak Hill in 2013.
Here are some potential contenders and dark horses to look out for over the weekend.
Scottie Scheffler (8/1)
Of course, Jon Rahm’s form and Masters win makes the world number one an obvious favourite, but Scottie Scheffler has been in equally fine fettle during the first few months of 2023. The 26-year-old so rarely has an off day and looked in nice touch at the Byron Nelson last weekend. If he can keep putting smoothly across the four days, there’s every chance Scheffler is right in contention.
Tony Finau (20/1)
Oak Hill is often a place where the best ball strikers thrive, which might well bring Tony Finau into the mix. It is now nearly two years since the American recorded the last of his ten top-ten major finishes but his recent win in Mexico ahead of Rahm showed Finau’s talent. The course should also suit his left-to-right fade.
Jason Day (25/1)
It was lovely to see Jason Day back lifting a trophy at the Byron Nelson, with the Australian back winning on the PGA Tour after a difficult five years. Can he keep that sort of fluency and challenge for a second PGA Championship crown? He was right in contention for a top ten Masters finish before a disastrous Sunday at Augusta - Day’s confidence should have swollen significantly with last weekend’s victory, which might just give him the belief he needs to hold his own over the weekend.
Patrick Reed (80/1)
Brooks Koepka or Dustin Johnson might be the more obvious challengers among the LIV Golf rebels, but Patrick Reed is suprisingly unfavoured, and could go well at Oak Hill. A top-five Masters finish showed an uber competitor retains his big weekend nerve, and Reed might have the right sort of character and game to contend.
Tom Hoge (200/1)
A proper long shot. It may be that Tom Hoge again struggles to translate his solid enough PGA Tour showings into a major weekend, but his crisp approach play should be valuable. Hoge went well at this tournament at Southern Hills last year and showed what he is capable of with a sparkling 62 at the Players Championship in March.
