Tee time or tea leaves? Our hacker’s PGA picks aim to cash at Aronimink

(Note: This story was written by Ed Levine. We are having a glitch with our bylines listed above. We are working to fix this.)

The time has come to give my hacker insights to help your wallet. I love to give, and unfortunately my Masters picks gave a lot of my money away. I did hit on the Justin Rose Top 20 pick but the rest were complete debacles. I have learned from that first predictions column and now I feel confident that we will bathe in winnings on Sunday night. If not, we’ll just bathe because, you know, hygiene.

Thanks to my exclusive media access I had a chance to talk to some players and watch a bunch practicing out on the course. The one big theme they are talking about is the “Green Complex.” Sounds like an emotional disorder to me, but it actually relates to how playing the greens and surrounding areas will be the key to winning at Aronimink. To me this means that accuracy will win out over distance, and great putting will rule the day. But isn’t that always the case for all majors?

Here’s where I’m putting my money:

PARLAY: CAM YOUNG & SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER BOTH TOP 10 (+260)
Scottie Scheffler is the best player in the world and over the last 3 months Cam Young has a claim to that throne. Scheffler has been runner up his last 3 tournaments, which hasn’t happened since Sergio Garcia did it in 2012. I think Scheffler has the best chance to win, but so does everyone else and the market reflects that with odds of only +385. I’d rather give him and Cam Young a nice cushion for plus money and take my chances.

TYRELL HATTON LOW LIV FINISHER (+540)
Everyone loves to talk about Bryson DeChambeau and John Rahm at the majors, but Tyrell Hatton has been, under the radar, the most consistent LIV player over the last year. He finished Top 3 at the Masters and finished in the Top 16 in 3-of-4 majors last year including Top 4 at the US Open. Only DeChambeau finished higher than Hatton in majors last year and my faith in Bryson is down after his miserable play at the Masters this year.

BRADEN SHATTUCK TO MAKE THE CUT (+480)
Let me get this straight. A local Pro who has made the PGA Championship twice before and made the cut in 2024 will be sleeping in his own bed, surrounded by family and friends, and has local course knowledge is getting 5-to-1 odds to make the cut? I’ll take my chances with Shattuck. Plus I met his Dad and he’s confident in his boy. Make this bet and follow Shattuck Thursday and Friday for extra fun.

RUSSELL HENLEY Top 10 (+310)
Right now Henley is a Top 10 player in the world rankings and yet his odds to win opened at 60-1 (now 48-1). Henley has had five Top 10’s in his last seven majors. He is also second in the field in accuracy and then there is this little nugget: Henley has finished Top 10 in six of his last seven starts on Donald Ross designed courses. I like a horse for the course, even if it is a course he’s never played. I also put some pizza money on him to win at 48-1.

PARLAY RICKY FOWLER T20 & ALEX FITZPATRICK Top 30 (+752)
Ricky Fowler is playing his best golf in years with three Top 10 finishes so far this season, and he has a great history at Aronimink finishing 8th and 13th the last 2 times he has played here. But I want to sweeten the pot and I want to root for Alex Fitzpatrick who has been on fire since making the tour last month winning the Zurich Classic with his brother Matthew. In fact it could be argued that Alex has been better than Matthew over the last month.

JJ SPAUN TOP 5 (+990)
Spaun had a very slight slump going in this year, but that slump appears to be over. He finished Top 5 at the Truist, Top 14 at the Cadillac and won the Valero 6 weeks ago. His numbers have improved every week in approach and putting which will be key this week. And yet his numbers in the betting market don’t reflect this. 70-1 to win seems almost insulting for a US Open Champion less than a year ago. His Top 5 number is almost 10-1 which is a number I will take and I also put some change in him to win as well.

TOMMY FLEETWOOD TO WIN (+2700)
Fleetwood finally won on tour and is now poised to take a major. He is suited for this course ranking fourth around the green and ninth in driving accuracy this season. Fleetwood has had seven Top 5 finishes in majors since 2017, the most of any player without a win. While I believe Scheffler or Young will win, I might as well get a good payout if they don’t and Fleetwood has the tools to win if they don’t. Also I said “Good Luck Tommy” to him in the parking lot and that must mean something.

CAM YOUNG TO WIN (+1475)
As I mentioned above, Young has been the best player on tour in the last 3 months and he is due to win a major. While Scheffler is only getting 4-1 odds to win, Young is getting 15-1 odds? That is what I call value. Young has had seven Top 10’s and four Top 5’s in his last 17 majors, and his putting has improved dramatically since then. Since the Ryder Cup last year Young has more confidence than ever and this is a Northeast course and he is a Northeast guy.