By utilizing PGATour.com’s data, BetCarolina.com wanted to find the anatomy of a PGA Championship winner in order to give us an idea of who to look for at Quail Hollow next week for the 2025 PGA Championship. The data is just from the last 10 PGA Championships to keep the profile current.
BetCarolina, your home to all North Carolina sports betting news, has you covered on the latest odds just over a week out from the slam.
Can Scottie Scheffler win back-to-back starts? Can Rory McIlroy capture the first two majors of the year? Read on to find out, and remember to bookmark BetCarolina's golf betting guide ahead of the first round.
Category |
|
Age | 31 |
Nationality | American (90%) |
Major Champion (Prior) | Yes & No (50%) |
World Golf Ranking (That Season Prior) | 22nd |
Won Tournament (That Season Prior) | Yes (60%) |
“Strokes Gained: Off The Tee” Rank (That Season Prior) | 27th |
“Strokes Gained: Approach” Rank (That Season Prior) | 17th |
“Strokes Gained: Around The Green” Rank (That Season Prior) | 65th |
“Strokes Gained: Putting” Rank (That Season Prior) | 34th |
“Strokes Gained: Total Rank (That Season Prior) | 11th |
*Rounded to nearest whole number
When it comes to picking out a betting favorite for the 2025 PGA Championship that runs from May 15-18 in Charlotte, many are going to go with the man who just tied the PGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record. Scottie Scheffler did just that in the Dallas suburbs over the weekend, shooting a -31 score of 253 at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, matching the record held by Justin Thomas (at the 2017 Sony Open) and Ludvig Aberg (at the 2023 RSM Classic), though that likely won’t mean much when golfer tee off in the Queen City later this month.
That’s because Scheffler has little history at Quail Hollow, only playing the course once when the 2022 Presidents Cup was held, opting to pass on the annual Wells Fargo Championship even when it became a signature event in recent years.
That lack of course knowledge hasn’t scared off oddsmakers though, with the team at ESPN BET listing Scheffler as the early betting favorite in Charlotte, at +500, ranked alongside Masters champ Rory McIlroy. Scheffler also checks plenty of boxes for the anatomy of a PGA Champion, with age 28 near the median of 31 (largely swayed by Phil Mickelson's win after 50), being an American (who've won 9 of the last 10 PGAs) and winning the previous season (8x over!).
🤝 Expert Review: ESPN BET North Carolina Promotions.
Speaking of McIlroy, the Northern Irish golfing superstar has achieved a great deal of success on the links in Charlotte, winning the then-Quail Hollow Championship in 2010 with victories at the Wells Fargo Championship in 2015, 2020 and 2024 to boot.
On top of that, McIlroy also has a runner-up finish in 2012 and four top 10 finishes at the course, helping to explain why the 36-year-old from Hollywood is the current co-betting favorite alongside Scheffler in 2025. McIlroy also of course just broke through at The Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. With that monkey off his back, there could not be a more friendly major course for him than Quail Hollow.
Other names that meet the qualifications laid out above include defending champ Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau, as all three are American golfers who have victories on their respective tours in the previous calendar year.
DeChambeau last summer held off McIlroy to earn the U.S. Open title at Pinehurst, though he fell just short of Schauffele at the PGA Championship in Kentucky. Schauffele then topped guys like Billy Horschel and Justin Rose in mid-July at Troon to capture his first Claret Jug, quickly becoming a multiple major champion.
Thomas just after The Masters snapped his three-year PGA Tour victory drought last month at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, shooting -17 and beating Andrew Novak in a playoff to earn his first tour win since the 2022 PGA Championship, which he captured over Will Zalatoris at Southern Hills in Tulsa.
Of the three men not named McIlroy or Scheffler, Thomas has seen the most success during his time at Quail Hollow, capturing the 2017 PGA Championship for his first major victory.
Schauffele has a pair of runner-up finishes at the 2023 and 2024 Wells Fargo Championship in five appearances, while DeChambeau placed fourth in Charlotte back in 2018 before he joined LIV. DeChambeau, like Scheffler, will also arrive in Charlotte having won his most recent start at LIV Golf Korea.
Based on the odds board at DraftKings Sportsbook, we can assess that oddsmakers have Schauffele as the leader in the pack among those three, with the U.S. golfer listed third overall behind McIlroy and Scheffler, at +1100, while DeChambeau is right behind him at +1200 and Thomas stands at +1800 with just under two weeks to go until the opening tee shot at Quail Hollow. Check back for a DraftKings North Carolina promo code ahead of the first round.
USA Today photo by Kim Hong-Ji.
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetCarolina.com specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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