Hideki Matsuyama can once again prove the pick of the Asian challengers in the PGA Championship, where Jhonattan Vegas is also of interest in two markets.
Golf betting tips: US PGA specials
1pt trixie Matsuyama (5/2) top Asian, Fleetwood (13/5) top English, van Rooyen (7/2) top African (Paddy Power)*
2pts Jhonattan Vegas to be the top South American at 4/1 (bet365)
1pt e.w. Vegas to be the top rest of the world player at 80/1 (Sky Bet 1/4 1,2,3,4)
2pts Matsuyama to be the top rest of the world player at 15/2 (Betfred, BetVictor)
*1pt unit stake = 4pts total stake
Four to follow in top nationalities markets
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA has been showing signs of a return to his best lately and this proven major performer can justify clear favouritism in the top Asian market.
Matsuyama looked like the winner of the PGA Championship throughout much of the 2017 edition, played here at Quail Hollow, and his course record is good. All told he's made five cuts in six, fifth place behind Justin Thomas the pick of the lot, and as you might expect his tee-to-green play has been exemplary.
Notable to me is the fact that he's driven it so well here – that club can be a weakness sometimes and was the reason he faded from contention last week – and with his iron play back on-song, another solid putting week should ensure he sets the bar high.
Matsuyama's major record in the US is remarkably consistent, his last missed cut coming way back in 2016. He's yet to miss one in the PGA Championship and has made 36 of 38 away from the Open, where he's still managed to make seven in 10 despite the volatility of links golf.
He is not only the best Asian male golfer of all-time but the most consistent, even delivering when he's had some fitness issues. There appear to be none of those at the moment and he should enjoy another solid week, perhaps even making up for 2017 and winning a second major.
Moreover, I'm very happy taking on the four Korean players. Si Woo Kim and Ben An continue to struggle on the greens, Tom Kim is badly out of form and will find this a slog, and Sungjae Im's iron play has been poor all of this year. Of that quartet, An might be the biggest danger given his power, but Matsuyama should be too good.
Among five other Asian players, Rico Hoey's excellent long-game makes him dangerous, ditto Kevin Yu, but this is a big step up from the Myrtle Beach Classic they played in last week. Matsuyama knows what to expect and at 6/4 for a top-20 finish, I'd rather take 5/2 in this market knowing that a top 20 may well do.
At similar odds, everything looks in place for TOMMY FLEETWOOD to prove best of the English.
With Matt Fitzpatrick out of form, Justin Rose well down the field when withdrawing last week and Aaron Rai potentially set to find this a bit on the long side, Tyrrell Hatton looks the obvious danger and is respected at 3/1.
But Fleetwood, buoyed by the switch to a mallet putter which saw him rank sixth in strokes-gained putting last week, simply looks a better player right now and the more realistic contender of the two. He's been 14th, fifth and 13th at Quail Hollow and his majors record is also superior.
This market looks less competitive than the number of players in it and to be frank, taking close to evens that Fleetwood or Hatton wins it would look a fair way to go. However, I'm much keener on Fleetwood.
My next selection in the top nationalities markets is ERIK VAN ROOYEN, who can get the better of Dean Burmester to be the top South African (listed as top African by some firms).
Burmester's LIV Golf form is solid and he has the power for Quail Hollow, but van Rooyen's form has turned a corner lately and he continued to hit the ball well in the Truist Championship, which he qualified for with such a strong display in the Byron Nelson.
Long off the tee, if not quite as long as Burmester, his approach play also looks dialled in and these attributes helped him to eighth place in the 2019 PGA, played at a long and soft Bethpage Black.
I wouldn't have much between the two and with Christiaan Bezuidenhout likely to struggle off the tee, Garrick Higgo 68th of 69 players last week, Daniel van Tonder likely outclassed and Thriston Lawrence in abysmal form, this does look to be a straight match.
Switch the prices and I'd switch the selection but anything 3/1 or bigger about van Rooyen is good business, with his two missed cuts at the course coming at a time when his form was nowhere near as strong as it is today.
Readers have options if following these three selections but my preferred method is a trixie, made up of three doubles and a treble. That means nice profit if any two of the three win, and a very healthy return should they all do so.
Note that BetVictor, top price on all three, are singles only. Sky Bet meanwhile have put up a 25/1 treble which pays out in full in the event of ties.
Finally, I want to include a couple of bets on JHONATTAN VEGAS so I'll start with the most realistic and back him to be the top South American, a market only offered by bet365, Sky Bet, QuinnBet and Betway at the time of writing.
For that reason I'll leave him out of the multiples as options are a bit too limited, besides which he is the riskiest of the four.
Vegas is the sort of genuine powerhouse I favour this week and I'm fairly confident he can beat Nico Echavarria, leaving odds-on favourite Joaquin Niemann as the problem.
Niemann is respected and was in fact on my shortlist for the outright preview, but he does have a bit of pressure on him and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him struggle, just as I wouldn't be surprised to see him win.
That volatility makes Vegas look worth a go at 4/1 after an improved display on a long, soft course last time. He also has a top-10 here from his penultimate visit to Quail Hollow and has driven the ball exceptionally well at the course down the years, while his missed cut in the 2017 PGA was all to do with the putter as he hit it about as well as anyone over the first two rounds.
That putter came to life in the Nelson last time and if that's the case here, he can have a run at the top rest of the world market too.
In it, MATSUYAMA would be my idea of the most likely winner and is selected accordingly, but the Australians all arrive with doubts hanging over them so there's room for someone like Vegas in the frame at least.
Finally, a word on some markets I considered, starting with top senior where Richard Bland and Phil Mickelson are quoted at the same odds.
Some would therefore argue it's Mickelson all the way given his class, his Quail Hollow form, his 2021 win in this event, but Bland beats him most weeks on the LIV Golf circuit and is a straightforwardly better golfer in the here and now.
But for Mickelson's volatility, and his added power off the tee, I'd have been siding with Bland, who leads the head-to-head 25-6 since January 2023 (three ties), 15-3 (one tie) since January 2024, and 4-2 this year including the last twice.
Mickelson is part of a competitive top left-hander market where Brian Harman would've been a confident fancy but for the heavy rain that has fallen in North Carolina, which in turn made it somewhat tempting to play Taylor Pendrith against four shorter-hitting Canadian rivals.
However, one of them is in-form, local resident Mackenzie Hughes, and I would rarely rush to oppose Corey Conners in match-ups.
Dutching Xander Schauffele (12/1) and Brooks Koepka (28s) to be top American is tempting with Scottie Scheffler lacking course experience, while I even considered taking on Jon Rahm in the top Spaniard market with both David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra. Rahm is no fan of this course and arrives under a bit of a cloud, but let's not forget he's still Jon Rahm.
Posted at 1430 BST on 13/05/25
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