The US PGA Championship will be commencing next week at the Southern Hills Championship Course in Tulsa, USA. This fine course boasts many years of golf history with the first men’s major championship taking place there in 1958, when it hosted the U.S Open. Since then, it has hosted an additional 6 Major Championships with Tiger Woods winning the last event The Southern Hills hosted, which was the PGA Championship in 2007.
Over the years there has been some drama, not just on the shot making. Back in 1977 when they were hosting the U.S. Open, Hubert Green overcame not only the tough weather conditions, he had to play through a death threat that was called into police in the final round. Green held a one-stroke lead when he completed the 14th hole of the final round of the U.S. Open. It was at this point he was notified by tournament officials that a death threat had been received, saying he would be shot when he reached the 15th green. Overcoming adversity, he kept his focus to win the event.
Not only that, on 27th May 1981 a local businessman Roger Wheeler was murdered in the car park. The killing was orchestrated by local gangs who discovered that Wheeler had uncovered the gang's ongoing embezzlement.
Looking forward to the forthcoming event, we can’t wait to see how the drama unfolds on the course and who will be taking home the Wanamaker trophy and grabbing the winning cheque for $3.6 million. Here are our top 5 picks:
Scottie Scheffler 11/1
Coming off The Masters win at Augusta last month; all eyes will be on Scottie to see if he can lift a second major title in a row. Finishing T8 in 2021, 5 strokes behind winner Phil Mickelson, we feel he is the man to beat at this year’s championship.
Colin Morikawa 14/1
The 2021 Open Championship Winner, who finished 5th in The Masters last month, has had some poor results recently, finishing T26 and T29 in the two tournaments that followed at the RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic of New Orleans. But for us, this 25-year-old is still one to watch and we feel he could be lifting the trophy on the 22nd.
Rory Mcllroy 14/1
Finishing 3 strokes behind Scottie at The Masters, you really feel that Rory can go one step better and win this year’s US PGA Championship. Having won the championship back in 2012 and 2014 we feel he has a stellar chance at winning his third PGA Championship.
Jon Rahm 11/1
Some might feel that after finishing out of the top 20 in the last two majors Rahm has something to prove at the upcoming championship. Finishing T27 at the Master last month and T23 in the delayed U.S. Open many felt he has underperformed at recent major events. After finding some great form by winning the Mexican Open at Vidanta at the start of this month, he for many is the one to beat.
Wild card - Tyrrell Hatton 66/1
Our wild card, and the one that we are routing for is 30-year-old Hatton. Since turning pro in 2011, his best performances at majors have been T5 in the 2016 Open Championship, T6 in the 2018 U.S. Open and T6 at the Open Championships in 2019. As a wild card bet, we are hoping Tyrrell will be taking home the Wanamaker trophy.
Let us know who your top picks are in the comments below and don’t forget, you can get out on the golf course and join a club with PlayMoreGolf. Explore your local course here or join now.
