With two-time defending champion Tiger Woods still in rehab following June knee surgery, golf betting fans shouldn’t have any difficulty finding value at the final Major of the year, the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, Aug. 7-10.

 

In fact, with Woods, who has captured four of the last nine PGA Championships on the shelf until next year, Phil Mickelson opened as the early future book favorite at odds of 8/1. That may not appear overly generous in a wide-open event like this until you consider that Woods was just 2/1 when he won last year at Southern Hills, in Tulsa.

 

Mickelson, who won the PGA Championship at Baltusrol in Springfield, NJ in 2005, finished 11 strokes off the pace at the British Open, July 20 but still managed a respectable tie for 19th place. His power game and deftness around the green could be huge assets at Oakland Hills, one of the longest and most difficult golf courses in the world.

 

Fresh off a second straight win in the British Open, Padraig Harrington is 14/1 to claim back-to-back majors this year. Harrington showed he could handle the wind and rain at Royal Birkdale but will be tested in other ways at Oakland Hills. Sergio Garcia, arguably, the best golfer without a Major title, is listed at odds of 16/1.

 

Jim Furyk and Ernie Els, each at 18/1, almost merit respect, as does 20/1 Vijay Singh, a PGA Championship winner in 1998 and, more recently, at Whistler Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin in 2004. Furyk usually hits the ball straight while Els and Singh boast length. You’ll need both to conquer “The Monster,” as Oakland Hills is called.

 

Others who should attract wagering interest include Adam Scott, 25/1; Geoff Ogilvy, 28/1; Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry and Retief Goosen, each at 33/1; and Masters champion Trevor Immelman at 40/1.

 

Longshot bettors know that triple-digit winners are a possibility, as evidenced by PGA Championship victories posted by Rich Beem at 250/1 and Shaun Micheel at 500/1 in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

 

Whoever wins this year will have to tame “The Monster.”

 

The par 70 course, which has hosted numerous high profile events, including the 1999 US Open and 2004 Ryder Cup, is 7,395 tough yards long. The final five holes will mean that no lead is safe and make for great television:

 

14th (501 yards, par 4): Not only is the hole long but the fairway is only 25 yards wide and there’s a fall away green.

 

15th (401 yards, par 4): Yes, it’s short but there’s a severe right-to-left dogleg and the saucer inverted green is protected by five bunkers.

 

16th (406 yards, par 4): Another short hole but water to the front and right of the green produces the most intimidating second shot on the course.

 

17th (238 yards, par 3): The green, with severe slopes, is 30 feet above the tee, making for a long and difficult shot.

 

18th (498 yards, par 4): The most difficult hole on the course offers a sloping fairway, a shallow green and 11 bunkers.

 

Interestingly, while the final five holes at Oakland Hills will test the golfers’ nerve and shot-making, it’s not like the rest of the course is much easier.

 

Among the most difficult holes is the 257-yard, par 3 ninth. Just reaching is difficult enough but the green also has a pronounced rear to front slope.

 

The 12th, a 593-yard par 5, will reward those who can reach it in two but penalize those who try and fail while the 491-yard par 4 eighth is the toughest driving hole on the course. Throw in the 490-yard par 4 fifth and you begin to understand how Oakland Hills earned the nickname “Monster.”

 

The difficulty of the course will come into play for those who bet an over/under proposition on the winner’s four-day score.

 

Tiger or no Tiger, all things considered, this PGA Championship should be quite the golf betting challenge for gamblers.

 

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