Southern Hills Stats Ahead of 2022 PGA Championship (Where Can Bettors Gain an Edge?)
By Ben Heisler
The last time the PGA Championship was held at Southern Hills Country Club, Tiger Woods was 31 years old; en route to winning his 13th major championship.
Woods finished at -8 for the tournament, defeating Woody Austin by two strokes at the 89th PGA Championship. After a one-over-par 71 on Day 1, Woods stormed back with a 63, seven-under-par score on Friday, followed by back-to-back 69s over the weekend.
Despite being the last golfer to win a major championship at this course, Woods is listed at 100/1 odds at WynnBET Sportsbook to repeat after a 15-year gap.
While not amongst the top contenders, could Woods' performance, along with other key pieces of information about Southern Hills help us find a potential winner in 2022?
Here are a few things bettors should know about this week's major venue.
Every 36-Hole Leader Has Won at Southern Hills
Via Golf Week's Adam Schupak, during a conference call earlier this week, historian Clyde Chrisman pointed out something rather stunning about all 10 PGA events that took place at Southern Hills Country Club.
Turns out, that the leader after 36 holes in every tournament, has gone on to win!
As Chrisman points out in the piece, “The only two who didn’t lead or share the lead after the first round are Dave Stockton and Tiger Woods. It’s not a course where someone has gotten hot in the last round or two and made a late charge to win.”
Similar Courses to Southern Hills Favor Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa
According to the Course Fit Tool at golf metrics database DataGolf, there are four courses that compare similarly to the layout and design of Southern Hills.
TPC Scottsdale (Waste Management Phoenix Open) - 96%
The Summit Club (CJ Cup - 2021) - 90.4%
Winged Foot (U.S. Open -2020) - 88.1%
Liberty National (Northern Trust, 2021, 2019) - 87.4%
2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was the most recent winner at the 2022 Waste Management Phoenix Open, only enhancing his status as the favorite on the board at +1000 at WynnBET Sportsbook.
Rory McIlroy was the winner at the CJ Cup in 2021, by one stroke over Collin Morikawa. However, DataGolf also points out that amongst the favorites, Morikawa best fits the mold of Southern Hills.
The two-time Major champion, and 2020 PGA Championship winner is currently 21/1 at WynnBET to win his third major and second Wanamaker Trophy.
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