PGA Championship 2026 Top Players, Profiles, Stats And Odds

PGA Championship 2026 Major – Players, Profiles, Odds, Stats

My early PGA Championship 2026 preview at Off Shore Gaming Association includes top player profiles and odds. The major championship at Aronimink Golf Club is among the very strongest field with 156 players taking aim at the 7,400 yard par 70 course. 

Check out the hole-by-hole video and breakdown of Aronimink Golf Club, a remodeled Donald Ross design by Gil Hanse in a western suburb of Philadelphia. I'll add more course info, updates and picks, including tournament matchups which went 0-1 at the Truist Championship and a bogey overall with time constraints and travel, but having a solid season of winning results now 15-6 on tournament matchups.

Aronimink Golf Club

The prestigious and private Aronimink golf course in Newtown Square, PA adds some unpredictability to the 2026 PGA Championship with huge greens and deep bunkers that will be most challenging if setup for firmer conditions and more rough around the green complexes. There is water in play on just two holes, but the 180 bunkers and oversized bentgrass greens will be the stars of the show (course). Donald Ross built 3-4 bunkers in clusters, rather than just one, and many are big, deep bunkers that sit beautifully in the landscape.

The greens average 8,200 square feet (PGA Tour ave. 6,000), and the course restoration by Gil Hanse ten years ago added more ridges and undulations to the raised green complexes, and some have ridges that run right through the middle of the greens. Lag putting will be of more importance at this year's PGA Championship, and approach play, accuracy and precision will prevail as more strategic plodders, planners and players rise to the top of the leaderboard over the weekend. The shorter 400 yard par 4 at hole No. 6 epitomizes some of the challenges and strategy involved as the hole features 15 smaller, tricky bunkers with precise accuracy in play over brute strength. 

As you review the player profiles and odds below while watching and wagering on the major PGA Championship, four of the toughest scoring holes to watch are the par 4's at No. 11, 12 and 500+ yards at No. 18, along with the 242 yard par 3 at No. 8. 

Top Players And Profiles at The PGA Championship 2026 Major

Golf odds from BetOnline and leading online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on futures, props and live betting. Top finishing position odds along with tournament matchups, picks and other popular bets available the week of the tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Scottie Scheffler (+425): Driver - TaylorMade Qi10, 8 degrees. The No. 1 player in the world enters as the favorite in every major since 2022 when Rory McIlroy was the PGA Championship favorite. Scheffler is a 4-time major winner including the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. The 29-year-old skipped the Truist Championship Signature Event ahead of the PGA Championship 2026 major, and he'll play his final major in his 20’s. Scheffler turns 30 on the Sunday of the 2026 U.S. Open at links-style Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southhampton, New York. In 2026, Scheffler has one win (The American Express) and three top 5 finishes including three runner-ups last month (Masters, RBC Heritage, Cadillac). A look at Data Golf performance stats, and Scheffler is No. 1 on Tour in True Strokes Gained Tee to Green and Total, which adjusts for field strength. 

Rory McIlroy (+800): Driver - TaylorMade Qi4D, 9 degrees. McIlroy enters as the 2-time defending Masters champion, and was a top player profile in that major championship. He is also a 2-time PGA Championship winner with his 2012 win at age 23 a record-setting 8-shot victory at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island making him the youngest PGA Championship winner in more than 80 years. McIlroy's focus and motivation towards majors had him practicing at Aronimink Golf Club in recent weeks instead of playing in the Truist Championship Signature Event. The 37-year-old 6-time major champion ranks highly in key stats this season, No. 1 in SG: Total, Tee to Green, Off the Tee and Ball Striking.   

Cameron Young (+1100): Driver - Titleist GT3, 11 degrees. A 2-time winner in 2026 at The Players Championship and Cadillac Championship Signature Event, Young also has four other top 10 finishes including T5 at The Masters while playing in the final group with winner Rory McIlroy. His odds have dropped from +1400 last week and his stats below rank among the best on Tour this year including top 5 in Strokes Gained Total, Off the Tee, Tee to Green, Ball Striking,  as he is a PGA Tour Player of the Year candidate heading into the summer majors. Young earned his first PGA Tour victory at the 2025 Wyndham Championship, another Donald Ross design at Sedgefield CC.

Jon Rahm (+1600): Driver - Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond, 10.5 degrees. The top LIV Golfer was +1200 to win the 2026 PGA Championship ahead of The Masters before he flamed out at Augusta, and +1800 last week to win the PGA Championship before dropping. The highest-paid player in LIV ranks No. 1 on that fledgling Tour in Birdies (5.6/round) while No. 4 in driving distance (316/yards). His Tee to Green and Off the Tee game remain among the best in golf as he shoots for better Approach play at the PGA Championship. 

Xander Schauffele (+1800): Driver - Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond, 10.5 degrees. The 2024 2-time major winner has not won on Tour in nearly two years, but captured the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla while setting a men’s record with both his 21-under score in relation to par and his 263 aggregate. His opening round 9-under par 62 tied a major championship record. The 32-year-old had been in a groove with high finishes since March in The Players Championship (3rd), Valspar (T4), Masters (T9), RBC Heritage (T12) before his poor showing in the Truist (T60) saw his Approach play (-2.18) was among his worst this year with Putting (-1.58) also a problem and both not a positive sign leading into the tougher greens at Aronimink. 

Bryson DeChambeau (+2000): Driver - Krank Golf Formula FIRE PRO TOUR, 6 degrees. Bold Bryson missed the cut at The Masters, one year after playing in the final group with eventual winner Rory McIlroy. Bettors bit the bullet betting on overhyped DeChambeau at Augusta, and the LIV top pro is receiving less interest at the PGA Championship. The 32-year-old YouTuber ranks outside the top 30 on LIV Golf in Fairways hit (59%), No. 2 in driving distance (319/yards), No. 4 in Putting average but still has shortcomings in Approach play and Around-the-Green.  

Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200): Driver Titleist GT3, 9 degrees and top 10 in driving accuracy (69%). The 3-time winner this year on the PGA Tour also finished 2nd at The Players Championship. Since that event, the 31-year-old Englishman is a stats leader on Tour in SG: Tee to Green (1st), Total (1), Around the Green (3), and top 3 in Approach and Off the Tee. Matt is clearly having one of the top seasons on Tour with his best Ball-Striking season and leading the Tour in earnings with more than $10 million in 2026. After winning the RBC Heritage Signature Event a second time, Matt won the team event with his brother Alex Fitzpatrick (+7500 PGA Champ) at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, which earned Alex his PGA Tour card. A good friend of fellow Wake Forest golfer Cam Young, Alex has now finished T7 at the Cadillac Championship and 4th at the Truist Championship, and co-led the Truist field with Ludvig Aberg in Strokes Gained Tee to Green.   

Ludvig Aberg (+2500): Driver - Titleist TSR2, 9 degrees. The big hitting and smooth swinging 26-year-old Swedish star continues his solid play and stats mostly across the board. Since a T20 at the Genesis Invitational in February, Aberg has finished T3, T5 at The Players when he led by 3-shots through 54 holes, T5, T21 at The Masters, T4 RBC Heritage and T8 Truist. Obvious PGA Championshi contender at better odds. 

Tommy Fleetwood (+3300): Driver - TaylorMade Qi4D LS, 9-10 degrees plus TM r7 Quad Mini Driver. The 35-year-old still has just one win on the PGA Tour capturing the 2025 Tour Championship on the Donald Ross design at East Lake in Atlanta. He's ranked No. 6 in the world after reaching No. 3 the end of 2025. Tommy Boy's overall strong play includes top-tier Ball Striking and driving accuracy (67%) with his meticulous course management skills making him a likely challenger. During the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, Fleetwood shot a course record 8-under par 62 on his way to a T8 finish.  

Collin Morikawa (+4500): Driver - TaylorMade Qi4D LS, 8 degrees and top 10 in driving accuracy (68%). The 2-time major winner won the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco with spectacular drive on the Par 4 at No. 16 to set up a short eagle putt Sunday on his way to a 2-shot win over Dustin Johnson with Scheffler and DeChambeau another shot back. Morikawa was having a solid start to the season before a back injury forced him to withdraw from The Players Championship, and unspecified injury struggles have continued and he withdrew from the Truist Championship just ahead of the 2026 PGA Championship. His elite and dynamic irons have spearheaded his strong stats, including No. 1 on Approach.  

Justin Rose (+4000): Rose made a change to new golf clubs last month and now plays McLaren Golf blades. He's still playing his old woods, which includes a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max driver. But a T65 at the Cadillac event and T45 at the Truist leave him out of his comfort zone entering the PGA Championship with the 45-year-old shooting for his second major title. Those two tournaments and results followed a T3 at The Masters and T13 at The Players Championship. Rose lost in a playoff to Keegan Bradley at the 2018 BMW Championship at the revamped Aronimink Golf Club.   

Brooks Koepka (+4000) – The 36-year-old won the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, his 5th major title and 3rd Wannamaker Trophy for winning the PGA Championship. His Ball Striking has been his best SG category, but putrid putting much of this year and especially from 4-20 feet during Sunday's round (-2.53 SG Putting) and T11 finish in the second-tier PGA Tour Myrtle Beach Classic are major concerns. Yet his odds have dropped from 50/1 to 40/1 to win another Wannamaker Trophy. 

Others to watch and wager as leading contenders include: (more stats and updates to follow)

Jordan Spieth (+5500) – The 3-time major winner can become the 7th player in history to complete the Grand Slam with a victory in the PGA Championship. He's been in better form with four top 12 finishes this year and said last month he was close to putting it all together. But the 32-year-old has not won a major since the 2016 Open Championship, and he’s gone four years without a PGA Tour win and now ranked No. 50 in the world after starting 2026 ranked No. 80. Aronomink 

Patrick Cantlay (+6000) - Cantlay has quietly put together a solid season despite no wins or top 5 finishes. The 34-year-old's last four PGA Tour events have seen finishes of T7, T12 (Masters), T8 and T10 at Truist, and he's most comfortable and putts best on bentgrass greens.

Viktor Hovland (+6000) – The 28-year-old Norweigian needs to answer the bell with better Around the Green play and Putting if he's to contend at Aronomink and the 2026 PGA Championship. Hovland has just one top 20 finish (T18 Masters) since back-to-back T13 finishes in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship. His Approach play stats have been postitive in 15 of his last 17 tournaments dating to last summer. 

Hideki Matsuyama (+6000) – The 34-year-old Japanese star is a Masters champion, and finished T12 at Augusta this year. But that's Hideki's only top 20 finish since T8 at Pebble Beach in February, and he just finished 71st out of 72 players at the Truist Championship with negative strokes gained stats across the board and his worst Tee to Green (-4.58) performance this year and also poor Approach play.  

Sepp Straka (+6000) - Straka finished T65 at the Truist with awful Tee to Green (-4.65) performance. That followed a T4 at the Cadillac Signature Event the week before which shows how difficult it can be to project player performances or wins, but course fit often a key factor with current form obviously in play but can change quickly. 

Russell Henley (+6000) - A Tour leader in driving accurace (70%) and top Approach player. 

Tyrrell Hatton (+6000)

Chris Gotterup (+6500) 

Si Woo Kim (+6000) A strong start to the season included T11, T6, T2, T3 the first four tournaments of the year. The 30-year-old South Korean also finished top 5 in the recent Signature Events in both the RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship before T65 at the Truist which moved his PGA Championship odds from 45/1 to 60/1. 

Robert MacIntyre (+6500) 

Ricky Fowler (+6500) - The 37-year-old tied for 2nd at the Truist Championship and his odds have dropped from 100/1 to 65/1. Fowler moved up from No. 52 to No. 37 in the world rankings after starting the year at No. 86. The Cobra Puma Golf representative has been associated with the golf and apparel companies since 2012 and 2009. The 6-time PGA Tour winner hasn't won on Tour in nearly 3 years and is without a major title having also missed the cut at last years PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. But Fowler has three straight top 10 finishes entering the PGA Championship including a pair of Signature Events and he's currently playing his best golf in years. 

Justin Thomas (+4000) – Odds to win PGA Championship down from +7000 last week. The 33-year-old captured his first major title at the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, and won the tournament again in 2022 at Southern Hills. But see the stats below and you'll see Thomas is not among the top 25 in any key strokes gained categories with only one top 10 this year at The Players Championship and 13th at the Truist with negative strokes gained tats in five key categories. 

Sam Burns (+7500) 

Lowry, Niemann, Reed, Bhatia, Knapp, Min Woo Lee (+8000) 

PGA Tour Stats Leaders 2026

A look at Data Golf player performances and strokes gained stats with each players performances at tournaments in 2026 shows many of the leading favorites and contenders among the top stats performers. Additional updates and stats as reviewed ahead of PGA Championship. 

Top 25 SG Total: McIlroy (1), Scheffler, Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, Schauffele (5), Knapp, Morikawa, Aberg, Si Woo Kim, Bridgeman (10), Henley, Matsuyama, Bhatia, MacIntyre, Min Woo Lee, Scott, Gotterup, Fleetwood, Cantlay, McNealy (20), N. Hojgaard, Fowler, Theegala, Rose, Burns. 

Top 25 SG Off The Tee: McIlroy (1), Scheffler, Young, Brennan, MacIntyre (5), Matt Fitzpatrick, Schauffele, Gotterup, Mitchell, Sargent (10), Penge, Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim, Woodland, Aberg, Fleetwood (19), Knapp, Reitan (25), Cantlay, English, N. Hojgaard (29). 

Top 25 SG Tee to Green: McIlroy (1), Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Young, Morikawa 5), Si Woo Kim, Aberg, Schaffele, Scott, Cantlay (10), Fleetwood, Koepka, Gotterup, Matsuyama, Spaun, Henley, Hisatsune, Straka, Min Woo Lee, Knapp (20), N. Hojgaard, Hovland (28). 

Top 25 SG Ball Striking: McIlroy (1), Matt Fitzpatrick, Schauffele, Young, Morikawa (2), Si Woo Kim, Scheffler, Scott, Aberg, Smotherman (10), Koepka, Kitayama, Spaun, Gotterup, Coody, Gerard, Knapp, N. Hojgaard, Rose (19), Cantlay, Mitchell, Berger, Straka, Fleetwood (27), Fowler, Min Woo Lee (30). 

Top 25 SG Approach: Morikawa (1), Scott, Fitzpatrick, McIlroy, Schauffele (5), Koepka, Si Woo Kim, Rose, Berger, Matsuyama (10), Smotherman, Straka, Aberg, Gerard, Kitayama, Spaun, Bhatia, Young, Scheffler, Conners (20), Hovland, N. Hojgaard, Taylor, Smalley, Henley (25), Knapp, Hisatsune, Lowry, Bridgeman, Cantlay (30). 

Top 25 SG Around The Green: Snedeker (1), McIlroy, Scheffler, Cantlay, Griffin (5), Cole, Taylor, Putnam, Day, Matsuyama (10), Matt Fitzpatrick, Fleetwood, Theegala, Hall, Thomas, Sungjae Im, Finau, Henley, Aberg (20), Dou, Roy, Bradley, Min Woo Lee (25). 

Top 25 SG Putting: Whaley (1), Bridgeman, Bhatia, MacIntyre, Waring, Kuchar, Burns, Pavon, Knapp, Ramey (10), Hossler, English, Vilips, Day, McNealy, Scheffler, Fowler, Michael Kim, Ewart, Bezuidenhout, Cameron Young, Woodland, Lowry, Hall, Henley (30). 

More PGA Championship coverage including picks ahead with information you can bet on.

You can bet on it. 

FairwayJay is a leading sports betting industry analyst, handicapper, content creator, writer, reporter and poker player based in Las Vegas. He's been covering major sports including the PGA Tour from a betting perspective for two decades. FairwayJay is also on the scene for major sports and poker events plus industry conferences as a credentialed media member. Follow @FairwayJay on X and OSGA for more betting insights and information you can bet on.