Steve Palmer's US PGA Championship golf specials betting and best bets

Golf tips, best bets and player specials for the US PGA Championship at the Ocean Course, Kiawah Island.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 1pm Thursday

Best bets

Victor Perez top Frenchman
4pts 10-11 BoyleSports

Thomas Pieters top Belgian
3pts 8-11 Coral, Ladbrokes

Corey Conners top Canadian
3pts 8-13 general

Viktor Hovland top Scandinavian
3pts 8-15 Coral, Ladbrokes

Viktor Hovland-Will Zalatoris dual forecast
0.5pt 500-1Coral, Ladbrokes

Specials preview

The main 'tops' markets for the US PGA Championship are ultra-competitive and it is difficult to be confident about identifying a winner, so preference is for backing four short-priced favourites in less popular sections and having them in multiples where possible.

Top Frenchman is a two-runner market for which one firm has gone 10-11 your-choice. Given the edge in experience which Victor Perez has over Antoine Rozner, it is a surprise that Perez is not significantly shorter in the betting.

Perez has excelled Stateside on two Pete Dye designs this year, finishing ninth in the Players Championship at Sawgrass, then fourth in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. His ball-striking quality should be shown to great effect on the Ocean Course and he has the benefit of JP Fitzgerald caddying for him. The Irishman was on Rory McIlroy's bag when he won the 2012 US PGA at Kiawah.

Rozner is making his Major debut this week, while Perez has four Majors under his belt, finishing 22nd in the US PGA last season. Perez is 41 places higher in the world rankings and seems the much more likely title contender.

Thomas Pieters for top Belgian seems a solid investment for similar reasons. Pieters, fourth in the 2017 Masters and sixth in the 2018 US PGA, is a former Ryder Cup star who is comfortable on the world stage. He has been performing well on paspalum grass (as featured at Kiawah) in recent weeks and is a strong enough ball-striker to handle the Ocean Course.

Thomas Detry, the only other Belgian in the field, is playing in only his second Major, tied for 43rd in the British Masters on Saturday, and had to trek from Sutton Coldfield to South Carolina.

Corey Conners for top Canadian is another attractive favourite. Conners has established himself as one of the most consistent ball-strikers on the PGA Tour - in a different league to his two compatriots in this US PGA - Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes.

The final leg of a potential fourfold is Viktor Hovland for top Scandinavian. Hovland, who has won two PGA Tour events on paspalum, has finished in the top six in eight of his last 13 tournaments. If he ends up on the Kiawah Island leaderboard on Sunday, he seems unlikely to be joined by Alex Noren, Henrik Stenson, Rasmus Hojgaard, Sami Valimaki or Kalle Samooja.

Punters seeking more exotic prices should consider the Hovland and Will Zalatoris outright dual forecast at 500-1.

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