2008 PGA Championship Picks | Betting Odds

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

GOLF: Big payouts for PGA Championship

Tiger Woods’ season-ending knee surgery has bettors looking at some big payouts for Thursday’s PGA Championship.



And while the tournament officials worry about television ratings and attendance figures going down, Woods’ peers enjoy an increased chance of winning the season’s final major at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Click here for the latest odds of all the golfers. Sportsbook.com will be updating its odds-to-win the tournament at the end of each round, and you can also wager on individual matchups and propositions.

Phil Mickelson is the 8:1 favorite to win this event, as the theory is that ‘lefty’ will jump on the chance to win majors with his long-time nemesis on the sidelines. That theory didn’t work out too well at the British Open when he finished 11 strokes behind eventual winner Padraig Harrington.

Mickelson did rebound at last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by finishing tied for 4th, and he won the PGA Championship in 2005 before Tiger took the last two. That makes Mickelson very confident heading into this week.

"I feel like I’m playing well, I just need to get that final piece of scoring down,” Mickelson said.
"I really played well all week at Firestone. [In the final round] I felt I should have shot 63 or 64."

The co-favorite this week is England’s Lee Westwood (8:1). The problem for Westwood and all Europeans is that an American has won this event 11 out of the last 13 years and a European born player hasn’t won since 1930 (the last being Tommy Armour). However, the Ryder Cup team from Europe trounced the Americans in 2004 at this course, and that’s a good omen.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (15:1) is another European that can’t be discounted. That wouldn’t be fair to the man who won the last two British Opens and is chomping at the bit to win a major on U.S. soil. The wrist injury that Harrington had at The Open doesn’t appear to be a concern at this point.

Vijah Singh won last week’s WGC event after surviving a shaky putter down the stretch, and he is 15:1 this week. Singh has won the PGA Championship twice in his career, once in 1998 and more recently in 2004.

Of course, we can’t talk about a major tournament without mentioning Sergio Garcia (20:1). The ‘best player to have never won a major’ was supposed to be capitalizing on Woods’ absence, but he never contended at the British Open despite being the favorite.

Talent is never the issue with the highly entertaining Spaniard. However, there’s no reason to believe he will play his best golf in a major until he proves he can do it. It could be this week, or we could all grow old waiting for it to happen.

If you’re looking for an up-and-comer at the same 20:1 odds, think 23 year-old American Anthony Kim, who finished tied for 7th at the British Open and has won two tournaments this season.

Pick: Phil Mickelson -- Bet on it - Click Here

Sergio Garcia is good, but he always fall short. Not sure who will win, but I think it will be someone not from the United States. That's the only guess I can make at this time.