Southern Hills History Says Bet Will Zalatoris to Win 2022 PGA Championship

There's still 36 holes to go at the second golf major of the 2022 season, but history suggests that the winner of the 2022 PGA Championship may already be pre-determined.

25-year old Will Zalatoris holds a one-stroke lead at 9-under par after Day 2 over Mito Pereira, separating from the pack with a terrific 4-under performance on the back 9 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

For most of the day, Justin Thomas was on top. He fired a second straight three-under-par 67 on Friday, moving to 6-under par for the tournament and take a one-stroke lead over the field. He started the day second on the board at +600 odds behind Rory McIlroy, who was magnificent on Day 1 with a five-under 65 to lead the field.

With just a short lead, why should Zalatoris be viewed as already having the tournament in the bag? After all, there's still a whole weekend left to go!

According to golf historian Clyde Chrisman, Southern Hills Country Club has hosted 10 PGA events (seven majors, two Tour Championships and a Senior PGA Championship). In all 10 of them, the leader after 36 holes went on to win.

The latest major at Southern Hills took place in 2007, when Tiger Woods won his 13th major championship at the age of 31; and his second straight PGA Championship in the process.

After shooting one-over on Thursday, Woods stormed back with a seven-under 63; tying the lowest single-round score at a major at the time. Woods' score of -6 gave him a two stroke lead over Scott Verplank (-4), and went on to lead the rest of the way. finishing at 8-under par to defeat Woody Austin by two strokes.

While PGA Championship odds for the final weekend at WynnBET Sportsbook have yet to go back up, Zalatoris remains the consensus favorite at most sportsbooks to walk away with his first major championship, as well as his first PGA Tour victory.

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