There are 14 criteria to qualify for the 2025 PGA Championship, including via special invitation from PGA of America. It is through invitation that several golfers who no longer play on the PGA Tour received their bids for the year’s second major. Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Niemann and Patrick Reed didn’t qualify via any of the other 13 criteria, but a special invitation will have them teeing off when the PGA Championship 2025 begins on Thursday, May 15. The tournament will take place at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, less than 100 miles from where Johnson was born in Columbia. Johnson is a +6000 underdog in the 2025 PGA Championship odds. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are +500 PGA Championship favorites, followed by Bryson DeChambeau at +1100.
Johnson was runner-up at this major in 2019 and 2020 but hasn’t placed better than 43rd since. Will he make the most of his special invitation by rising up the 2025 PGA Championship leaderboard? Before locking in any 2025 PGA Championship picks of your own, or entering any 2025 PGA Championship DFS picks and prop bets on sites like FanDuel, DraftKings, and PrizePicks, be sure to see the early golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020. In fact, the model is up nearly $9,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 14 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters (its fourth Masters in a row) and last year’s PGA Championship and U.S. Open. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting apps like FanDuel, DraftKings and Fanatics.
Now that the 2025 PGA Championship field is taking shape and fans are figuring out how to bet the PGA Championship, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard and check out the latest PGA Championship betting apps.
2025 PGA Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the PGA Championship 2025: Xander Schauffele, the defending champion and a two-time major winner, stumbles and barely cracks the top 10. Schauffele has racked up nine career wins on the PGA Tour and has made the cut in 62 consecutive tournaments the longest such streak since Tiger Woods’ historic run (142 straight) from 1998 to 2005.
However, Schauffele has recorded just one top-10 finish this season after dealing with rib injury earlier in the year. The 31-year-old has struggled mightily with a putter in his hands, ranking 142nd in putting average (1.772), 156th in one-putt percentage (38.19%) and 161st in strokes gained: putting (-0.475). He’s also been ineffective off the tee, ranking 148th in total driving (228) and 162nd in strokes gained: off the tee (-0.439). He’s not a strong pick to win it all, and there are far better values in the 2025 PGA Championship field.
Another surprise: Patrick Cantlay, a 44-1 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. He’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The 2021 FedEx Cup Champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year is on the short list of best golfers to never win a major. However, he’s experienced his most success at the PGA Championship, as it’s the only major tournament he has multiple top 10s at. He held his own at Quail Hollow at the 2017 PGA Championship — which was his first major start as a professional — as he finished 33rd.
That should give him confidence for this year’s start, as should the fact that his 28 top 10s on tour over the last four seasons are bested by just four other golfers. Cantlay has elite metrics this season, ranking in the top 25 in strokes gained: total, SG: approach the green, greens-in-regulation percentage and putting average. A well-balanced game like this will allow him to lean on many different strengths for success, and Cantlay at 44-1 makes him a steal for someone not even among the 10 golfers with the shortest odds. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2025 PGA Championship picks
The model is also targeting three other golfers with odds longer than 20-1 who will make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big. You can only see the model’s picks here.
Who will win the 2025 PGA Championship, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2025 PGA Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 14 golf majors, including the last four Masters and three majors in 2024.
2025 PGA Championship odds, favorites
Get full 2025 PGA Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +500
Rory McIlroy +500
Bryson DeChambeau +1000
Ludvig Aberg +1200
Xander Schauffele +1200
Collin Morikawa +1400
Jon Rahm +1800
Justin Thomas +2000
Brooks Koepka +2000
Viktor Hovland +2500
Patrick Cantlay +2800
Tyrrell Hatton +2800
Hideki Matsuyama +3000
Joaquin Niemann +35000
Tommy Fleetwood +4000
Will Zalatoris +4000
Corey Conners +4000
Wyndham Clark +4000
Jordan Spieth +4000
Sungjae Im +4000
Cameron Smith +4000
Shane Lowry +4500
Tony Finau +4500
Cameron Young +5000
Russell Henley +5000
Min Woo Lee +5000
Jason Day +5500
Sahith Theegala +5500
Justin Rose +5500
Tom Kim +6000
Sepp Straka +6000
Max Homa +6000
Sam Burns +6000
Matt Fitzpatrick +6000
Dustin Johnson +6000
Akhshay Bhatia +6500
Byeong-Hun An +6600
Patrick Reed +7500
Si Woo Kim +8000
Talor Gooch +8000
Nick Dunlap +8000
Adam Scott +10000
Keegan Bradley +12500
Brian Harman +12500
Rickie Fowler +12500
Kurt Kitayama +15000
Tiger Woods +15000
Cam Davis +15000
Nicolai Hojgaard +15000
Stephan Jaeger +15000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +15000
Harris English +15000
Doug Ghim +17500
Keith Mitchell +17500
Denny McCarthy +20000
Lucas Glover +20000
Eric Cole +20000
Jake Knapp +20000