Scottie Scheffler (USA)
World ranking: 1st
Best PGA finish: 1st (2025)
Betting: 9-2
The defending champion does things his own way, as he showed by skipping the Truist – at Quail Hollow, where he won the Wannamaker Trophy last year – so that he could arrive early at Aronimink Golf Club. Scheffler was on the Donald Ross classic course on Sunday while many of his rivals were completing the final round of the Truist. His only win so far this season came in the American Express back in January, but he has finished runner-up in each of his last three events – the Masters, the RBC Heritage and the Cadillac – so it is only a matter of time before he gets back to winning ways. The man to beat this week.
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Shane Lowry (Ireland)
World ranking: 38th
Best PGA finish: tied-4th (2021)
Betting: 55-1
The Offaly man had a terrific start to the season and could have had a couple of titles in the bag – Dubai Invitational, the Cognizant – only for untypical late-round lapses that seemed to work into the psyche with missed cuts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players. A final round of 80 in the Masters then saw him slip from being in contention to a disappointing 30th-place finish, his angst so much that he didn’t even attend Rory McIlroy’s party. Time heals, though. And Lowry’s last round ahead of the PGA was a bogey-free 65 to close out the Cadillac, so hopefully he has put the demons to bed. The course should suit him too, with a strong requirement on approach play.
Cameron Young (USA)
World ranking: 3rd
Best PGA finish: 3rd (2022)
Betting: 12-1
One of the most in-form players in the world, Young’s win in The Players was followed up with a victory in the Cadillac Championship that has elevated him to a career-best third in the world rankings and playing the best golf of his life headed into the PGA in a quest for a maiden Major. Young has finished outside the top-10 just once (at the RBC Heritage) in his last seven tournament outings. Mentally strong, cool and calm under pressure, he has the make-up of a Major champion in waiting.
Matt Fitzpatrick (England)
World ranking: 4th
Best PGA finish: 5th (2022)
Betting: 20-1
An indication of Matt Fitzpatrick’s hot streak on the PGA Tour is that he was rated an 80-1 prospect for the PGA Championship after the Arnold Palmer Invitational and before The Players, where he finished runner-up to Cameron Young. Since then, Fitzpatrick has been on fire with wins in the Valspar, the RBC Heritage and alongside his brother Alex in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The 2022 US Open champion has never been in better form headed into a Major.
Brooks Koepka (USA)
World ranking: 125th
Best PGA finish: 1st (2018, 2019, 2023)
Betting: 35-1
Koepka saw the writing on the LIV wall before anyone, although his return to the PGA Tour has been something of a slow-burner without yet catching fire. His best finish so far this season is a tied-ninth in the Cognizant Classic while he was a solid tied-12th in the Masters. Unable to get into the Truist – a signature event – last week, he opted to sharpen up at the alternative Myrtle Beach Classic with a solid tied-11th finish. Koepka, a three-time PGA champion, has pedigree and won’t back off if he gets into contention.
