PGA Championship
May 20-23 at Kiawah Island
Par 72, 7849 yards
Check PGA Championship Odds Here
What Can We Expect From Kiawah Island?
Kiawah Island has hosted one major championship previously, the 2012 PGA Championship which Northern Ireland star, Rory McIlroy was the champion winning by eight strokes when at the peak of his powers. The event was dominated by Europeans as the now-retired through injury, tall Englishman, David Lynn was runner up while Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Carl Petterson completed a rout by the continent’s contingents. It was left to American, Keegan Bradley to lead the home nation’s chances with 3rd while there were only seven American golfers in the top 20.
We can expect a similar course set up to the PGA to 2012 at a course designed specifically for the 1991 Ryder Cup by Pete Dye but whose agronomy has improved markedly in the thirty years since. The par 72-course yardage of 7849 yards means it’s brutally long but don’t be kidded into believing only long hitters can thrive given the proximity of Ian Poulter and others like Bo Van Pelt. That week Rory McIlroy played a different course to the rest with the other nineteen of the top 20 being between five and one under par.
The name that caught my attention from the 2012 renewal was David Lynn whose other best career finishes was runner up in the Wells Fargo Championship and a plethora of strong performances in the KLM Open at Hilversumsche in Holland, a fiddly track through parkland that Harry Colt redesigned at the start of the last century. You might say what possibly can the Dutch track have in common with Kiawah Island? Well, there is potentially a tenuous result correlation through David Lynn that links players like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Martin Kaymer and Louis Oosthuizen, playing well there in the early parts of their careers that I will elaborate on later in the preview.
The back nine at Kiawah Island brings an authentic links feel as it runs alongside the Atlantic Ocean and is susceptible to prevailing winds. Forced carries have been a theme of Pete Dye design’s and Kiawah Island doesn’t disappoint from that perspective. An ability to keep the ball long if possible and in play, out of the many crippling wastelands that await is a must while vision and scrambling ability around the Paspalum greens that have severe runoffs for those approach shots slightly offline.
Expect Tommy Fleetwood to Be Perfectly Suited by the Test That Awaits at Kiawah Island
No one plays links golf better than Tommy Fleetwood. Living in the North West of England Town of Southport by the Irish Sea, his game was honed by the wind bringing one of the best-controlled ball flights in the sport. After the Heritage Classic, the Englishman returned home to recharge his batteries, his reappearance at the Wells Fargo Championship was extremely encouraging and perfect preparation to sharpen his game. Yes, Tommy Fleetwood has yet to win his maiden PGA Tour title but he has won many of the European Tour’s big titles and a major championship is the logical progression. 2018 at the US Open saw Fleetwood runner up to Brooks Koepka while in 2019 he was runner up again in a major championship having been involved in an epic tussle with another links specialist, Shane Lowry at the Open Championship.
After a light campaign thus far in 2021 he arrives in Kiawah Island focused and hungry for a first major championship. Again the tenuous correlation with Hilversumche, whose designer Harry Colt designed Royal Portrush where Fleetwood was involved in an epic tussle with Shane Lowry for the 2019 Open Championship. Even though the courses seem poles apart it may simply be, that they suit similar player’s eye’s and let’s not forget Royal Portrush (Rory McIlroy course record holder) is a classical links so from that perspective it will fit Fleetwood’s. Like I said, for my golf picks, expect Tommy Fleetwood to be perfectly suited by Kiawah Island and thus take +7000 with BetOnline.
PGA Championship Golf Pick: Tommy Fleetwood to Win at +7000 BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
PGA Championship Golf Pick: Tommy Fleetwood in Top 10 at +650 BetOnline
The Signs Are Good For Viktor Hovland to Win His First Major Championship This Week
The twenty-three-year-old, Norwegian, Viktor Hovland is a precocious talent, similar to Rory McIlroy in my opinion. A glittering amateur career saw him land the US Amateur Championship at the iconic Pebble Beach in 2018 and he backed up the notion that he likes championship links golf with his last amateur appearance resulting in a 12th place finish again at Pebble Beach in the 2019 US Open. Two years later after a seamless progression into the paid ranks of professional golf, Viktor Hovland’s world ranking stands at a phenomenal 11 after less than fifty events and two PGA Tour titles. His two PGA Tour titles, the 2020 Puerto Rico Open and the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic suggest he handles Paspalum greens at coastal tracks better than most.
In 2021, he is awaiting a first win but has been a model of consistency with a phenomenal seven top 6 finishes in eleven tournaments. Like Rory McIlroy, he is an effortless supreme ball striker who possesses a similar ability to bring a championship course to its knees. This high functioning ability off the tee and to the green is going to blow the field away one day soon and maybe Kiawah Island and the major championship set-up looks a test perfectly suited to give Norway a first major champion. When Rory McIlroy blew the opposition away at the 2011 US Open to fulfill his promise, it was only his second PGA Tour title, a natural progression for a supremely talented twenty-two-year-old so many similarities exist and Viktor Hovland could fit that same mould this year at a long tough links that will suit perfectly. Take Bovada +2500 for Viktor Hovland winning the PGA Championship.
PGA Championship Golf Pick: Viktor Hovland to Win at +2500 with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
PGA Championship Golf Pick: Viktor Hovland in Top 20 at +110 with BetOnline
Keegan Bradley to Be Relied Upon for a Solid Week at Kiawah Island
Back in 2012, Keegan Bradley was the top finishing American when in a tie for 3rd place at the PGA Championship here in Kiawah Island. He certainly has strong credentials again in Top American and for a solid week in South Carolina having sprung to prominence recently with several strong displays. Firstly, he was runner up in the Valspar Championship three weeks ago when Sam Burns outstayed him, and he backed that up with another strong week at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Keegan Bradley has an affinity with the PGA Championship, not only with the 3rd place finish back in 2012 here at Kiawah Island but what was impressive about that week was that he was defending champion having won the year previous in Atlanta. We can deduce that the PGA set the Championship course up to Bradley’s strengths and we can expect a strong showing this week. Keegan Bradley has a strong look in the top 20 markets, twinned with Top American and possibly some suitable match bets.
PGA Golf Pick: Keegan Bradley – Top American and Keegan Bradley in Top 20 at +275 with Bovada
PGA Golf Pick: Keegan Bradley to beat Emiliano Grillo at -130 with BetOnline
*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.
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