9 sneaky US PGA Championship picks

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These guys aren’t among the favourites this week at Bellerive Country Club, but under the right circumstances they could all find themselves in contention come Sunday. If you’re looking to round out your US PGA Championship tips, you could do worse than picking among these veteran tour pros.

Byeong Hun An

The South Korea native has had a quiet but impressive year, with two runner-up finishes and four top-10s on the US PGA Tour to put him 36th on the FedEx Cup points list. He also has a good record at long, tricky courses (T-5 at PGA National, playoff loss at Muirfield Village, plus his US Amateur win in 2009 at Southern Hills). His one blemish is performance in Majors: seven missed cuts in 14 starts as a pro and no top-20 finishes.

Brian Harman

There have been no wins this year, but the confidence Harman gained from solid finishes at the 2017 US Open and PGA have carried over into a impressive season in 2018 with eight top-10s and 17 of 20 cuts made. Harman doesn’t hit it long, but he’s straight and he can putt, ranking 18th in driving accuracy and 15th in strokes-gained/putting. Tell us you don’t like that combination?

Russell Henley

Don’t let the 80 that Henley shot in the second round at Carnoustie to miss the cut scare you. Truthfully, it was his first bad round on the US PGA Tour since March (yes, he shot a 77 on Saturday at the US Open, but we all know how tough the course was playing that day, right Phil?). Top-10 finishes in his two starts between the US Open and the British Open (with all eight rounds in the 60s) suggest a player who is comfortable of late with his game.

Joaquin Niemann

If you believe in riding a hot hand, the 19-year-old from Chile is a wildcard to follow. Since turning pro after the Masters in April, Niemann has four top-10s in 10 US PGA Tour starts, good enough to have locked up his card for 2019. Most impressive has been his ability to go low; 21 of his 34 rounds have been in the 60s and 12 have been 67 or lower. If he had enough rounds to qualify for the tour rankings, he’d rank fifth in strokes-gained/tee to green, second in strokes-gained/approach the green, second in greens in regulation and 11th in scoring average.

Alex Noren

We’ve been touting Noren as a sneaky pick for a while now, and all the reasons still hold: 10 European Tour wins, including seven in the last three years, the most recent just six weeks ago in France. Plus he’s improving with his performances in Majors, finishing T-25 at the US Open and T-17 at the British Open. You could argue Bellerive suits the 36-year-old Swede’s game best of any of the four this year as he’s 15th in strokes-gained/approach the green and ninth in strokes-gained/putting.

Pat Perez

Is there another 40-something who has more of a US PGA-winner feel than Perez? His best Major championship finish was a T-6 at the 2005 PGA at Baltusrol. Briefly his name made the Carnoustie leaderboard, although a Saturday 74 ended his true hopes at victory. We’d feel better if his recent form looked more like the start of the year, but can’t you picture him hoisting the Wanamaker?

Xander Schauffele

Join us for a serving of crow if you thought X-man’s rookie season might have been a fluke. All the 24-year-old Californian seems to do is play well in big events: a win at last year’s Tour Championship, T-2 at the Players, T-6 at the US Open and T-2 at the British Open. There was a stretch of three missed cuts in four starts in early summer, but Schauffele only seems to exude confidence in moments where fellow young guns begin to pucker up.

Webb Simpson

What’s shaping up to be a career year includes Simpson’s romp at the Players, three more top-five finishes and six top-10s. And his Major finishes in 2018 have been T-20 at the Masters, T-10 at the US Open and T-12 at the British. People still associate him with his putting woes post-anchor ban, but it’s safe to say he’s through that. He’s currently sixth in strokes-gained/putting after finishing 2016 ranked 177th and 2015 ranked 174th.

Gary Woodland

After a hot start to the season, with his win in Phoenix, Woodland cooled off in the American spring. But he seems to be re-gaining his form, having made the cut at Shinnecock Hills and Carnoustie. Woodland reminds us a lot of Brooks Koepka in that he can overwhelm a course with his raw power. Interestingly, too, Woodland’s strokes-gained stats are all significantly better than Koepka’s except for around the green.