Best Bets: 2025 PGA Championship Begins at Quail Hollow Club

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00:00Golf second major of the season now officially underway in Charlotte.

00:05It's the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, which means we check in bright and

00:10early in the opening round on this Thursday morning with Keith Stewart,

00:15who is there on the sites of Quail Hollow Club for the beginning of the 2025 PGA.

00:20Keith, as always, we appreciate the time.

00:23Thanks for being here on TEL.

00:26Ben, Donnie, good morning here.

00:28Things are about to heat up down here in Charlotte.

00:31Literally, the water's coming out of the ground, the temperature, the humidity,

00:36and the pressure that these guys feel.

00:39This is a lot of fun.

00:39We've got eight guys tied for first place right now at three under par.

00:43The guys are having at it.

00:44It's pretty good competition so far, guys.

00:47The opening round underway, and as Keith alluded to,

00:50eight guys tied for the top of the leaderboard, all at three under.

00:55Keith, one of the stories entering this week,

00:57the remarks about Quail Hollow as a course and a host site as well,

01:01but also just the amount of rain on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, kind of dampening,

01:06literally, practice rounds and preparations.

01:09But as you said, it's starting to dry out.

01:12What have you seen of the course conditions

01:14early in the opening round on this Thursday?

01:17Ben, it's a great point.

01:18They've gotten five inches of rain in the last five days,

01:20and the PGA of America came out with a huge statement last night.

01:23It said, we are playing the ball down, which means no preferred lies, which means no lift,

01:28clean, and replace, right?

01:30And it's a major championship, and that's what they should do.

01:33And thankfully, through this morning wave so far, everyone's out on the golf course.

01:36We haven't seen any issues with mud balls or anything like that.

01:40Now, the story coming into this was going to be the green complexes and the putting,

01:45and it's already treacherous.

01:47You can see it on TV and in the coverage that the guys are being very respectful,

01:51but the greens are so pure that if you are a good putter, you can make some.

01:55I look forward to the afternoon wave, which has some big names that these guys,

01:59these greens are going to get a little crusty every afternoon,

02:02and they're going to be a lot of fun to watch these guys go nuts.

02:05Either make some putts or miss some, have that ball roll out, those testy three-footers to save par.

02:10It's going to be a lot of entertainment.

02:13We'll take a look at the odds market right now, as you said.

02:15Very competitive early and often right now.

02:17You could probably go after those flags and those pins,

02:19which you might not be able to do a little bit later this week once the greens do dry out.

02:23Rory McIlroy through six holes.

02:25He is under par, but still Scotty Sheffle, we talked yesterday, was a four-to-one price or so.

02:30He's at plus 360 right now.

02:31Rory McIlroy at a plus 850.

02:34They're waiting for Scotty Sheffle to do some damage this weekend down in Carolina.

02:40Well, there's no doubt about that, Donnie.

02:42The big three are out on the golf course right now.

02:44They started on the 10th hole.

02:45They're in the middle of their back nine.

02:47And, you know, Scotty, he's hitting the ball everywhere.

02:50He's chipped in once for birdie, and then he also putted it in from off the green for eagle.

02:54So he's two under par, and he hasn't really played like the number one player in the world.

02:58These guys just hang around.

03:00They are that good.

03:00Rory McIlroy the same way, under par.

03:03And he's been a little bit loose with the driver.

03:05Xander Shoffley's actually looked the most steady.

03:07And right now, he's trailing both of those guys in that power group.

03:11When you look at that power pairing, Keith, and that group off early, Xander Shoffley,

03:16the reigning PGA champion.

03:17Of course, Rory McIlroy victorious and finally completing the career grand slam at Augusta earlier this year.

03:24And Scotty Shoffley, who just eagled the par five 15th, their sixth hole.

03:28As Keith alluded to, they started on the back nine.

03:31John Rahm, fourth best price entering this week at Quail Hollow, 18 to one pre-tournament.

03:38He's two under par so far in the early going at the PGA Championship.

03:42But Keith, the guy you gave us yesterday, early leans on the early line, Bryson DeChambeau,

03:48third best price, only a couple of bucks behind both Scotty and Rory to begin, remains at that

03:54seven to one pre-tournament number.

03:56You talked about the course conditions and the guys that will go off a little bit later on this

04:01Thursday in Charlotte.

04:03How favorable won't DeChambeau find the course today at Quail Hollow?

04:08Oh, Bryson's going to love this setup today because he's a great putter and the crustier

04:13the greens get, that's going to give him an advantage and allow him to separate.

04:16Appointment viewing, boys, at 1 47 p.m. this afternoon, you've got to have Bryson,

04:21Victor and Gary Woodland.

04:22And that whole afternoon wave, it's loaded.

04:24It starts with JT and Colin right around 1 15 and group after group right in that little

04:29section, you're going to have some, you're going to have some awesome, awesome golf to watch.

04:33And Bryson is going to be the star.

04:35You can see it already how Rory's distancing himself from even Scotty and Xander off the

04:40tee and the advantage that he has.

04:43And for Bryson, it's going to be the same exact thing.

04:46These guys hit mid irons where the other guys are hitting long irons into greens.

04:49It's just such an advantage.

04:51And if you can roll the rock, which is going to be the true test for four days,

04:54Bryson's got to be licking his chops right now because the golf course is soft where

04:59he's going to land and the greens are pure.

05:01And those are the two things he needs in order to differentiate himself from this field.

05:05Now, real quick, one of the tee times this morning that I thought was like really interesting

05:10was captain Keegan Bradley was paired with Matt McNeely and Andrew Novak to two guys that

05:16would be rookie selections for the US rider cup team.

05:19And you know, the PGA of America, they run the US team putting that pairing together.

05:23That was no coincidence.

05:25Now, all of a sudden the first tee time of the day,

05:27the guy that led off the tournament was Luke Donald, the European captain.

05:31Keegan now, right?

05:32He's out there with those two guys.

05:34He's supposed to be watching them.

05:35Keegan's leading the tournament alongside Luke Donald.

05:38You have both active rider cup captains out there leading the golf tournament right now.

05:43It's a really cool thing for the PGA of America.

05:45Only five times in history has an active rider cup captain shot around in the 60s

05:51at the PGA championship.

05:53And both guys have a chance to do it today.

05:56Keith, answer me this question, too, because so many times look at like an event like the

05:59US Open.

06:00You're just trying to hang on over the weekend.

06:01Don't make double bogey and don't make bogey.

06:03But if you are four to five shots back, let's just say on Saturday late afternoon,

06:08is this golf course going to be set up where you can go out there and really put together

06:11a string of birdies or possibly eagles to get you back in and win this thing?

06:15Donnie, there's two parts to that.

06:18There's two answers to that question on holes one through 15.

06:21Absolutely go attack, make as many birdies as you can.

06:24You get to the green mile 16, 17 and 18.

06:27We're going to see a lot of fluctuation in score.

06:30It's going to be super entertaining.

06:31You got to get the ball in the house.

06:33And so early on in your round, attack, attack, attack late,

06:37put both hands on the steering wheel and then hold on for dear life.

06:41It is going to be a great weekend in Charlotte.

06:44Keith, quickly, what do you think that finishing score is for our PGA champion?

06:49Just how low will they go at Quail Hollow?

06:53Ben, it's going to be right around the mid-teens.

06:55I'd take 15 right now and you'd probably be in a playoff.

06:5816 or so, you win 13, 14, maybe, you know, runner up.

07:03It's a really good point as well.

07:04And for all of you betting round leaders, three balls, all that stuff, par 71 in Charlotte.

07:10Do not forget.

07:11Keith Stewart, we appreciate the time as always.

07:14We'll keep checking in from Charlotte all week long on Sports Grid.

07:17More on the early line up next.

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