Golf tips: Your 6 best bets for Thursday's tee off at the PGA Championship

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Viktor Hovland has been in excellent form in the lead up to the second Major of the year. He has posted two third-places finishes in his last two starts. They came at the Valspar Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship.

He’s now coming to Kiawah Island, a course that he will take to. The greens at Kiawah are paspalum greens and Hovland’s two PGA Tour wins have come on this green type.

I’ve mentioned in previous previews that his short game is the one negative but there are encouraging signs there. He has gained strokes on the field with his ‘around the green’ figures in his last two events. He is a major champion in waiting, and he could get his first this week.

Collin Morikawa

The resurgence of Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy means that players like defending champion Collin Morikawa can come into this week with the media spotlight dimmed on them slightly and Morikawa is somewhat under the radar.

He was seventh last time out at Hilton Head – a Pete Dye designed course – and Dye is the designer of Kiawah Island. His long game looked in great order, finishing second in the field in ‘Strokes Gained Tee to Green’ and third in ‘Strokes Gained Approach’.

The length of Kiawah Island will mean that it will put a solid weighting on long-iron play. Morikawa ranks out highly in the field when it comes to metrics associated with good iron play. There’s a good chance he can go back-to-back after last year’s success.

Abraham Ancer

Abraham Ancer was second last time out to Rory McIlroy at the Wells Fargo Championship, continuing his ultra-consistent form on Tour in the last three months.

His long game at Quail Hollow was superb, ranking eighth in ‘Strokes Gained off the tee’ and ‘First in Strokes Gained Approach’. His best performances on Tour has come on Pete Dye-designed courses, so he enjoys the challenges these layouts usually present.

He ranks first in Fairways Gained and second in Bogey avoidance in this field over the last three months. He also ranks out highly in all the necessary approach metrics needed to contend.

He looks the best each-way bet of the week in a tournament where Paddy is paying 10 places.

Keegan Bradley

Like Ancer, Keegan Bradley has been in really consistent form. He has missed one cut since January, his best performance coming when he was second at the Valspar Championship at the beginning of the month.

He was third here in 2012 behind McIlroy, so he knows how the course will play during a Major. His short game has been improving greatly this year on Tour. This will add to an already high level long game. With almost every part of his game in working order, he could go very well at a price.

Corey Conners

Corey Conners has been in really good form all season. A seventh place at the Players Championship was followed by an excellent eighth at The Masters. This showed to me that he is beginning to become comfortable playing on the biggest stages.

His tee-to-green statistics are up there with anyone at the head of the market at present. He has ranked in the top 25 in the field in both ‘Strokes Gained Off the Tee’ and ‘Strokes Gained Approach’ in his last six events.

Every week just comes down to the putter with Conners. These greens are relatively flat and won’t be overly quick which should help. He is another great each-way bet.

Robert MacIntyre

The Scot Robert MacIntyre was a decent eighth last week at the British Masters, which means he is coming to Kiawah Island in good form. I’ve been waiting for MacIntyre to come to a coastal course like Kiawah.

He has the game suited to windy conditions and there should be a consistent breeze all week. His low-ball flight means he can control his iron shots into these tricky, windswept greens. He is a high double-figure price and could outplay those odds.