Sports Blog 12/08/2015: Golf Preview – PGA Championship, Thursday 13th to Sunday 16th August 2015

It’s time for the final golf major of the year, with the PGA Championship 2015 starting on Thursday!

It’s a crowded field at this year’s PGA Championship, and Spreadex has you covered with a host of different fixed odds and spread betting opportunities, the premier of which being the Tournament Winner Betting spreads i.e. the Leaderboard 80-40-30-25-20-15-10-5 Index. This Index sees the winner receive 80 points, the runner-up 40 points, 3rd place 30, 4th place 25, 5th place 20, 6th place 15, 7th place 10, 8th place 5 and, of course, everyone else a big fat zero.



Sitting atop that Leaderboard Index with a spread of 16-19 is Jordan Spieth, winner of 2 majors already in 2015. The young American could well become the first person ever to win the Master, US Open and PGA Championship in the same calendar year. Many expected him to become the first person to win 3 majors in a calendar year since Tiger Woods did in 2000 at the Open Championship, but Spieth fluffed his lines and ended up tied for 4th with Jason Day. Whilst he may have missed his chance in July, our Spreadex traders still see him on track for the win in Wisconsin this week, with Spieth as 6/1 fixed odds favourite for the Championship.

Behind Spieth at a Leaderboard Index spread of 9-12, and fixed odds of 9/1, is Rory McIlroy, two-time winner of the PGA Championship, in 2012 and 2014. McIlroy couldn’t defend his Open Championship due to a ruptured ligament in his left ankle, but claims he is 100% fit going into is PGA title defence. A 4th place finish in the Master and a tied 9th place in the US Open so far in 2015 will have been bitter disappointments for McIlroy, and could give the Northern Irishman the extra fuel he needs to win the first back-to-back PGA Championships since Woods in 2006 and 2007.



Equalling McIlroy’s 9-12 Leaderboard Index spread is Jason Day, fresh off his better ever finish at the Open Championship, where he tied for 4th with Spieth. Day has only every managed an 8th place finish in his 4 PGA Championships, back in 2013, but with solid fixed odds of 14/1, 2015 could be the Australian’s year.

Two time Masters champion Bubba Watson is next up, with a Leaderboard Index spread of 8-11 and Tournament Winner fixed odds of 14/1. Bubba has never fared to well at the PGA Championship, with a 2nd place finish in 2010 being far and away his best finish, the next closest being 11th place in 2012. However he goes into the PGA Championship at 3rd on the Official World Golf Ranking after winning the 2015 Travelers Championship at the end of June.

Rounding out Spreadex’s Leaderboard top 5 is Dustin Johnson, at an Index spread of 8-11 and 16/1 fixed odds to win the title. After leading for the first 2 days of the Open Championship Johnson couldn’t deal with the pressure and soon fell away from the front of the pack. Johnson similarly bottled on the final whole of the US Open earlier in the year, gifting Spieth his second title. With a bit of composure, however, the native South Carolinian could finally win his first major championship; god knows he has come close this year already.



Outside Spreadex’s top 5 and the competition still sees plenty of potential champions in the mix. Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson tied for 3rd at 2014’s PGA Championship, and sit at a Leaderboard Index spread of 6.5-8.5 and 6-8 respectively. Last year’s runner-up, and 5-time major champion, Phil Mickelson is at a 3-5 Leaderboard Index spread, whilst 4-time PGA Championship champion Tiger Woods goes in with woefully low expectations at a spread of 1.75-2.75.

Then there are the 3 men that caused the 2015 Open Championship to go to a play-off. Zach Johnson was the eventual winner, nabbing his second ever major and first since 2007 in the process, and sits at a Leaderboard Index spread of 3-5 and fixed odds of 40/1. The runners-up, meanwhile, have very different odds: the South African Louis Oosthuizen is at a Leaderboard Index spread of 4-6 and 28/1 fixed odds, whilst Marc Leishman is at a 1.5-2.5 spread and 100/1 fixed odds.

Make sure to check out all of Spreadex’s fixed odds and spread betting opportunities throughout the 2015 PGA Championship!