Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry among our three top longshot bets at this week’s PGA Championship

The second major championship of the season, the 2023 PGA Championship, will get begin on Thursday at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

Oak Hill has undergone a complete renovation since it last hosted this tournament in 2013, but all of the early indications suggest that those who can hit it long and straight off the tee should have an advantage (huge surprise, really) over the rest of the field, though bettors will also want to target players with some pizazz in their short game given the deep bunkers and tiny greens on the course.

Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler are the co-favorites to win the event at +750. Rahm is just five weeks removed from winning the Masters, while Scheffler is two months out from his victory at THE PLAYERS back in March. Scheffler has not finished worse than T12 in his last 13 starts on the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy, who was basically priced as a co-favorite with Rahm and Scheffler at Augusta National, is the third choice at +1300. Patrick Cantlay (+2000), Brooks Koepka (+2100) and Tony Finau (+2400) are the only other golfers below the +2500 mark.

It’s pretty easy to make a case for any of the stars at the top of the board to lift the Wanamaker Trophy -- especially since a lot of the big tournaments this year have been chalky -- but instead of focusing on the top of the board, we’ll look at a few longshots that could make some noise in Western New York.

Lowry was a popular longshot pick to win the Masters at +5500, but he’s since come off the boil. The Irishman posted a solid T16 at Augusta, but he followed that up with a T67 at the RBC Heritage and then he missed the cut at the Wells Fargo. With those two results on everyone’s mind, Lowry’s price has floated into range for a buy-low bet. Not only is Lowry a major champion, but he’s a terrific driver of the golf ball and has a deft touch around the green.

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Another former major champion, Woodland has been quietly resurgent in 2023. The 2019 U.S. Open winner has not found himself in the winner’s circle in 2023, but he has finished T14 in two of his last four outings (including at Augusta) and has made a habit of getting off to strong starts. Woodland’s game is built around his ability to drive the ball, so his success will likely hinge on his ability to putt -- which could be an adventure.

Bradley was percolating during the early stages of 2023, but he’s been pretty quiet since a T10 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But instead of worrying about the form of the 2011 PGA Championship winner, we’ll buy low on a player who should be comfortable in this set-up since he’s a native of the Northeast and played his college golf at St. John’s.

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