PGA Championship 2021: 5 dark horse sleepers who can win at Kiawah

The PGA Championship offers an extremely difficult task at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island but these sleepers and dark horses could pop and win a major.

If you like storylines entering a golf major championship, the 2021 PGA Championship at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island is the tournament for you. Rory McIlroy, fresh off finding his way out of the wilderness at the Wells Fargo Championship, heads back to the venue where he won the 2012 PGA Championship in dominant fashion. Moreover, a white-hot Jordan Spieth takes another crack at trying to win the career grand slam. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Kiawah is going to test the best golfers in the world at the PGA Championship as it will be the longest major championship venue in history. On top of that, though, the winds coming in off the ocean and the diabolically difficult Pete Dye design of the course is going to make every player have to grind throughout 72 holes to win.

As expected, McIlroy, Spieth, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, young Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and the other big names in the golfing world are listed as the favorites to win at Kiawah. But as we all know, having the best odds doesn’t mean a player is going to win.

So we know who the favorites are but which dark horses and sleepers could emerge as true contenders at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island? These five golfers have a terrific chance at hand to do exactly that. (Note: All betting odds are courtesy of WynnBET. All stats are via PGATour.com.)

PGA Championship sleeper No. 5: Tyrell Hatton (+5500)

When you look at Tyrell Hatton, there are two things that most golf fans will immediately think of. The first is how the Englishmen is always seemingly on the brink of going berserk with his temper. The second consideration, though, is that he has the potential to win any tournament where he decides to tee it up. He has that type  of talent in his game.

Hatton’s big issue in terms of competing at the highest level in the world — and why he’s getting +5500 odds for the PGA Championship. While he can win any tournament and in a variety of styles, he has moments when he seemingly loses focus and, as such, doesn’t compete at the top of the leaderboard.

Yet, after getting a small monkey off his back at The Masters with a strong Sunday showing to finish T18 after historically struggling at Augusta, the all-around game of Hatton is enticing. This is a player who ranks 27th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and has roots in the U.K., meaning he can combat the links-style course.

All told, if Hatton shows up to the Ocean Course dialed in and focused, there’s nothing about his game or pedigree to suggest that he can’t emerge as a first-time major winner.