Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course in Rochester, New York, will host for a fourth time.

Justin Thomas will look to defend his title against the deepest field in golf.

105th PGA Championship

Oak Hill Country Club

East Course

Rochester, New York

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NOW PLAYING:

The second major championship of 2023 takes the strongest field in golf to New York State for a record 14th time. The top 100 in the OWGR all qualified. Only Will Zalatoris is unable to play due to injury.

The East Course was restored after the 2019 Senior Kitchen-Aid PGA Championship by Andrew Green. Working off photos and aerial shots from the original Donald Ross design, the East Course has traveled back in time to the mid-1920s. Greens were completely redone and restored to their original shapes and sizes, adding hole locations. Fairways expanded as a litany of overgrown oak trees were removed to encourage healthy turf growth. Bunkers were redone and their sharp edges and slopes returned.

The resemblance from 1980 (Jack Nicklaus), 2003 (Shaun Micheel), and 2013 (Jason Dufner) will be difficult to spot. Sunshine and breezes will have room to dance along Allen’s Creek. I’m not sure how many pros get to Rochester on their weeks off to take a look so it should be “new” for everyone this week.

Host Course	East Course – Oak Hill Country Club
Yards (per official scorecard):	7,394.
Par:	70 (35-35).
Greens:	Bentgrass.
Stimpmeter:	13 feet plus.
Rough:	Fine Fescue, Bluegrass and Ryegrass.
Bunkers/Water Hazards/In Play	78/1/6
Architect(s):	Donald Ross (1926); Andrew Green restoration (2019).
Purse:	$15 million; $2.75 million winner plus 600 FedExCup points.
Defending Champion (event):	Justin Thomas.
Multiple Champion(s) Entered:	Thomas (2), Rory McIlroy (2), Brooks Koepka (2) and Phil Mickelson (2).
Course Record:	63; Jason Dufner, Round 2, 2013 (not entered)
72 Hole Tournament Record:	264; Brooks Koepka (2018).
Fact of the Week:	Fourth time hosting PGA Championship. Only Southern Hills (2022) has hosted more (5).
Fact of the Week II:	Only major championship without amateur players.
Fact of the Week III:	Oak Hill has hosted all six rotating men’s golf championships.

Notes:

• Field of 156 players.
• Top 70 and ties will play the final 36 holes.
• 99 of the top 100 OWGR are entered (Will Zalatoris, No. 9, injured).
• 20 PGA Club Professionals included.

Season Winners

2022-2023 Season Winners

Event	Winner
Fortinet Championship	Max Homa
Sanderson Farms Championship	Mackenzie Holmes
Shriners Children’s Open	Tom Kim
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP	Keegan Bradley
CJ CUP at CONGAREE	Rory McIlroy
Butterfield Bermuda Championship	Seamus Power
Mayakoba Championship	Russell Henley
Cadence Bank Houston Open	Tony Finau
The RSM Classic	Adam Svensson (first TOUR win)
Sentry Tournament of Champions	Jon Rahm
Sony Open in Hawaii	Si Woo Kim
The AMERICAN EXPRESS	Jon Rahm (2)
Farmers Insurance Open	Max Homa (2)
AT&T Pebble Beach	Justin Rose
WM Phoenix Open	Scottie Scheffler
The Genesis Invitational	Jon Rahm (3)
The Honda Classic	Chris Kirk
Arnold Palmer Invitational	Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win)
THE PLAYERS Championship	Scottie Scheffler (2)
Valspar Championship	Taylor Moore (first TOUR win)
Corales Puntacana	Matt Wallace (first TOUR win)
WGC – Dell Technologies MP	Sam Burns
Valero Texas Open	Corey Conners
Masters	Jon Rahm (4)
RBC Heritage	Matt Fitzpatrick
Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each)
Mexico Open at Vidanta	Tony Finau (2)
Wells Fargo Championship	Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win)
AT&T Byron Nelson	Jason Day

Recent Winners

Italics – not entered this week

Year	Winner	Notes
2022	Justin Thomas (-5)	Defeated Zalatoris in a playoff at Southern Hills to win his second Wanamaker trophy. Came from seven shots back, tying the event record.
2021	Phil Mickelson (-6)	Became the oldest major champion at 51 as he held off Brooks Koepka at Kiawah Island.
2020	Collin Morikawa (-13)	Won debut at TPC Harding Park by two shots; first major championship.
2019	Brooks Koepka (-8)	Joined Tiger Woods as the only players to defend the title. Won by two at Bethpage Black.
2018	Brooks Koepka (-16)	Set the tournament scoring record at Bellerive as he won by two.
2017	Justin Thomas (-8)	Won his first major championship at Quail Hollow Club.
2016	Jimmy Walker (-14)	Won his only major championship at Baltusrol as he defeated 2015 champ Jason Day by a shot.
2015	Jason Day (-20)	Set the event scoring record to par in his only major victory (Whistling Straits).
2014	Rory McIlroy (-16)	Picked up his second Wanamaker (Valhalla) after winning 2012 at Kiawah Island.
2013	Jason Dufner (-10)	Set the course record at Oak Hill (East Course) in route to his only major championship.

This Week – 105th PGA Championship

Tight driving conditions. Firm fairways. Crosswinds. Brutal rough. Small, slick Bentgrass greens. Penal Sand. Mother Nature.

Sounds like my kind of party!

Chalk (via BetMGM)

Scottie Scheffler (+750): Already a major champion, so that’s not the issue. T12 or better in 12 straight TOUR events, so that’s not the issue. The robot killing machine rolls on.

Jon Rahm (+800): I don’t think there’s any pressure for the grand slam. It’s essentially impossible so I don’t believe the Spaniard is dreaming about that. Now, is he dreaming about winning THIS week? Absolutely. Took two weeks off after Mexico and should be primed and ready.

Rory McIlroy (+1400): Got a call from Tiger, who was watching at WFC and noticed something in his swing. Skipping RBC Heritage was intended for him to reset and reload. T47 at WFC wasn’t the bounce he was looking for, but it’s also not a major championship. Once that switch flips…

Xander Schauffele (+1600): Best of the non-winners! Looking for his first major championship and first win of the 2023 calendar year. Streak of top-10 paydays is four straight, including solo second last time out at WFC.

Patrick Cantlay (+1800): In his last seven events he’s produced a top-10 finish in seven. The others are all T21 or better. Full bag. California cool when the heat is on, just like Schauffele.

Brooks Koepka (+2000): Oh hey, T2 at Augusta. OK, I’ll bite. He’s won twice this season and, when healthy, which appears to be the case, is back to his major kill mode. If I have to remind you he’s won two of these, in back-to-back fashion, plus two US Opens…

Justin Thomas (+2200): He’s won two of the last six of these, including in a playoff last year at Southern Hills. The new diet is starting to pay dividends, but not at the rate gamers expect. The angles that come with defending a championship go out the window. He already went through this in 2018. His irons/wedges will be the barometer this week.

Tony Finau (+2200): Since July of 2022 he’s won five times so I can’t imagine him being in a better place mentally. Not having to answer questions about “when will you win again?” has to be fantastic. Now, the question shifts to “when will you win a major?”

Dustin Johnson (+2500): Won last week. Doesn’t care. Hit it, find it, hit it again. The harder, the better.

Jason Day (+2800): He’s backed it up before, folks. The last guy to do it was, IIRC, McIlroy 2014 when he won WGC-BI then PGA Championship at Valhalla the following week. First win in five years should free him up as well.

Top 10/Top 20/Top 40

Sungjae Im (+3000): Winner in Korea last week. Check his metrics.

Matt Fitzpatrick (+3300): He’ll enjoy parring the place to death. He’ll also enjoy a premium on fairways hit.

Tyrrell Hatton (+4000): Win ticket. Another guy who shines on tough layouts and won’t hate the weather. Great mentality for grinding.

Rickie Fowler (+5500): Too many good results for all of it to turn upside down this week. He’s played himself into the top 50. That’s very real.

Adam Scott (+6600): Back-to-back top-10 paydays for the first time in some time. Experience won’t hurt.

Sahith Theegala (+8000): A fresh face always seems to lurk so I’ll hook my wagon here. Full bag. Streak is 16 consecutive events. Three first-time guys hit the top 10 at Southern Hills last year.

Shane Lowry (+9000): Ridiculous number. Can’t possibly putt as poorly as he did in April! Fairway finder for sure.

Longer Shots

Use ’em wherever you see fit! All players listed are +10000 or worse and are for a reason or two!

Keegan Bradley (+10000): All you can get.

Taylor Moore (+12500): After the first win, most guys regress. He’s followed his victory at Innisbrook with T39, T11, T4 and T27.

Seamus Power (+17500): Nice top 10 in Tulsa last year, followed by T12 at Brookline. Rolls in T18, T19 last two outings.

Tom Hoge (+17500): Gaining shots on approach never hurts. The North Dakota native won’t mind wind or cold either.

Brandon Wu (+22500): Grew up in this part of the world. Top 3 fantasy finisher last week.

JT Poston (+30000): Fairway finder.

Thorbjorn Olesen (+30000): Top 10 last week ran his streak to four in his last five. Six of seven starts T20 or better this season includes a win in Thailand.

Joel Dahmen (+40000): Surely the special invite will play up.

Last Week – AT&T Byron Nelson

Chalk (via BetMGM)

Scottie Scheffler (+350): When the mid-20s are the target, I can’t wrap my head around this number. Sure, he has all of the tools, but there are 155 others who can also make a bundle of birdies. Nobody is arguing he’s not the best player in the field. I’m not trying to figure THAT out! T5. Automatic every single week. The only disappointment is when he doesn’t win.

Tyrrell Hatton (+1200): Very solid week last week, as I thought would be the case, on a tough layout. Hatton’s record the week before majors recently hasn’t inspired me this week. His short game/putting might change my mind. The finicky weather will turn this place upside down I believe. The weather showed up on Sunday and so did Hatton. Closing with 64, he secured T5, his second top 10 in as many starts.

Tom Kim (+1400): Odds dropping since Monday. Has no problem going low and finding fairways. Big greens will help and so will a cooperative putter. He made his 2022 TOUR debut here last year as well (T17). T34 as he opened with 71. Can’t post 71 here unless you follow it up with 64, 64 and 65 like Scheffler did!

Jason Day (+1600): Vertigo symptoms have returned recently. If he’s 100 percent, which I’m not sure is the case, this place fits him PERFECTLY. Bomb, gouge and hole everything.  Well, it did fit him perfectly! Closed with 62 to WIN by one for his first victory since 2018 WFC. Easy game.

Hideki Matsuyama (+2200): Another whose health is in question. I’ve learned over the years if a guy is ENTERED, he’s ready to go. I’ve also learned that a major championship is NEXT FREAKING WEEK and if it turns sour, they probably will err on the side of caution. Just like I’m going to do! Pass. Yep, 15-under was only good for T23 this week. Sad!

KH Lee (+2200): Nobody thought he would defend last year. Rolls in on T8 from Wells Fargo so he’s not trying to find it. Heck, he FOUND IT here last year as he had not signed for anything in the top 20 all of last SEASON. He’s the boss until he isn’t. Posting 11-under for T50 takes his three year total to 62-under aggregate.

Matt Kuchar(+2500): T32 or better in 2023 with four top 10s. Streak is T23-T19-T3-T9 since MC at THE PLAYERS. Best of the bunch was T3 at a demanding TPC San Antonio Oaks Course before the Masters. T23 last week in another big ballpark suggests he’s on it. Four rounds in the 60s (-12) carved out T43 this week. Hahaha.

Top 10/Top 20/Top 40

Adam Scott (+3300) – Picked up his first top 10 in a lonnnnnnnnnng time last week. Ride it. Ridden. 63 to open, 63 to close but a pesky 71 in Round 2 kept him from contending. T8 makes me a few bucks.

Taylor Montgomery (+4000) – Hits it a mile and is super putter. Big targets will bring bigger confidence. T50.

Stephan Jaeger (+5000) – Too many low rounds in his life. Should be embracing this week. Top 30 scoring average. GIR machine. Closed 65-63 for T11. Bueno.

Will Gordon (+6600) – Smashes it and can hole putts. T70.

Adam Schenk (+8000) – New dad. Spent the weekend with the new baby! MC.

Jimmy Walker (+8000) – Texan has found a vein of form. Keeping pegging him for top 20s until he falls off. Played the weekend even-par. T74. Off he falls.

Dylan Wu (+9000) – Top 40, 20 and 10, just in case this heater boils over. Narrator: It did not boil over. Crashed, burned, MC.

Longer Shots

Use ’em wherever you see fit! All players listed are +10000 or worse and are for a reason or two!

Andrew Novak (+12500) – Let’s see if that chip on the shoulder is still there. Made another cut but T67 isn’t what I had in mind.

Matthew NeSmith (+12500) – Make a few putts. T30

Ryan Palmer (+12500) – Embraces the conditions. One of the three 54-hole leaders before claiming T8 after 68 on Sunday.

Kevin Chappell (+20000) – Former winner in San Antonio. This is Dallas. MC.

Sean O’Hair (+25000) – Veteran from Lubbock. Sat T12 after 54 holes. Shot 72. Fell off the planet.

OAD – 2023 Spotter’s Game

Already Burned

Sungjae Im – Maui

Tom Kim – Sony

Tom Hoge – AMEX

Viktor Hovland – Pebble

Xander Schauffele – WMPO

Max Homa – Riviera

Shane Lowry – Honda

Tyrrell Hatton – API

Akshay Bhatia – PRO

Jason Day – THE PLAYERS

Justin Rose – Valspar

Cam Percy – Corales

Scottie Scheffler – WGC MP

Rickie Fowler – Valero

Jordan Spieth – Masters

Collin Morikawa – RBC Heritage

Billy Horschel – Zurich

Nicolai Hojgaard – Mexico

Rory McIlroy – WFC

Adam Scott – ATTBN

This Week – Brooks Koepka

No brainer.

Last Week – AT&T Byron Nelson

Adam Scott – T8

I’ll take it. I had Si Woo Kim (T2) in my Experts Picks. Maybe I should read those.

Others to consider: KH Lee – T50, Tom Hoge – T43, Brandon Wu – T23, Min Woo Lee – MC