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PGA Championship in-tournament betting: 5 golfers worth a look

Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Oak Hill Country Club has delivered many more blows than it's received through two rounds of the PGA Championship. The winner will have battled a variety of conditions and a rejuvenated track to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy.

Who'll that be, though? Using datagolf.com to look at the analytics through 36 holes, we can see that not all equal scores are actually the same. Some players ride a hot putter to a cosmetic score, while others have struck it better than their card suggests.

Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland (one of our plays this week), and Corey Conners have the co-lead, but pre-tournament co-favorite Scheffler is still atop the oddsboard through 36 holes.

PGA Championship in-tournament outright odds

PLAYER ODDS
Scottie Scheffler +145
Viktor Hovland +375
Corey Conners +600
Brooks Koepka +900
Bryson DeChambeau +1600
Rory McIlroy +2200
Justin Rose +4000
Justin Suh +4000
Patrick Cantlay +4000
Dustin Johnson +5000
Collin Morikawa +6000
Keegan Bradley +6000
Shane Lowry +6600

*Players listed 100-1 or longer not listed

With a measly payout for Scheffler, a list a mile long of reputed chasers, and lesser-known players looking to channel their inner-Shaun Micheel, it's probably worth looking elsewhere with so much golf left to be played. That's regardless of how scary it is to see the 2022 Masters champion atop each board.

Since ball-striking is more predictive than whether the ball happens to roll over the hole, here are five golfers you may want to add to your card.

Brooks Koepka (+900 to win)

Since we're already in on Hovland, the tournament leader in strokes gained: tee-to-green, and we're dubious about Conners' unusually awesome putting so far, we'll look to the second-round leader in strokes gained: tee-to-green - Brooks Koepka. The four-time major champion shaved more than six strokes against the field before ever getting to the green. If his putter can get hot - a prerequisite for any champion - there's no reason he can't make up three shots over two full rounds.

Sepp Straka (R3 H2H: -110 over Taylor Pendrith)

Softer greens and less wind Friday afternoon have meant the best ball-strikers this week have come from the early-to-late tee times. However, Sepp Straka isn't one of them. He's given back two full shots to the field on the greens, but that can turn for the 2022 Honda Classic champion this weekend. A couple of bucks on Straka at 200-1 to keep controlling his ball as well as anyone for an unlikely come-from-behind victory isn't the worst idea, but a third-round matchup bet over someone like Taylor Pendrith (second in SG: putting) is a legitimately good one.

Tommy Fleetwood (R3 H2H: -120 over Patrick Reed)

At +3, Tommy Fleetwood would need to have a very low score Saturday to get into contention. However, outright odds of 300-1 have my attention since he's gained a full three shots on the field via ball-striking. But his putting has let him down, losing 1.27 strokes to the other golfers. So, we'll focus on a matchup with Patrick Reed, who has the same score as his metrics, which are far closer to mediocre. Look for Fleetwood to have a strong third round and take this head-to-head.

Cameron Davis (R3 H2H: -110 over Keith Mitchell)

Cameron Davis' ball-striking (+2.77 SG: tee to green) is just behind Fleetwood's, but we don't expect a run to the Wanamaker for Davis this weekend, either. Instead, we'll pit him against Keith Mitchell and his unsustainable eighth-best putting in a third-round head-to-head.

Adam Svensson (R3 H2H: -110 over Ryan Fox)

It sounds like we're picking on the Canadians, but it's all there in the numbers. In the case of Adam Svensson, he was outstanding tee to green in Round 2 with 4.43 strokes gained. If he can tighten up the putting, and if Ryan Fox doesn't keep lighting up the greens (sixth best in SG: putting), this Canadian is a good bet to score better than the New Zealander on Saturday.

Matt Russell is the lead betting analyst for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.

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