San Francisco will get its moment in the spotlight when the 2020 PGA Championship tees off Thursday at TPC Harding Park. It's the first major championship of this unusual season, and the West Coast is hosting the championship for the first time since 1998. Players will have to deal with a drastic change in weather after playing in high humidity for weeks. The nearby Pacific Ocean means fog, wind and clouds throughout the day. New world No. 1 Justin Thomas and two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka are listed as the 10-1 co-favorites in the latest 2020 PGA Championship odds from William Hill.
The 2020 PGA Championship field is loaded with elite players such as Bryson DeChambeau (11-1), Rory McIlroy (14-1) and Jon Rahm (14-1). Oddsmakers love the reputations of the top players, but where should each one appear in your 2020 PGA Championship Fantasy golf rankings? Before finalizing any 2020 PGA Championship Fantasy golf picks, check out the latest Fantasy golf rankings from data scientist Rick Gehman.
With his expansive database of golf statistics, course data and betting odds, Gehman creates advanced models and back-tests them constantly. These models produced 11 outright winners in the past year, including 30-1 Webb Simpson at the 2020 RBC Heritage, 50-1 Chez Reavie at last year's Travelers and 40-1 Patrick Reed at the Northern Trust among nine PGA Tour winners, plus a $10,000 DraftKings win at The Masters.
At the Rocket Mortgage Classic last month, Gehman put Bryson DeChambeau atop his Fantasy rankings. The result: DeChambeau fired a 23-under, winning by three strokes. Then at the Workday Charity Open, Gehman was higher than most on Collin Morikawa, and he won in a dramatic playoff over Justin Thomas. Gehman had pegged Thomas at No. 2. Before the Memorial Tournament, Gehman told SportsLine readers that Jon Rahm "could be on the brink of breaking out." Rahm cruised to a three-shot win.
At this year's WGC-Mexico Championship, four of Gehman's top six golfers finished tied for sixth or better. Anybody who has followed his golf picks has seen huge returns.
Now, Gehman, co-host of "The First Cut" podcast on CBS Sports, has revealed his top 30 players for the PGA Championship 2020 over at SportsLine so you can crush your Fantasy golf picks.
2020 PGA Championship Fantasy golf picks
DeChambeau has had hiccups, but he remains one of the best players on tour, and Gehman is all over him this week. The bulked-up 26-year-old is No. 1 in driving distance and scoring average, fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and seventh in the world. He stumbled last Saturday in Memphis, shooting 73, but "he was still able to scrape out a 30th-place finish and has the skill-set that will be so valuable at TPC Harding Park," Gehman told SportsLine.
Gehman isn't nearly as excited about Jordan Spieth, who doesn't even merit a spot in the expert's top 15. Spieth has three major titles and is only 27 years old, but Gehman expects his accuracy to be a major problem on a course that features cypress trees and has several doglegs. He is 202nd in fairways hit and 206th in greens in regulation. "The big concern for Spieth is whether he can hit enough fairways to stay competitive at TPC Harding Park," Gehman said.
How to set your 2020 PGA Championship Fantasy golf rankings
Strikingly, Gehman loves a long shot higher than 65-1 who thrives on the Tour's most difficult courses. This international player's recent performance has Gehman predicting he shows "elite form" this week. Gehman is only sharing who it is, and his top 30 golfers in order, right here.
Who wins the PGA Championship 2020? Who are the top golfers to target? And which overlooked player can help you win your league this week? Visit SportsLine now to get Rick Gehman's Fantasy golf rankings for the 2020 PGA Championship, all from the data scientist who's called 11 outright winners in the past year.
