With the 2025 golfing season continuing apace, it is time for the second Major of the year: the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Paddy Power News tipster Martin Matthews correctly called Justin Rose for First Round Leader at the Masters last month and is back here with his five picks for outright winnner.

Martin Matthews’ PGA tips

Xander Schauffele
Justin Thomas
Tyrell Hatton
Harris English
Kurt Kitayama

A par 71 measuring just over 7,600 yards, Quail Hollow hosted the PGA in 2017, the Presidents Cup in 2022 and is also the regular host track for the Truist Championship on the PGA Tour, so we have plenty of course form to go on.

A classical tree lined layout where a solid long game will be essential, I expect long rough and a tough scoring test, with a single digit under par winning total likely. The closing three holes – known in golf lore as the ‘Green Mile’ – is historically one of the toughest finishing stretches on tour each year.

Allowing for the length of the course, I expect distance off the tee to be key, so now is as good a time as any to identify and analyse the market leaders.

After two years or so of Scottie Scheffler dominating the betting in Majors this week, he finds himself vying for favouritism with Rory McIlroy.

The world number one arrives here on the back of a dominating display in Texas on his last outing, which saw him bag his first win of 2025. In theory, that makes him the man to beat as normal.

However, this is his debut at Quail Hollow, whereas McIlroy has won at this course four times, and arrives this week on the crest of a wave, having finally landed the Grand Slam at Augusta.

In all honesty though, I find Scheffler and McIlroy almost impossible to separate, and allowing for this and their restrictive odds, I will swerve the pair of them and look for greater value elsewhere.

1 – Xander Schauffele

Instead then, with all the juice gone from Bryson Dechambeau’s odds and Jon Rahm still seemingly trying to work out how to translate LIV form into form in the Majors, I will start our team with defending champion Xander Schauffele.

Schauffele saw his start to 2025 derailed by injury, but he appears to now be building up a head of steam at just the right time.

A finish of eighth at the Masters was followed by two further top 20s, including 11th last weekend at the Truist Championship, where he closed out the week with a 66, ranking first off the tee on the final day.

Additionally, Schauffele has notched back to back runner up finishes on his last two visits to Quail Hollow, so clearly the track suits his eye and he looks primed for a big run at defending his title.

2 – Justin Thomas

Thomas’ recent victory at the RBC Heritage ended a winless drought, which stemmed back to his second Major – the 2022 PGA. He then backed up that win with a second place last week in Philadelphia where all parts of his game were working well.

The American bagged his first Major on this track in the 2017 PGA, so he will have great vibes returning here. With confidence high, this serial winner could well pounce again.

3 – Tyrell Hatton

Moving on, the next player to catch my eye is Tyrrell Hatton. The Englishman arrives on the back of fifth and 13th place finishes in his last two LIV starts. Fourteenth at Augusta prior to that and a win earlier in the year in Dubai on the DP World Tour shows us that Hatton’s form is also translating well away from LIV.

Hatton’s all round game lends itself to performing on tough layouts, as he showed when winning at Bay Hill in 2020. That correlates well here, while a third-place finish at this venue in 2023 gives us more encouragement. With Hatton long seen as a potential Major Champion, this looks a great opportunity for him to step up at this level.

4 – Harris English

English triumphed at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year, and he has continued to play solidly posting three top 20s in his last four starts. Third at Quail Hollow two years ago, English often produces his best on demanding layouts where par is your friend, and I can see him going well this week.

5 – Kurt Kitayama

With Paddy paying out for ten each-way places, I will take a chance on Kurt Kitayama at big odds. The American has struggled this year, however he bounced back to form with fifth place in Texas last time out.

Long off the tee, and another who showed when winning at Bay Hill in 2023 that he enjoys a tough test, Kitayama already boasts a fourth place in this Major on his CV, and he could surprise again at big odds.

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

PGA Golf betting tips

Xander Schauffele
Justin Thomas
Tyrell Hatton
Harris English
Kurt Kitayama

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