The second major of 2021 is upon us with the 103rd playing of the prestigious PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Starting Thursday, 156 top golfers will vie for the ultimate prize in the deepest field of all the majors.

There are storylines aplenty heading into the tournament.

Rory McIlroy, who won the PGA Championship when it was lasted contested at this venue in 2012, emerged victorious in his last start at the Wells Fargo Championship. He's searching for his first major title since 2014.

Jordan Spieth, who won the Valero Texas Open last month, needs to claim the Wanamaker Trophy to become just the sixth men's golfer to complete the career grand slam.

Fresh off his Masters title, Hideki Matsuyama attempts to make it back-to-back major titles as the only player who could capture the season-long grand slam.

Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka look to add to their major haul, while Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele battle to earn their first grand slam title.

Collin Morikawa returns as defending champion, searching to become just the third man to win back-to-back PGA titles in the stroke play era (Tiger Woods, Koepka).

The course is a visual seaside masterpiece, with Kiawah Island, South Carolina, having hosted the infamous 'War by the Shore' 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012 PGA. It'll swallow up errant shots leading to some big numbers this week on the Ocean Course.

It plays to a par 72, and has a scorecard yardage of 7,876 yards, making it the longest major venue in history, eclipsing the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

There are just three Canadians teeing it up, with Corey Conners by far considered the best chance by oddsmakers at +5000 to claim his first major hardware.

Adam Hadwin, who has recently fallen out of the top 100 players in the world ranking, is a +30000 longshot while Mackenzie Hughes has even longer +35000 odds to take home the trophy.

Here's our first look at the field for the PGA Championship.

Betting Odds To Win 2021 PGA Championship – Top 20

Rory McIlroy                +1100

Jordan Spieth               +1400

Jon Rahm                      +1400

Justin Thomas              +1400

Bryson DeChambeau   +1600

Dustin Johnson            +1600

Xander Schauffele       +2000

Viktor Hovland             +2000

Daniel Berger               +2500

Collin Morikawa           +3000

Brooks Koepka             +3300

Hideki Matsuyama      +3300

Tony Finau                    +3300

Patrick Reed                 +3300

Patrick Cantlay             +3500

Webb Simpson            +4000

Cameron Smith            +4000

Sam Burns                    +4500

Scottie Scheffler           +4500

Corey Conners              +5000

 

Dustin Johnson Looking To Rebound

Last year and into the early portion of 2021, Dustin Johnson was on an absolute heater, posting 11 straight tournaments inside the top 12.

Included in that was his 2020 Masters triumph, a playoff event 11-shot romp at the Northern Trust, the Tour Championship title to claim the FedEx Cup, and the European Tour's Saudi International.

By his amazingly lofty expectations, he's fallen on tough times since then, with nothing better than a T-13 showing at the RBC Heritage in his last six starts (just two top-30 finishes).

He also withdrew from last week's AT&T Byron Nelson citing knee discomfort.

Something changes in DJ when the PGA rolls around, however, as he's finished runner-up in each of the last two years, and he has four other career top-10 finishes at this championship.

Even though he hasn't been his typical self, it's not as if the bottom has totally fallen out in his game, as he's sixth in strokes gained off-the-tee in the last 12 rounds and 15th in putting.

With this track being a brute and very demanding, DJ's long drives will be a huge advantage for him as he's capable of decimating a course at will.

You're getting him at +1600 odds, which is longer than the top-four golfers on the board, which might be the perfect time to pounce on the two-time major champion.

Past Five Winners of the PGA Championship

2020 Collin Morikawa -13 (2 shot win)

2019 Brooks Koepka     -8    (2 shot win)

2018 Brooks Koepka   -16   (2 shot win)

2017 Justin Thomas       -8    (2 shot win)

2016 Jimmy Walker     -14   (1 shot win)

 

Fore Your Information

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Sam Burns          +4500

Sam Burns has been on a remarkable run of late after picking up his first PGA Tour victory two starts ago at the Valspar Championship.

He then followed that up by grabbing the 54-hole lead at last week's AT&T Byron Nelson, before he eventually settled for a second-place finish.

The other great event in that stretch was a T-4 showing at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Ten of his last 12 rounds have been in the 60s, with a 72 his worst showing.

During that time frame, the 24-year-old star in the making is second in total strokes gained, fourth tee-to-green, with his 29th-ranked SG: putting metric his worst stat of the main eight categories.

He is a bit green, however, as far as major championships go, with this week’s tournament being just the fourth major he’s ever competed in.

His lone PGA Championship in 2019 saw him post a respectable T-29 result.

He's sixth in birdie average and 14th in SG: approaching the green this season, which bodes well for success at Kiawah Island.

At +4500 odds, he has tremendous value for a player who's been very hot recently.

 

Diamond In The Rough

Kevin Kisner       +25000

When scouring the names down the betting board, Kevin Kisner at +25000 odds sticks out like a sore thumb.

A big reason for that is that he enters this week having missed the cut in his last five stroke play events.

He has been able to figure out this championship in recent years, however.

In four of the last five iterations, Kisner has placed inside the top-20.

Most notably was when he ended up T-7 in 2017 after holding the 54-hole lead.

He has had brushes with winning big tournaments, finishing in a tie for second at both the 2018 Open Championship and the 2015 Players Championship, where he lost in a playoff to Rickie Fowler.

He's also been a force in the WGC-Match Play – he won it in 2019 and was a finalist in 2018.

Kisner isn't afraid of the big moment and has had plenty of experience contending in big tournaments.

Asking him to win the event given his recent form would likely be far too tall a task, however a top-20 bet on him would still yield a solid return based on his tournament history.