GOLF

PGA Betting Guide to Specials and Props: PGA Championship

Picking winners for a golf tournament is incredibly difficult and requires -- we hate to say it -- tons of luck to get it right.

One wayward drive, one plugged bunker shot, or one shanked approach is all it takes to turn your magical big money payout into a stone-cold zero. Fortunately, we can play the prop market on FanDuel Sportsbook for the PGA Championship and find a few other ways to wager on this week's tournament without that all-or-nothing downside.

Whereas outright bets only pay out if the golfer wins the event, specials and props can keep bettors interested all the way through the end of the tournament. So let's focus on some of those opportunities: finishing position, props, and our favorite of the new Tourney Specials offered by FanDuel.

Finishing Position

Shane Lowry Top 10 Finish (+240) - Lowry has been one of the best players in the world this year and has recent finishes of 3rd, 3rd, 12th, 13th, and 2nd. The iron play has been a strength and had he stuck it to his season standard at Augusta he just may have given Scottie Scheffler a real run for his money.

Corey Conners Top 10 Finish (+500) - Conners jumped out to the first-round lead at Kiawah Island last year and ended up T17 after a Friday 75 and a pair of 73's over the weekend. Elite ballstriking and confidence in bigger fields make him an attractive option to stick around the leaderboard again this year.

Louis Oosthuizen Top 10 Finish (+500) - Always reliable for a strong finish in majors, Louis is on a similar track to last year. He was offered up at decent odds and performed well at the early majors, then prices shortened up for the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. We'll grab 5/1 for yet another strong effort for last year's runner-up.

Hideki Matsuyama Top 20 Finish (+145) - Dating back to his win at the ZOZO Championship in October, Matsuyama has just two finishes outside the top 20. Each of his last three events produced such a finish, including a T14 in his title defense at Augusta and a T3 last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Sam Burns Top 20 Finish (+200) - Burns has produced everything to stand among the world's best players, with the lone exception of contention at major championships. Missed cuts in his last two events since winning the Valspar Championship make his recent form a bit murky, but a player of his ability can't be held out of the picture at majors much longer. We don't need him to do too much to cash a 2/1 ticket, but a finish inside the top 20 would be his best major finish.

5-Leg Parlay Odds: +89864

Props

Hideki Matsuyama Top Asian Player (+165) - Hideki may well win this thing or come close, and here we can get him at a good number to beat 12 other players in this market. He's the heavy favorite and by far the best player, though we must respect Kyoung-Hoon Lee (+650) coming off his second straight AT&T Byron National title. Hideki is a different class of player though, and if he cashes the Top 20 play he may well cover this bet as well.

Matsuyama Top Asian Player (+160), Robert Macintyre Top Scottish Player (-165), and Jon Rahm Top Spanish Player (-190) in a 3-Leg Parlay (+549) - We can package Matsuyama with two heavy favorites with very little competition to boost up the payout and get exposure to two fairly safe bets. Macintyre need only beat Russell Knox to hold up his end, while Rahm faces just three countrymen and is light years ahead of the pack.

Tourney Specials

Golf Specials 3

Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, and Patrick Cantlay all top 20 finish (inc. ties) (+3100) - This special looks like a great value especially since the dead heat rules won't apply. In addition to two golfers we are already backing, we can pick up Cantlay and Hovland, the fifth- and sixth-ranked golfers in the world. The PGA Championship typically produces quality leaderboards because it includes PGA club pros who qualify and weaken the back end of the field. Many of these golfers have no chance, and the cream tends to rise to the top. We'll grab four of the best ballstrikers in the world at elevated odds any chance we can.