With rumors rampant that sports might be returning at some point in June, it appears that the PGA Tour will be at the forefront, leading the way.
It makes sense as golf seems to be one sport where social distancing could work and the sport can go on – in some fashion – with minimal people around the players.
PGA Tour 2020 Schedule Still Remains
The PGA Tour has announced its fall schedule with a shuffling of the majors. The 2020 Open Championship have been canceled while the other three are still on the calendar. It makes sense, to an extent, as The Open actually had pandemic insurance, so they are able to protect themselves.
For the other three, here are the updated dates:
- PGA Championship: August 3rd – August 9th
- U.S. Open: September 14th – September 20th
- Masters: November 9th – November 15th
2020 PGA Tour Betting Odds
All of the major sportsbooks like FanDuel, DraftKings and other NJ sports betting apps have updated the odds to win each major.
Let’s take a quick look at who is favored for each event.
2020 PGA Championship – TPC Harding Park
- Rory McIlroy +600
- Brooks Koepka +1200
- Dustin Johnson +1200
- Justin Thomas +1200
- Jon Rahm +1600
- Tiger Woods +1800
You’ll see a common theme here as Rory McIlroy is favored at every major as of right now. You might want to be cautious betting him on the outright markets, though, as McIlroy actually hasn’t won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship. That’s right: he hasn’t registered a win in any of the last 20 majors.
McIlroy is often close as he has 10 Top 10’s in that span but the PGA Championship isn’t a place he regularly does well.
- He placed eighth there in 2019 but prior to that, was 50th, 22nd, missed the cut and 17th in the four previous years.
- He has won it twice – in 2012 and 2014 – but he hasn’t really been that close since.
One of the reasons we see McIlroy favored at all three majors is he was arguably the best player on the tour going into the break. He’s the world’s top-ranked golfer and had finished no worse than fifth on the PGA Tour through the 2020 calendar.
He was third at the ZOZO Championship, won the WGC-HSBC Championship, third at the Farmers Insurance Open, and then fifth at The Genesis Invitational, WGC-Mexico Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Six top-fives in six events is pretty darn good to start the year.
2020 US Open – Winged Foot Golf Club
- Rory McIlroy +900
- Brooks Koepka +1000
- Dustin Johnson +1000
- Tiger Woods +1400
- Jon Rahm +1600
- Justin Thomas +2000
Winged Foot has been the venue of a major seven times, hosting U.S. Opens six times. The last time was in 2006 when Geoff Ogilvy won with Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie finishing as runners up.
It’s no surprise that we see Koekpa hiring on the board here in terms of the odds as he’s won the U.S. Open in back-to-back seasons. However, it’s important to keep in mind that he was struggling to start the season.
Koepka was recovering from a knee injury and it was having a big impact. To date, his 2020 results look like this: missed cut, withdrawn, 43rd, missed cut, and 47th.
He’ll be one of the biggest beneficiaries from the big break. Given his track record here, he should be one of the hottest commodities on the betting market by the time this tournament rolls around.
2020 Masters – August National Golf Club
- Rory McIlroy +600
- Jon Rahm +1100
- Brooks Koepka +1200
- Tiger Woods +1200
- Dustin Johnson +1400
- Justin Thomas +1400
As you can see the trend here, McIlroy is favored in all three majors as of right now. McIlroy has been a fantastic bet of late at Augusta as he’s been competitive almost every year since 2013.
To start, he’s finished no worse than 25th in that span and while he tied for 21st in 2019, he was 10th or better for the five years before that.
Of course, Woods is the defending champ here but keep in mind that last year was a shocking result for him. He had placed 32nd in 2018, didn’t participate in 2017 or 2016, and tied for 17th in 2015.
