It's PGA Championship week and I've already shared the Bazza's Best Bets column, with five top picks for the second men's Major of the season, but there is still plenty of time to take a look at another interesting market - the first round leader!
I successfully tipped the first round leader at The Masters and backed that up with another outright winner (Cam Young at the Cadillac Championship) a few weeks ago, so confidence is high about keeping that run going with another stab in the first round leader market.
To work out who might contend on the opening day, we need to explore the course characteristics, specific stats and fully analyse the field - which is exactly what I've done for you below...
PGA Championship First Round Leader Betting Tips 2026
It goes without saying I am high on Cameron Young in just about every market you can get for the 2026 PGA Championship - so I'd start there, but for the purposes of not sounding like a broken record let's look elsewhere on the odds board for some special bets.
My first selection in this market is Russell Henley. The five-time PGA Tour winner is not someone who you might instantly think of for a long, gruelling Major test - but Henley is a fairways and greens man and that could be invaluable here.
Henley has played Donald Ross designs well in the past, particularly in the opening round, and ranks 23rd for round one scoring in 2026 so far.
The American has banked opening rounds of 61, 65 and 67 at East Lake, a respectable 70 at Pinehurst No.2 (a Ross designed Major Test) and a pair of 62s in his last three starts at Sedgefield Country Club - which uses similar pedestal style Ross greens.
Henley was 3rd at the Masters last month, which also shares some small correlation to the Aronimink test, and started the season with opening rounds of 65, 65, 66 in his first three events. He is a very interesting option at a great price in this market.
My second selection in the first round leader market is Nick Taylor. The Canadian might not seem the perfect candidate to contend here, in a similar way to Henley, as he isn't the longest off the tee - but there is more than one way to win here.
Nick Taylor ranks 4th for first round scoring on the PGA Tour this season and opened with 66 last week (and 66 the week before) to contend early in big signature events.
Also a five-time PGA Tour winner, Taylor ranked 12th for first round scoring at East Lake last season (another Ross design with great correlation), plus he already posted a pair of 65s and a 62 in opening rounds this season.
Taylor also started with a 63 at Sedgefield Country Club in his last start at the Wyndham Championship, with a pair of 65s present in his course history on that particular Donald Ross design.
The 2026 PGA Championship tee times are now out and it looks like both Henley and Taylor are out in the afternoon, so they will know exactly what they need to beat in order to take an early lead.
While I am not sure either of these players have the length required over four rounds to win the PGA Championship this year, despite being great value each-way options, I do like their chances of navigating and building a strong start to the event this week.
