If you’ve been itching for another major ever since Rory finally slipped on that long‑overdue green jacket at Augusta, the wait is over. The 2025 PGA Championship is rolling into Charlotte, and Quail Hollow is going to test every club in the bag. It’s long, it’s tough, and if you’re short off the tee, you’ll be laying up all week. Fairways are blanketed in fresh spring Bermudagrass, greens are starting to firm, and that North Carolina humidity can turn a casual stroll into a full‑body workout.

If you're reading this, chances are you're not just here for the highlight reels — you’re probably looking to find a few smart angles before Thursday tee times roll around. Whether it's an outright, a top‑20 prop, or just a good head‑to‑head matchup to ride through the weekend, there’s plenty to sort through.

Quail Hollow 101: Where Bombers Feast and Nerves Fray

Quail Hollow isn’t one of those courses that sneaks up on you—it’s a beast, and it wants you to know it from the first tee. Officially, it plays 7,600 yards, but that’s just the number on the card. Depending on how they stretch out the tees, it can push close to 7,800. That’s long, even by today’s Tour standards. You need to be able to hit it far, hit it high, and not get rattled by elevated greens that absolutely punish anything short or offline.

People throw around the term “bomber’s course” a lot, and yeah, it fits here. But it’s not just about distance. You can’t just grip it and rip it all week — Quail has plenty of trouble if you’re wild off the tee, and the second shots are no picnic either. Long irons, especially under pressure, are going to decide who’s in the mix come Sunday afternoon.

• Drive it high and deep. Three of the four par‑5s are gettable — but only if you’ve got serious distance. The shorter hitters are laying up, hoping to wedge it close and roll in a birdie, while the big boys are eyeing eagle looks.

• Long irons decide Sundays. Look at holes like the 506-yard 16th. You’re not getting home with anything but a towering long iron, and even then, the landing zone is tight. This isn’t a course where you can fake your way through with a hot putter alone.

• The Green Mile. This closing stretch is brutal. Holes 16 through 18 are known as the Green Mile — a par-4, par-3, par-4 run that chews up contenders and spits out double bogeys. Just ask Justin Thomas, who won here in 2017 by managing to survive that final stretch even-par. That’s no small feat.

Course familiarity helps a lot, too. Rory McIlroy has four wins here from Wells Fargo events, and you don’t rack up that kind of record without a course fitting your eye. Justin Thomas won his first major at this very spot, and Xander Schauffele has been knocking at the door with back-to-back runner-ups when the Tour has stopped here. If you’re trying to narrow down the card, guys who’ve already shown they can hang at Quail are a good place to start. 

Weather Watch: Sticky Air and Saturday Wild Cards

The forecasts have Charlotte flirting with 90 degrees and humidity thick enough to chew. If the heavens open, Quail will soften, drives will plug, and long hitters gain even more juice. If Saturday turns into a mud‑bath, live‑bet bombers who blister it 320‑plus. If the rain misses, bump steady ball‑strikers who thrive on firm turf.

The Big Three

Rory McIlroy (+475)

Rory McIlroy finally got over the hump at Augusta and completed the career Grand Slam — a win that was a long time coming after a decade of close calls and pressure from every angle. Now, just a few weeks later, he’s headed to a course where he’s basically had season tickets to the winner’s circle. McIlroy has four wins at Quail Hollow in regular Tour events, and nobody with at least 20 rounds here has scored better over time.

Quail just fits his game. He’s always been one of the most natural drivers of the golf ball, and when the irons are dialed in — like they were at Augusta — he turns courses like this into a personal playground.

There’s a small chance of an emotional dip after such a major breakthrough, but even with that baked in, you’re still talking about a guy whose game lines up with everything Quail Hollow demands. If you’re looking to back someone near the top of the board, McIlroy is the rare case where the number actually makes sense.

Scottie Scheffler (+400)

Scottie Scheffler’s last PGA Championship outing didn’t exactly go smoothly — between the off-course headlines and the on-course inconsistency, it was a rare week where he looked human. But that feels like ancient history now. The guy has gone right back to doing what he does best: hitting absolute lasers and living on the first page of leaderboards.

Statistically, he's back to being the guy no one wants to chase. He leads the Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green and in approach, which basically means he’s doing everything but walking it to the hole himself.

And now, after picking up a win at the Byron Nelson a couple of weeks ago, he’s showing real confidence with the putter again — which was the one piece that had been holding him back earlier this season.

If you’re looking for a nit to pick, it’s that Scheffler hasn’t played much competitive golf at Quail Hollow. He’s logged reps at the Presidents Cup, but that’s not quite the same as grinding over four rounds in a major. Still, if you’re betting against him, you’re banking on a lot of guys being perfect for four straight days — and that hasn’t been a great strategy lately.

Bryson DeChambeau (+700)

Bryson DeChambeau isn’t exactly sneaking in under the radar. He just took care of business at LIV Golf Korea, where he looked sharp across the board — bombing it off the tee, dialed in with the wedges, and not giving away much on the greens. That win, paired with his U.S. Open title last summer, has him heading into Quail with plenty of momentum and swagger.

Quail Hollow sets up perfectly for a guy like Bryson. It rewards carry distance more than almost any other course on the major rotation, and he’s still one of the longest players on the planet. Add in the possibility of soft conditions from potential weekend storms, and his advantages start to really stack up. He’s also been putting better than people realize, which gives him a higher floor than he’s had in the past when the flatstick would disappear for stretches.

The one thing that could trip him up is accuracy off the tee. Quail’s rough isn’t thick like a U.S. Open, but it’s over-seeded and patchy — miss too many fairways and you’re scrambling all day, especially around those elevated greens. Still, if the course plays soft and Bryson can keep it somewhere in the fairway, he could overpower it in a way very few others can. For bettors leaning into the big-hitter narrative, he makes a ton of sense.

Proven Contenders and Course Horses

Justin Thomas (+2000)

Justin Thomas has made it clear that Quail Hollow is one of his favorite places to play. After winning the PGA Championship here back in 2017, and it's not hard to see why. The course plays to his strengths: it's long, it demands good iron play, and you have to be sharp mentally to handle the back nine. When Thomas is on, especially with his irons, there aren’t many better.

Heading into this week, he’s quietly putting together one of the better form stretches we’ve seen from him in a while. He recently picked up a win at the RBC Heritage and followed that up with a runner-up finish at the Truist Championship. His iron game has been lights out — ranking third in strokes gained over the past couple of months — and that’s a stat that always travels well, especially to a place like Quail.

Now, the driver is still a bit of a wild card. He’s been losing strokes off the tee this season, and Quail isn’t the kind of course where you can get away with a spray show. But Thomas has a tendency to go nuclear for a round or two — especially on Saturdays. If he finds the groove with the big stick and puts together one of those “get hot and don’t look back” rounds, he’ll be right there on Sunday.

Xander Schauffele (+2200)

Xander Schauffele isn’t the flashiest guy on Tour, but he’s quietly one of the most reliable when it comes to the big stages. He comes into this PGA Championship as the defending champ and has now posted 12 straight top‑20 finishes in majors — a level of consistency that’s tough to ignore. And when it comes to Quail Hollow, he’s no stranger to success either. He’s already got two runner‑up finishes here, so there’s clearly something about this course that fits his game.

Some of the data models haven’t been too high on him this week, mostly because his putter hasn’t exactly been hot lately. But the rest of his game has been solid. He found a little something with the driver at the Wells Fargo and is striking it well enough to stay in the hunt even if he’s not draining everything. Xander rarely makes big mistakes, which is a huge asset at a place like Quail where one bad hole can knock you out of contention in a hurry.

He’s not the kind of pick that’ll generate buzz on social media, but if you’re looking for someone with proven major pedigree, a strong record at the course, and the kind of steady play that holds up over four days, Xander is absolutely in the mix.

Viktor Hovland (+5000)

Viktor Hovland is one of those guys who feels overdue for a major. He’s finished on the podium in the last two PGA Championships, but just hasn’t been able to close the deal. Still, he’s clearly comfortable on this kind of stage, and that matters when you're trying to figure out who can hold up under pressure late Sunday.

What’s encouraging is how much work he put in during the offseason, especially around the greens. His short game used to be the weak link, but he’s made real improvements with his chipping — enough that it’s no longer a red flag when you’re building out your card. Combine that with a solid driver and a reliable long-iron game, and you’ve got a skill set that should travel just fine to any course.

Now, he hasn’t played Quail in competition, and that’s the one knock. No course history to lean on. But sometimes you’ve got to trust the form and the makeup. Hovland’s game lines up well with what this course asks for, and at this price, he’s one of the more interesting mid-range plays on the board.

Value Picks and Live Dogs

Shane Lowry: +5500

Ranks 4th in SG: Tee‑to‑Green last eight events; knows how to flight it in wind if Saturday gets gnarly.

Patrick Reed: +8000

Runner‑up here in ’17, short‑game wizard, four top‑10s in last five worldwide starts.

Keith Mitchell: +12000

Five straight Tour top‑20s, positively humming off the tee, and loves Quail’s sight lines.

Denny McCarthy: +17000

T6 and T8 the last two Wells Fargos; if this turns into a putting contest, he cashes.

Min Woo Lee: +9000

Top‑3 in driving distance on the DP World Tour, fearless putter, perfect profile for soft Quail.

If you’re not looking to go heavy on outrights but still want a stake in the action, there’s a smarter way to stay involved. Back a few of these longshots to finish in the top 20 — it gives you some room to cash even if they don’t make a late charge on Sunday.

You can also pair these types of plays with head-to-head matchups if you’re trying to build a safer card. Mitchell over Jason Day, Reed over Jason Day, and Min Woo Lee over Sungjae Im are a few that seem like good matchups. These guys may not be favorites to win the tournament outright, but they’ve got enough in the tank — and the course history or profile — to get the job done against more volatile names.

The Wanamaker’s Coming Home With a Bomber — Probably

Between a soft forecast, a long layout, and a trio of headliners playing some of their best golf, this week has all the makings of a big-time battle at Quail Hollow. Rory McIlroy’s riding high after Augusta, Scottie Scheffler looks like a machine with the irons, and Bryson DeChambeau’s got the kind of power that can bully this course if he’s finding fairways.

That said, things don’t always go as expected. Maybe Rory’s still coming down from that career-slam high. Maybe Scheffler’s limited experience here catches up to him. And maybe Bryson starts playing army golf, left-right-left into the patchy rough. If any of them stumble, don’t be shocked if a less-hyped name sneaks into contention. This course has a history of giving guys like Keegan Bradley their breakout moment.

So if you’re betting this thing, balance your card. Don’t be afraid to back a longshot who fits the course, especially if the weather gets weird.

All odds courtesy of FanDuel.