2023 PGA Championship: Bet On This Guy Who Just Hired Tiger Woods’ Caddie
Golf’s next major tournament, The PGA Championship, is a little over two weeks away (May 15-21) at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York, a suburb southeast of Rochester.
Woods is on the mend following yet another surgery, this one on April 19 to fuse bones in his right ankle, and is out indefinitely. In fact, his entire 2023 season is in jeopardy.
So, Patrick Cantlay, the current No. 4-ranked golfer in the world, has brought on Tiger’s caddie, Joe Cava.
Cantlay talked to Cava about him replacing his most recent caddie and Cava called Woods to get his permission.
Per ESPN’s report:
"Joe called Tiger to ask him and get his approval," Mark Steinberg, Woods' longtime agent, told ESPN. "Of course, Tiger gave it. Tiger and Joe are like brothers, tremendous friends. You shouldn't read anything more in to that other than Joe wants to caddie. He loves it. It's his passion. He's great at it and one of the best."
Cava will be on Cantlay’s bag during this week’s Wells Fargo Championship (May 4-7) and he’s the second betting choice (+1500) behind only Rory McIlroy, the favorite at +800. So we’ll get a sneak peek at how the pair work together.
Now let’s look at the future odds for The PGA Championship.
The odds I’m using here are from DraftKings Sportsbook, which is among our top-rated sports betting sites, including BetMGM, FanDuel Sportsbook, and more. Check out all of our reviews of the many great sites you can use to wager on golf and any other sport.
2023 PGA Championship Winner
Jon Rahm +750
Scottie Scheffler +900
Rory McIlroy +1000
Justin Thomas +1400
Jordan Spieth +1600
Xander Schauffele +2000
Collin Morikawa +2000
Brooks Koepka +2000
Patrick Cantlay +2200
Cameron Smith +2200
Max Homa +2500
Dustin Johnson +2500
Viktor Hovland +2800
Tony Finau +2800
Cameron Young +2800
My Pick: Patrick Cantlay (+2200)
Do I need to remind you that he’s the fourth-ranked player in the world? Just incredible odds for the 30-year-old who’s been knocking on the door for his first major championship for a few years now. He played well at last month’s Masters (despite a poor final day he still finished 14th).
This year he’s been in the top 10 six times, with one second-place finish and two third-place finishes. Oak Hill Country Club demands that you be accurate off the tee because the rough is so, well, rough.
Cantlay is 17th in driving accuracy and he’s No. 2 in birdie average.
He’s also No. 4 in the statistic known as total strokes gained and if you don’t know what that is, the PGA Tour provides this example: “Strokes gained: The total simply compares a player's score to the field average. For example, a player will gain three strokes on the field if he shoots 69 on a day when the field averages 72. A player who shoots 74 on that day loses two strokes to the field.”
In closing, Cantlay has a sound, well-rounded game that whoever wins will absolutely need because Oak Hill as Woods himself described it in 2013 when the PGA Championship was last played there, is the hardest, fairest course he’s played in a major.
Finally, Cantlay has had a bit of luck lately as you can see here.
Luck plus skills plus a calm demeanor means Cantlay is your 2023 PGA Championship. Get on it now before his odds drop – and they will.
