2026 PGA Championship best bets: Picks to win, 'One-and-Done' selection for Aronimink Golf Club
The Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, right outside of Philadelphia, hosts golf's second major of the season, the 2026 PGA Championship.
Known for its daunting greens and strategic demands, Aronimink should provide a thrilling finish with a versatile leaderboard. Hence, many types of golfers can win the Wanamaker Trophy this week.
With all due respect for THE PLAYERS Championship and The Masters, the 2026 PGA Championship has the best field thus far this season. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler defends his title against 156 golfers, including back-to-back Masters champion, Rory McIlroy, and the best guys from the LIV Tour.
My 2026 PGA Championship betting card reflects how many different types of golfers can win at Aronimink. I've allocated 2.43 units (u) across eight golfers to profit 20u if any of them win. Without further ado, let’s dive into the names most likely to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy this Sunday.
The following odds are based on my previous bets on the golfers listed below. Subject to change.
I feel bad for "past posting" this bet. Usually, I post my bets on X, but I just forgot to tweet out this look. Give me a break, though. I’m transparent about my golf betting losses and this will probably be another loss.
That said, Young is a top-three golfer in the world right now. He won THE PLAYERS Championship in March, followed it up by playing in the final group and finishing T3 at The Masters, and won the Cadillac Championship earlier this month.
Young is doing everything right on the golf course and nearly won last year at my two favorite courses to Aronimink: Philadelphia Cricket Club (T7 at the Truist Championship) and Oakmont Country Club (T4 at the U.S. Open).
The 2025 American Ryder Cupper is currently +1600 to win the 2026 PGA Championship, which is still a fair price. If I didn’t get the +7000, I’d still be willing to build my 2026 PGA Championship card around Young. He is playing that well.
Recent winners have come into the PGA Championship with good lead-in form and Fitzpatrick certainly checks that box. He has three wins over his last six starts, albeit one was a team event with his brother, Alex.
Otherwise, Matt won the Valspar Championship and RBC Heritage. He finished second at THE PLAYERS and T18 at The Masters over that span, too.
The bottom line is Fitzpatrick is still underrated despite being on an absolute heater. Fitzpatrick is the eighth-betting favorite to win the 2026 PGA Championship at Kalshi, when he should be a top-five betting choice.
Low-key, Cantlay is "knocking on the door" of winning his first tournament since the 2022 BMW Championship.
He’s finished T14-or-better in six of his 10 starts this year, including four straight: T7 at the Valspar, T12 at The Masters, T8 at the RBC Heritage and T10 at the Truist.
The UCLA alum lost 2.11 strokes with his driver and 1.44 strokes with his putter at Augusta; you have to be playing well to finish T12 at The Masters while losing strokes off the tee and on the greens.
He has gained strokes tee-to-green in five consecutive starts, but his putter has been hot and cold. I’m willing to bet on Cantlay "flipping his putter," though, because Bent greens are his best putting surface and five of his eight career PGA TOUR wins have been on Bent grass.
I’m almost always going to bet Hideki. But, at 60-to-1 or better, forget about it, especially because I like Aronimink for Hideki. It’s relatively short and the driver is the weakest club in his bag.
He doesn’t have to worry about hammering the ball off the tee. Aronimink tests your long irons more, which is where Matsuyama excels. He is 12th on TOUR this season in SG: APP and second in proximity to the hole on approach shots from 200+ yards.
Aronimink has difficult green complexes and Hideki has a world-class short-game. Most golfers are screwed if they miss the green, whereas Matsuyama is in scoring range from anywhere inside 50 yards.
He won the 2021 Masters because of his long-iron play and chipping. Oddly, when Hideki finished T15 at the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink, chipping was the only area where he lost strokes against the field.
With his current short-game, if Hideki plays Aronimink this week as well as he did in 2018, 60-to-1 is more than a fair price.
Bobby Mac’s irons have been terrible this season. But whenever MacIntyre hits them well, he contends because he is an elite driver and putter.
Per Betsperts Golf, MacIntyre has gained strokes on approach in just three tournaments this season. Here they are and how he did: Sony Open (T4), THE PLAYERS Championship (fourth) and Valero Texas Open (T2)Texas Open (T2).
Despite his poor iron play, MacIntyre is eighth on TOUR this season in par-4 scoring and there are 12 par-4s at Aronimink. Nonetheless, this place has large greens, which might mask MacIntyre's struggles with his irons and allow him to show off his putting.
Meanwhile, Bobby Mac finished second at the 2025 U.S. Open at another Pennsylvania golf course with tough greens. Speaking of which, MacIntyre is a dog and will win a major eventually, and his odds fit into my 2026 PGA Championship budget.
This price (104-to-1-ish) is too good for a four-time PGA TOUR winner and two-time European Ryder Cupper who is still in his athletic-golf prime. Straka is accurate off the tee, elite with his irons and can putt his way to victory.
His biggest weakness is chipping. But that won’t sink him this week because Aronimink’s greens are large and two-thirds of the course is short, so he will hit a lot of greens-in-regulation.
Plus, the two most important yardage buckets for approach shots at Aronimink are 50-125 yards (wedges) and 200+ yards (long irons). Well, Sepp is fifth on TOUR this season in proximity to the hole on approach shots from 50-125 yards and ninth from 200+ yards.
Finally, he won the Truist Championship around this time last year at the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, which is similar to Aronimink.
They are in the same area of the country and their defense is large, difficult bent greens and dry, windy conditions. If Straka can figure out the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s greens, he can figure out Aronimink’s.
Keegan has been in a funk this season after the 2025 American Ryder Cup team lost when he was the captain. But he is showing some life, finishing T21 at The Masters, T12 at the RBC Heritage and T19 at the Truist Championship in three of his last four starts.
Bradley won the 2018 BMW Championship, the last PGA TOUR event held at Aronimink and usually plays well in the Northeast. Keegan is a Boston sports fan from Vermont who graduated from St. John’s in Queens, New York, in 2008.
He won the Travelers Championship twice in Connecticut in 2023 and last year. His second-best U.S. Open finish was a T7 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 2022.
KEEGAN BRADLEY KICKS OFF PGA CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK WITH ODD QUOTE ABOUT THE 'SMELL' OF THE NORTHEAST
Also, Bradley has played much better than several guys ahead of him on the odds board. He won the 2011 PGA Championship. The Travelers is a signature event, featuring the best guys on TOUR.
And Keegan has won a tournament in four straight years, including the 2024 BMW Championship, which is the second round of the FedExCup Playoffs. Even though Bradley is having a down year, Aronimink is a good course for him, and anything better than 100-to-1 is a good bet.
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My options are limited because I've already used five of the seven guys ahead of Fitzpatrick on the betting board. The other two are Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who I'm passing on because neither is on my betting card and I only like using golfers in One-and-Done that I've bet.
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