Sleeper Picks: PGA Championship

Sam Horsfield (England) (+200 for a Top 40) … When you’re talented, you’re talented. The 26-year-old from England took the title at the Soudal Open in Belgium on Sunday. He had been sidelined for two-and-a-half months with an injured back before returning for a T18 (with Matt Wallace) at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. A T21 at home followed two weeks later. It’s Horsfield’s third DP WORLD Tour victory but first of the last 21 months after he picked off a pair on what was the UK Swing immediately after the circuit’s shutdown in response to the pandemic. Does his best work with his putter. Although he’s still on the rise globally, he’s no stranger to the brightest lights having made five starts in majors previously. That includes going 2-for-2 in the set last year. Rikuya Hoshino (Japan) (+333 for a Top 40) … The five-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour is comin’ in hot. In his last five starts, all on his native circuit, he’s finished T6, T7, second, second and third. It’s been exactly one year since his last victory and he just turned 26. Performance always is relative, but no one has a better scoring average on the JGTO. He also leads in par-5 scoring, par breakers and scrambling. He’s been comfortable navigating the redwoods of the PGA TOUR with six paydays in 10 starts, including a career-best T26 at the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines where he ranked second in Strokes Gained: Approach-the Green and co-led in par-3 scoring. Bio Kim (South Korea) (+400 for a Top 40) … If the name rings a bell, it’s probably because you’ve been an avid PGA TOUR fan long enough to remember when he was the youngest member at the age of 20 in 2011. Now just three months from his 32nd birthday, the native of Seoul, South Korea, is making his PGA Championship debut as the fifth-best golfer from his homeland (at 115th in the Official World Golf Ranking). He’s fresh off a spirited run of performances on the Asian Tour, including his first victory on the circuit two weeks ago. It propelled him into the bubble for a special exemption at Southern Hills. Dean Burmester (South Africa) (+275 for a Top 40) … The very recent winner of the PGA Championship – OK, so it was the tournament of the same name on the Sunshine Tour in November, but it’s not wrong and no one ever can take it away from him – the 32-year-old representing South Africa has eight wins on his home circuit. He just closed out his second season of the last five as the runner-up on its Order of Merit. He’s also 6-for-8 on the PGA TOUR, including a 3-for-4 in the majors. He even had his own Tiger Woods-like, boulder-moving experience at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in late March. Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thailand) (+550 for a Top 40) … You’re familiar with his fellow countrymen, Jazz Janewattananond and PGA TOUR member Kiradech Aphibarnrat, but this 23-year-old currently is Thailand’s top talent at 118th in the Official World Golf Ranking. With three wins and a runner-up in a span of six weeks late in 2021, he was the Order of Merit leader on the All Thailand Golf Tour. That generated momentum onto the Asian Tour where he picked off a T2 and a T5 before New Year’s. In his second start of 2022, he prevailed at the SMBC Singapore Open and finished second on the Asian Tour’s OOM (behind Joohyung (Tom) Kim, who finished T17 at last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson after appearing as a Sleeper at +550 for a Top 20). Making the cut in his debut in the U.S. is the proper bet for Kaewkanjana (where you can find it), but with nothing to lose and everything to gain, he could be compelling early and certainly someone on whom to keep an eye moving forward. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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