Picks for 2026 PGA Championship golfers and the PGA Championship favorites to win ahead of the year's second major at Aronimink Golf Club
By Ross Kelly May 12, 2026 at 12:44 pm ET • 6 min read 
Imagn Images The PGA Championship grants all past winners of the major lifetime exemption to future editions. Thus, the 2026 PGA Championship features over a dozen past champions, including Jason Dufner, Brooks Koepka and Martin Kaymer. These three would not have otherwise qualified for the second major of the year, which begins on Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club. Will any of these golfers make the most of their opportunity and add to their major collection at the PGA Championship 2026?
All three are golf longshots, with Koepka having the shortest PGA Championship odds at +4000 as he seeks his fourth win at this major. Scottie Scheffler, the reigning champion, is the +480 favorite, while two-time winner, Rory McIlroy, is at +850. Other top golfers include Cameron Young (+1200), Jon Rahm (+1500) and Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200). Before locking in any 2026 PGA Championship picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary golf betting model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulates every PGA Tour event 10,000 times. This same model has also nailed a whopping 17 majors entering the weekend, including the 2026 Masters -- its fifth Masters in a row -- as well as last year's PGA Championship and Open Championship.
Now that the 2026 PGA Championship field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
2026 PGA Championship predictions for Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young
One pick from the model for the PGA Championship 2026: Young (+1200), the No. 3 ranked golfer in the world who is also third on the odds board, stumbles and doesn't even crack the top five. Young's had a breakout season, winning the Players and then the Cadillac Championship earlier this month, but he hasn't had nearly the same success at majors. He's 0 for 19 in his major tournament career, with as many missed cuts (seven) as top-25 finishes. His results over his last three PGA Championship starts are 47th, 63rd and a missed cut.
Young is on the short list for being the best ball striker on tour, with top 25 rankings in all of the major categories. However, putting is another story as he ranks 50th in strokes gained: putting. That could be an issue at Aronimink, which is a course that Young has no experience at. The Philly-area course is known for its fast, contoured putting surfaces, and that could undo all of the great work Young normally does when reaching the green. Given his such short golf odds, there are better players to utilize your PGA bets on.
The model has also locked in its projection for Scheffler (+480), who could become the first back-to-back PGA champion since Tiger Woods (2006-07). After winning 13 tournaments over 2024 and 2025, Scheffler hasn't quite kept pace this year. It began with a victory in his first start, but that remains his only win, while three other golfers have multiple victories in 2026. However, the World No. 1 still finds a way to seemingly always be in contention as he has six top 10s across his nine starts.
Always contending is also the case with recent majors for Scheffler, who has finished in the top seven in each of his last six major tournaments. But he has no course experience with Aronimink as he will compete on it for the first time, and Scheffler's underlying metrics haven't kept up with his otherworldly 2025 form. Last year he led the tour in strokes gained: approach the green but sits 40th this year, as that will be something to keep an eye on at a course known for its fast greens.
The model has also examined McIlroy's (+850) chances of becoming the seventh golfer to win three PGA Championships. Since winning his second green jacket in a row, McIlroy has played in just one event and finished 19th at last week's Truist Championship. Outside of the Masters, the Irishman has just one other top 10 finish on the season, but he clearly elevates his level of play at majors. He has a pair of top-3 finishes at the PGA Championship, in addition to his two victories, as his four top-3s here are tied for his most at any major.
McIlroy has played Aronimink once before at the 2018 BMW Championship where he placed fifth with a score of 18-under-par. He struggled to break par at last year's PGA Championship, doing so just once over four rounds as he finished in 47th place at 3-over. That came just one month after winning his first Masters, so it will be interesting to see how McIlroy does a month after winning his second Masters Tournament. See the full PGA Championship projections from the model here.
How to make 2026 PGA Championship picks
The model is also targeting several longshots, including two going off at 20-1 or more who make stunning runs for the title at Aronimink. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2026 PGA Championship, which longshots will stun the golfing world, and where will Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy finish? Check out the 2026 PGA Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 17 golf majors, including three in 2025, and five straight Masters.
2026 PGA Championship odds, favorites
Get full 2026 PGA Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
Odds via FanDuel (subject to change)
Scottie Scheffler +480 Rory McIlroy +850 Cameron Young +1200 Jon Rahm +1500 Xander Schauffele +1600 Ludvig Åberg +1800 Matt Fitzpatrick +2200 Bryson DeChambeau +2200 Tommy Fleetwood +2700 Brooks Koepka +3300 Patrick Cantlay +3500 Collin Morikawa +4000 Min Woo Lee +5000 Nicolai Højgaard +5000 Justin Thomas +5000 Justin Rose +5500 Russell Henley +5500 Rickie Fowler +5500 Tyrrell Hatton +5500 Adam Scott +6000 Viktor Hovland +6000 Si Woo Kim +6000 Sam Burns +6000 Chris Gotterup +6000 J.J. Spaun +6500 Robert MacIntyre +6500 Patrick Reed +7000 Maverick McNealy +7000 Joaquin Niemann +8000 Kurt Kitayama +8000 Jordan Spieth +8000 Shane Lowry +8000 Sepp Straka +8000 Hideki Matsuyama +10000 Kristoffer Reitan +10000 Harris English +10000 Akshay Bhatia +10000 Gary Woodland +10000 Ben Griffin +10000 David Puig +10000 Thomas Detry +10000 Alex Fitzpatrick +10000 Keegan Bradley +10000 Jacob Bridgeman +10000 Alex Noren +12500 Jason Day +12500 Alex Smalley +12500 Harry Hall +12500 Pierceson Coody +15000 Matt McCarty +15000 Sungjae Im +15000 Corey Conners +15000 Sahith Theegala +17500 Michael Thorbjornsen +17500 Ryan Gerard +17500 Wyndham Clark +17500 Rasmus Højgaard +17500 Brian Harman +17500 Ryan Fox +22500 Samuel Stevens +22500 Ryo Hisatsune +22500 Keith Mitchell +22500 Aaron Rai +22500 Nick Taylor +22500 Marco Penge +22500 Daniel Berger +22500 Sudarshan Yellamaraju +22500 Taylor Pendrith +25000 Tom McKibbin +25000 Ricky Castillo +25000 Jordan Smith +25000 Michael Brennan +25000 Angel Ayora +25000 Max Homa +25000 Bud Cauley +25000 Michael Kim +25000 Jayden Schaper +35000 Haotong Li +35000 Daniel Hillier +35000 Dustin Johnson +35000 Aldrich Potgieter +35000 Christiaan Bezuidenhout +35000 Andrew Novak +35000 Max Greyserman +35000 J.T. Poston +35000 Matt Wallace +35000 Cameron Smith +35000 Nico Echavarria +35000 Andrew Putnam +50000 Sami Valimaki +50000 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +50000 Bernd Wiesberger +50000 Denny McCarthy +50000 Stephan Jaeger +50000 Richard Hoey +50000 Lucas Glover +50000 Stewart Cink +50000 Billy Horschel +50000 Patrick Rodgers +50000 Max McGreevy +50000 Ian Holt +50000 Austin Smotherman +50000 Mikael Lindberg +50000 Chris Kirk +75000 Johnny Keefer +75000 Casey Jarvis +75000 Steven Fisk +75000 John Parry +75000 Matti Schmid +75000 Tom Hoge +75000 Jimmy Walker +100000 Braden Shattuck +100000 Bryce Fisher +100000 Jhonattan Vegas +100000 Michael Block +100000 Y.E. Yang +100000 Luke Donald +100000 Ben Kern +100000 Elvis Smylie +100000 Timothy Wiseman +100000 Jared Jones +100000 Paul McClure +100000 Derek Berg +100000 Garrett Sapp +100000 Ryan Vermeer +100000 Dan Brown +100000 Adam Schenk +100000 Francisco Bidé +100000 Austin Hurt +100000 Padraig Harrington +100000 Adrien Saddier +100000 Emiliano Grillo +100000 Martin Kaymer +100000 Kota Kaneko +100000 Ben Polland +100000 Brian Campbell +100000 Shaun Micheel +100000 Jason Dufner +100000 Garrick Higgo +100000 Jordan Gumberg +100000 David Lipsky +100000 William Mouw +100000 Michael Kartrude +100000 Joe Highsmith +100000 Mark Geddes +100000 Davis Riley +100000 Tyler Collet +100000 Chris Gabriele +100000 Andy Sullivan +100000 Zach Haynes +100000 Travis Smyth +100000 Ryan Lenahan +100000 Kazuki Higa +100000 Chandler Blanchet +100000 Jesse Droemer +100000 Brandt Snedeker +100000
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