Back in 2007, Tiger Woods claimed his fourth and most recent USPGA Championship victory at Southern Hills.
After missing out last year following ankle surgery, Tiger should be back for the 2024 USPGA Championship at Valhalla.
It will bring back happy memories for Woods. He won the USPGA Championship there back in 2000. The second of his four USPGA Championship victories. The last time the tournament was played in Louisville at the famous course in 2014, Rory McIlroy was the winner.
Since then only one non-American player has won the USPGA Championship, Jason Day in 2015. Since Jimmy Walker’s win at Baltusrol in 2016, American players have dominated.
Current champion from 2023 Brooks Koepka has won the event three times. Justin Thomas has landed two wins. The aforementioned Walker along with Collin Morikawa and Phil Mickelson have also won the event over that time.
However, it could be another American that dominates this event as he did Augusta back in April. Scottie Scheffler is comfortably the top player in the world at present and will likely start this tournament as the odds-on favourite to win a second Major of the year.
However, there are many exciting subplots, twists and turns in store for what promises to be an epic event this year. So in this preview we are going to take a look at this years USPGA Championship, it’s history and some of its top bets. With all odds shown provided by bet365 Sport.
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To begin, let’s first learn a little more about the history of this famous tournament before we focus in specifically on the 2024 USPGA Championship.
USPGA Championship Factfile
- The tournament was first contested in 1916.
- Originally, the tournament was played in a matchplay format through to 1957. In 1958, the format was changed to Strokeplay.
- Englishman Jim Barnes won the first two events in 1916 and 1919. No other English golfer has won the tournament since.
- The lowest winning score to par in a USPGA Championship is -20 achieved by Jason Day at Whistling Straits in 2015. This is the lowest score to par to win any of the four Major Championships in golf.
- The prize pool for the first tournament was set at $500. The prize pool for the 2023 event was $17.5 million, with $3.15 million going to the winner.
- The USPGA is the only golf Major that does not allow amateur players to qualify and compete.
- The tournament has been held at various points in the calendar. Until recently, it was held in August, but was moved to May in 2019 due to changes in the golf schedule. It is now the second Major of the year, not the fourth.
- Phil Mickelson is the oldest winner of the tournament, landing his win in 2021 at age 50 years and 11 months.
- Gene Sarazen is the youngest winner of the title, aged 20 years and 174 days when winning in 1922.
- Rory McIlroy’s 2012 victory by eight shots over his nearest rival is the USPGA’s largest winning margin in the stroke play era.
- Southern Hills Country Club has hosted the USPGA Championship most often, doing so on five occasions in 1970, 1982, 1994, 2007 and 2002.
- Brooks Koepka’s victory in 2023 was the first Major win by a LIV Golf Tour professional.
The Greatest USPGA Championship Players
Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus are the most successful players in the tournament’s 104-year history, winning five times apiece.
Tiger Woods is second on the all-time list with four wins, ahead of Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen with three victories each. Brooks Koepka joined this elite group of three-time winners when he won the 2023 USPGA Championship, his third victory in the event in six years.
A significant number of players have two wins including Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Vijay Singh, plus famous names from the past including Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Ray Floyd, Larry Nelson, Dave Stockton, and Lee Trevino.
A number of players have won this trophy once, for some this being their only Major championship win. Amongst the most famous one-time winners of the trophy are current players Collin Morikawa, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Yang Yong-eun and Padraig Harrington as well as former stars Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem, Wayne Grady, David Toms, Davis Love III, Paul Azinger, Steve Elkington, John Daly, Payne Stewart, Bob Tway, Jeff Sluman, and Hal Sutton.
Out of 105 previous winners, 87 have hailed from the United States, five from Australia, two each from England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Fiji and Northern Ireland, while there has been just one winner from the Republic of Ireland, South Korea and Germany.
USPGA Championship 2024 – Course Preview
The venue for this year’s USPGA Championship is Valhalla, located in Louisville, Kentucky.
Sports fans will know that Louisville is the home of the famous Kentucky Derby, but for golfers it is the home of Valhalla, a course that has hosted the USPGA Championship several times, as well as the Ryder Cup.
The Jack Nicklaus-designed course opened in 1986. By 1992, the PGA of America had purchased a 25% stake in the club. It hosted its first PGA Championship four years later. Mark Brooks winning his only Major title at the tournament.
A year later, the PGA of America increased their stake to 50%, announcing that the USPGA Tournament would return to the course in 2000. Tiger Woods won that event for his second USPGA title. A short time later, the PGA bought out entire ownership of the club, announcing the Ryder Cup would take place there in 2008 at the same time.
A few years later, Valhalla was named as the venue for the 2017 USPGA Championship, won by Rory McIlroy. However, a couple of years before the tournament, the PGA of America sold the course to a group of local businessmen.
Course Details
- Length – 7458 Yards (Championship Tees)
- Par – 71
- Course Record – 63 by Jose Maria Olazabal (2000)
- Holes 1-9 – 3667 yards (par 35)
- Holes 10-18 – 3791 yards (par 36)
2024 USPGA Championship – Competitors
Unlike the other Majors, where amateur players can earn a shot to play alongside the top professionals, the USPGA Championship is the only major that does not allow amateur players to compete.
For many, this means the USPGA is the ‘purest’ tournament, a phrase which I don’t really like much, in that it only attracts the top professional talent.
Scottie Scheffler is the top ranked player in the world and he will be one of the most backed golfers this week along with the likes of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and in-form Cameron Smith.
There’s no doubt that Tiger Woods return to the event has elevated interest. Especially after he made the cut at the Masters, even if he did fall away over the final two days to finish 60th out of those that made the cut.
One of the perks of winning the USPGA Championship is that you receive an invite to the tournament for life and there are a number of players who will take advantage of that privilege afforded to previous winners this week. Even if it is their sole participation in a Major for the year.
Add to that the usual smattering of superstars from the world of golf, with a strong representation from Europe, Australia and the United States most notably, and you have all the ingredients for a top-notch tournament!
The action starts on Thursday 16th May 2024 so who would we back for our pre-tournament bets in this tournament?
USPGA Championship 2024 – Tournament Tips
It’s generally rare for a player to win two Majors in a single calendar year. However the form Scottie Scheffler is in means that he is the huge favourite to land back to back Major wins after his Masters success last month.
Bet365 Sport have Scheffler as the 16/5 clear favourite to win at Valhalla, with Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy both 12/1. Exciting young prospect Ludvig Aberg is 16/1, with consistent Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay the next best priced American players both at 18/1.
Current Champion Brooks Koepka is 20/1 alongside Collin Morikawa, while last year’s runner up Viktor Hovland is a 25/1 chance alongside Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau. Jordan Spieth, Wyndham Clark and Will Zalatoris are all 28/1 chances with England’s Tommy Fleetwood at 30/1.
However, you cannot go against Scottie Scheffler for the win here. Scheffler has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players’ Championship, The Masters and the RBC Heritage over the last two months, winning $15.7 million in the process. Not since the days of Tiger Woods at his best have we witnessed such dominance in the biggest events by one player.
Bet365 Sport is offering an extensive choice of each-way options too, with five, eight and ten places paid options available. We think the 10 places paid at 1/5 of the odds is a great wager and some of the players to consider for this bet include: – Tommy Fleetwood (20/1), Matt Fitzpatrick (25/1), Shane Lowry (30/1), Tyrrell Hatton (28/1), Cameron Young (22/1), Patrick Reed (45/1) and if you fancy a flutter on Tiger, he is available at 90/1 in that market!
