PGA Championship betting: Leader Will Zalatoris enters the weekend as the favorite

Will Zalatoris has the lead and favorite status for the PGA Championship.

Zalatoris shot a 5-under 65 on Friday to go to 9-under and take the outright lead by a stoke over Mito Pereira entering the third round. Zalatoris’ putter was fantastic on Friday and is now at +240 at BetMGM to win his first major.

Pereira was a shot better than Zalatoris on Friday and will be with him in the final pairing of the day in the third round. The former Texas Tech golfer is the No. 3 favorite to win the PGA at +550. Justin Thomas got the clubhouse lead early in the day after shooting a 67 for the second straight day. Thomas is three shots back of the lead and at +400 to win the tournament. It’s important to remember that no player has ever won a major at Southern Hills without having at least a share of the lead after the second round.

Tiger Woods made the cut after a grinding back nine. Woods is among a host of golfers at 3-over after shooting a 69 on Friday and he got to the weekend by a stroke. That’s bad news for the bettor at BetMGM who bet $13,000 on Woods to miss the cut.

Woods is +40000 to win the tournament and way down the board. Only eight golfers have worse odds than Woods to win the PGA. Don’t bet Tiger unless you are confident in throwing a few bucks away.

First-round leader Rory McIlory shot a 1-over 71 to drop to 4-under. He’s the No. 4 favorite at +750 to win the tournament and way ahead of Bubba Watson.

The two-time Masters champion shot a 7-under 63 on Friday and posted the lowest round of the day. That came after Watson shot a 1-over 71 in the first round and is at 5-under and four strokes back of the lead. Watson is at +2000 to win the PGA, however, and is ahead of Cam Smith and Matt Fitzpatrick at +2200. Fitzpatrick is sitting at 3-under through the first two rounds while Smith is at 2-under.

Pre-tournament favorite Scottie Scheffler missed the cut at 6-over after shooting a 75 on Friday. Jon Rahm was a co-favorite with Scheffler and he’s at 2-over along with Brooks Koepka. Collin Morikawa is at 4-over along with Louis Oosthuizen and Billy Horschel.

Here are the top 10 favorites ahead of the final two rounds.

PGA Championship favorites after Round 2

• Will Zalatoris (+240)

• Justin Thomas (+400)

• Mito Pereira (+550)

• Rory McIlroy (+750)

• Bubba Watson (+2000)

• Cam Smith (+2200)

• Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200)

• Abraham Ancer (+2500)

• Davis Riley (+3000)

• Sam Burns (+4000)