2023 PGA Championship picks, predictions: Seven trends to help determine this year's winner
CBSN
Our trends pointed to the winner at the Masters. Will lightning strike twice at the PGA Championship?
A total of 156 players will tee it up this week at the 2023 PGA Championship. Despite what history may suggest, not all 156 golfers have a realistic chance to raise the Wanamaker Trophy by week's end at Oak Hill Country Club. There are 25 PGA professionals, a number of past champions who are there for a joy ride and those that play either on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour or LIV Golf and are simply out of form.
Now, every trend has its buster, and I would be remiss to not discuss the elephant in the room: Phil Mickelson in 2021. Mickelson defied all conventional wisdom en route to his historic victory at Kiawah Island, but there were some tell-tale signs that the then 50-year-old wasn't all that far off.
Jimmy Walker was considered a surprise in 2016 at Baltusrol Golf Club five years prior, going wire-to-wire and successfully holding defending champion Jason Day at bay. However, outside these two names, the other champions have been rather predictable -- those who have played well for prolonged periods, past major champions and more than capable on golf's grandest stage.