9 Sneaky PGA Championship Picks

By Ryan Herrington

May 12, 2019

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Keegan Bradley (125-1)

The 2011 PGA champion finally found his game clicking once more last fall, grabbing the BMW Championship title and qualifying for the Tour Championship for the first time since 2013. He’s cooled off some in 2019 (13 starts, 11 cuts, however no finish better than T-16), but Bradley has a familiarity with Bethpage Black thanks to playing his college golf not far away at St. John’s University in Queens. What’s also impressive in Bradley’s consistency in majors. After the win at Atlanta Athletic Club, he’s competed in 26 more majors and missed the cut only four times.

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Jorge Campillo (250-1)

You could make an argument that there is no “hotter” player in the world than the 32-year-old Spaniard, given his recent performances on the European Tour: T-2, T-2, T-20, third, win, third. They have allowed Campillo to jump from 112th on the World Ranking to 59th. Yes, the competition he’s faced has been void of many of the Euro Tour’s marquee players, but such success has created a quiet confidence in a player who had a notable amateur career, playing college golf at Indiana. Expectations remain low for Campillo, which might make him even more dangerous this coming week.

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Patrick Cantlay (40-1)

Cantlay comes to Bethpage rested—since the Masters he’s played only in the Zurich Classic—and hungry. The former college player of the year at UCLA has six top-10s this season, including a T-9 at Augusta National where he came from seemingly nowhere in the final round to grab a brief share of the lead. The 27-year-old's strokes-gained numbers (sixth in sg/total, 10th in sg/tee-to-green and T-55 in sg/putting, his only ranking outside the top 30) all suggest his game is poised for a break through. He’s only missed one cut in nine overall major starts, including three as an amateur.

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Joel Dahmen (200-1)

He has never won a PGA Tour event and this is his first major championship appearance, so expecting the 31-year-old from Washington to contend is asking a lot. But how can you not be impressed with his career trajectory in the last few years for the third-year PGA Tour pro? He said all the right things after his near miss at the Wells Fargo, but the subtext of all his “happy with second” rhetoric was that there is more out there for him to grab. And for the record, Shaun Micheel made the 2003 PGA his first tour win and Keegan Bradley won the 2011 PGA in his first major start.

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Kevin Kisner (80-1)

He hasn’t missed a cut in the 2019 calendar year, and he often steps up big in big events (win at the WGC-Dell Match Play, T-7 2017 PGA, T-2 2018 Open, etc.). What Kisner lacks in distance off the tee (ranks 163rd at 286.7 yards), he makes up for in accuracy (23rd at 67.9 percent) and in his overall ball-striking and putting.

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Rob Labritz (3,000-1)

OK, the chances of the 47-year-old director of golf at GlenArbor Golf Club winning the PGA Championship are slim (and that's being generous). But if you’re in a PGA Championship pool where you have to pick one of the 20 club professionals in the field, Labritz is your man. This is his sixth PGA start (he was the low club pro in 2010) and he has probably played more competitive rounds at Bethpage Black than any other player in the field, having won the New York State Open on the course in 2008, 2011 and 2016.

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Keith Mitchell (125-1)

Since winning his first PGA Tour title at the Honda Classic in March, Mitchell has missed only one cut in six starts and has two top-10s, including a T-8 at Wells Fargo. The former University of Georgia All-American, playing in just his second major ever, can pound it off the tee, which will serve him well at Bethpage. And while his short game could use some shoring up, the Black course’s flat greens will be much more to his liking than those found at other major championship venues.

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Patrick Reed (50-1)

Reed has struggled with his driving in 2019 (128th in strokes gained) and has just one top-10 finish this season. But he also has seven top-25s and has only missed two cuts in 13 starts, which suggests his game isn’t that far off—or that one hot week is within reach. So why not at Bethpage Black, where he was a winner at the 2016 Barclays? It’s an emotional intangible that could fuel the 2018 Masters champ.

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Bubba Watson (60-1)

The two-time Masters champ has played consistently good but never great in 2019. He’s missed one cut in 11 starts and had two top-10s and five top-25s. Despite two missed cuts in the last two years at the PGA, this is the major that Watson has played best outside of his performances at Augusta National, including a playoff loss to Martin Kaymer in 2010. Bubba is another player who’s putter can be shaky, which could mean a better chance at success at Bethpage given its more manageable greens.

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