Big bets on PGA Championship favorites at ‘Rory McIlroy Country Club’

Rory McIlroy, fresh off his Masters win that completed the elusive career Grand Slam, told Jordan Spieth last week that he will be next to accomplish the rare feat.

“Yeah, at Rory McIlroy Country Club,” Spieth replied dryly.

Spieth needs to win the PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam. But he was referencing that the year’s second major will tee off Thursday at Quail Hollow, where McIlroy has four wins on the PGA Tour.

That’s one reason McIlroy is the popular 5-1 second choice at the Westgate SuperBook to win the tournament.

“A lot of people have been gearing up for this for a while,” said Westgate golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman (@golfodds). “We took a $9,000 bet on him at 7-1 in early March. Over time, people have been pointing to this one because of the yearly success he’s had at Quail Hollow.

“Right now, our only liabilities are (Scottie) Scheffler and McIlroy.”

Scheffler supplanted McIlroy as the +450 favorite after his wire-to-wire win May 4 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, where he tied the PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record of 31-under 253. It was the first win of the year for the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer after he won nine events last season.

“It wasn’t even a sweat for him,” Sherman said. “It looked like the Scottie of last year was back.”

A Westgate bettor placed a $9,500 wager to win $47,500 on Scheffler to win the PGA Championship at 5-1 odds in late February.

Ticket, money leaders

Scheffler is the money leader at the SuperBook to win the PGA and second in tickets, while McIlroy is second in money and fourth in tickets.

Ludvig Aberg, in a pack of four golfers tied for the 20-1 fourth choice, is the ticket leader and third in money.

“He’s been popular in majors over the last year, flirting with the Masters last year and this year,” Sherman said. “He’s a popular selection on everyone’s card, a young up-and-comer.”

The other golfers at 20-1 are Justin Thomas, who won the first of his two PGA Championship titles at Quail Hollow in 2017 and is third in tickets; defending PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele; and two-time major winner Jon Rahm.

“(Thomas) is one of the guys that I played,” Sherman said. “Xander is still trying to find his form after coming back from that (rib) injury. He’s getting better each week, but hasn’t made a larger leap to get to what he did last year. You’re still finding him at some nice prices out there.

“There are still a lot of believers in Rahm, even though he hasn’t been winning on LIV. Anytime he gets over 20-1, we’ve seen some support for him. There are still people buying into the name.”

Collin Morikawa, fourth in money, is the 25-1 eighth choice.

Contenders

Bryson DeChambeau is down to the +850 third favorite at the Westgate after Sherman slashed his odds from 12-1 on Sunday.

“There’s just been a market reaction on him down to 8-1,” he said. “He won the LIV (tournament) last time out, he was right there at Augusta last month except for the final round, and he’s just playing phenomenal golf over the last year. He’s an easy No. 3 power rated (behind Scheffler and McIlroy).”

Slam odds

Spieth is 60-1 to win this week, which would be his first major victory since 2017 and cap the career Grand Slam.

McIlroy is a 150-1 long shot at the Westgate to win all four majors for the 2025 Grand Slam. He is a -325 favorite to finish with one major win this year, +260 to finish with two major wins and 30-1 to finish with three.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.