PGA Championship field 2023: Ranking the top 30 golfers playing at Oak Hill from Jon Rahm to Phil Mickelson

Jon Rahm is in position to secure another major victory. 

The winner of the green jacket hasn't shown any signs of slowing down after his first Masters win. While he admitted to being more than a bit tired at the RBC Heritage, that didn't stop "Rahmbo" from taking aim to add a plaid jacket to the green one.

After a T-15 finish at the Heritage, Rahm turned around and finished second at the Mexico Open, losing out to Tony Finau in a thriller of a finish. That made for Rahm's seventh top-five finish since the start of the PGA Tour season, and something of a warning shot to the rest of the field: He might just be getting warmed up.

MORE: Who will win the PGA Championship in 2023? Odds, betting favorites, expert picks & more to know

With the PGA Championship getting underway at Oak Hill Country Club this week, here's how the field stacks up:

Ranking the top 30 players in the PGA Championship field 2023

The PGA Championship is known to be a particularly punishing tournament, and this year's event should continue that trend. 

Oak Hill underwent some restorations to open up the course a little bit more, with less worry about trees to get in the way. That said, hitting the fairways is still crucial.

All 18 at Oak Hill play pretty straight, so golfers will need to stick to the fairway to give themselves a fair shot at par. If they land in the rough, things will get a bit tricky: Early reviews from the course seem to indicate that the thick stuff will be particularly thick entering the weekend, making for a bit of a chunky time if golfers land on either side of the fairway.

To that end, that might play into the hands of some bombs-away players this weekend. With fewer trees to worry about, you can expect a particularly aggressive play style off the tee — as long as Mother Nature doesn't throw a major wrench into the weekend.

Here's how the field could stack up entering the weekend. All odds are courtesy of Bet MGM.

1. Jon Rahm

OWGR: No. 1
Odds: +800

By his own admission, Rahm was a bit gassed after playing the RBC Heritage the week after his Masters win, but he bounced back fairly well finishing second at the Mexico Open (even in a pretty weak field). Still, Rahm finished three strokes behind Tony Finau and has four PGA Tour wins in 2023. As long as Rahm's putter is working — which it has been — he'll stay in the hunt.

2. Scottie Scheffler

OWGR: No. 2
Odds: +750

Since his win at the Phoenix Open in February, Scheffler has just more top-5 finishes (four) than he does finishes outside of the top 10 (two).  Scheffler paces the PGA Tour in SG:OTT (Strokes Gained Off the Tee) as well as SG:TTG (Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green), and hasn't shown any signs of slumping or slowing down.

3. Brooks Koepka

OWGR: No. 43
Odds: +2200

Koepka couldn't close the deal at the 2023 Masters, which has been a recurring theme throughout his career. But if you put weight in the intangible stuff, then Koepka certainly looked back like his confident self, and not the doubtful, defensive player we've seen since he made the jump to LIV Golf. 

MORE: Why LIV Golfers are allowed to play at the PGA Championship

4. Patrick Cantlay

OWGR: No. 4
Odds: +1800

Joe LaCava, formerly on Tiger Woods' bag, made the jump to Cantlay's cart in early May. Maybe he's the missing piece for Cantlay, who has yet to secure a major tournament victory. Still, he's played well, with three top-10 finishes in his last five starts. (We can only hope he gets to play ahead of Koepka's group again, if only for the entertainment value.)

5. Xander Schauffele

OWGR: No. 5
Odds: +1600

Schauffele has 10 top-10 finishes in major tournaments, and is coming of a T-10th finish at the 2023 Masters. He finished second at the Wells Fargo Championship and has finished fourth or better in his last five PGA Tour starts. He's still searching for that elusive first major title. 

6. Rory McIlroy

OWGR: No. 3
Odds: +1200

Augusta has a way of humbling golfers, and McIlroy felt the full brunt of that by missing the cut in a year where some expecting him to capture the elusive green jacket. McIlroy took the RBC Heritage off, too, and incurred a fine because of it; he also admitted he wasn't in the mental space to compete. McIlroy is a two-time PGA Championship winner and a revised Oak Hill should play into his strengths, but it's unclear if Jekyll or Hyde will show up this week in New York.

MORE: Rory McIlroy explains decision to skip event, accept $3 million fine after Masters flop

7. Cameron Young

OWGR: No. 15
Odds: +3300

Drive for show, putt for dough. Young's driver is the biggest weapon in his bag, ranking third in average driving distance (318.2 yards). That should play well into Oak Hill's long, long Par 4s on Holes 16, 17 and 18. The putter and playing around the greens will likely be the problem for Young, but if he can at least put himself in advantageous spots on the long Par 4s, he may be in contention entering Sunday.

8. Cameron Smith

OWGR: No. 8
Odds: +3300

Once upon a time, Cameron Smith was LIV Golf's biggest get. He was the perfect combination of proven commodity while still having plenty left in the tank at 29 years old. Since his jump to LIV, Smith hasn't exactly lit the golf world on fire, with a single win on the LIV tour and a T-34 finish at the 2023 Masters. He still has the tools to be a top-tier golfer, and we'll see if starting in another major will light a fire down under.

9. Tony Finau

OWGR: No. 12
Odds: +2200

Finau is playing the best golf of his career, holding off Masters winner Jon Rahm at the Mexico Open. He's putting well from under 3 feet and also, coincidentally, from between 10 and 15 feet. Everything in between? From OK to meh. 

10. Viktor Hovland

OWGR: No. 11
Odds: +3000

Hovland's putter is a problem — like, the bad kind, not the hip kind. His ball-striking is among the best in the field, however, and if he can putt throughout the weekend, he may be able to revisit the kind of success he had on Thursday in Augusta.

(Getty Images)

11. Dustin Johnson

OWGR: No. 82
Odds: +2500

Johnson has something of a wishy-washy history in the PGA Championship; He missed the cut in 2021 and 2022 but finished second and tied for second in 2019 and 2020. A win at LIV Golf's most recent event in Tulsa could propel him into contention at Oak Hill.

12. Collin Morikawa

OWGR: No. 16
Odds: +3300

A T-10 finish at the Masters aside, Morikawa hasn't had an entirely sexy stretch of golf. He's missed cuts at the Zurich Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship, but he did take the win at the PGA Championship in 2020 and finished T-8 in 2021. That should earn him a bit of rope heading into this weekend — and so will his 69.9 percent driving accuracy.

13. Max Homa

OWGR: No. 6
Odds: +3300

Homa ranks 161st in rough proximity, which may not bode well for the unforgiving Oak Hill. If he keeps his shots on the fairway, he'll have an opportunity. That may be a tall ask, though: Entering the event, he ranks 58th in hit fairway percentage among PGA Tour golfers.

14. Justin Thomas

OWGR: No. 13
Odds: +2200

Thomas has a shot if only for his victory at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, when he outlasted Will Zalatoris in a playoff. He's not far removed from the player he was — and should be — and he may be rounding back into form after missing the cut at the Masters. 

15. Jordan Spieth

OWGR: No. 10
Odds: +3500

Spieth and Phil Mickelson put on a show at Augusta, and he would be higher here if there wasn't some uncertainty surrounding a balky wrist that forced him to withdraw from the Byron Nelson. He also missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship, so not exactly a month to remember for the former second-place finisher at the PGA.

MORE: What to know about Jordan Spieth's status for PGA Championship

16. Jason Day

OWGR: No. 20
Odds: +2800

We're going to see exactly how confidence is measured when Day takes the tee box this week. He earned his first win in five years at the AT&T Byron Nelson this past weekend, and he almost always plays well at major tournaments. Maybe the win will be the boost he needs to secure his second major and his second PGA Championship victory.

17. Matt Fitzpatrick

OWGR: No. 7
Odds: +3300

Fitzpatrick's neck issue seems to be resolved, which can only benefit him. Especially so when you realize that the rough is going to be thick and difficult at the PGA Championship, and his rough proximity (34th) is pretty decent. If he's fully healed, he should be in contention come Sunday.

18. Sam Burns

OWGR: No. 14
Odds: +4000

Burns scored a big win at the WGC Match Play tourney earlier in the year, outlasting Cameron Young in the process. Burns still hasn't secured a major win nor has he particularly performed well in them — but he's better than the three-missed-cuts player he's been in 2022-23.

19. Rickie Fowler

OWGR: No. 49
Odds: +5500

Fowler is hitting 68 percent of greens in regulation, and he has worked in four top-10 finishes in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season. He's only ever missed two cuts at the PGA Championship, and finished tied for eighth in 2021. Fowler may not be "hot," but he's certainly a dark horse candidate to be in contention come the weekend.

20. Tom Kim

OWGR: No. 19
Odds: +6600

Kim, just 20, has two PGA Tour wins and is coming off his best major tournament finish in the Masters (T-16). He has cooled off significantly since the New Year, but if the Masters is any indicator, he'll be ready for the bright lights at another major this weekend. Kim also ranks second in approaches from 125-to-150 yards, and that could play very well for him on a course that's a bit longer.

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21 Abraham Ancer

OWGR: No. 43
Odds: +15000

Ancer isn't the sexiest name on the LIV Golf roster, but he's played in his fair share of majors and has some solid results to show for it. He finished eighth and ninth in the 2021 and 2022 PGA Championships, respectively, and finished 11th in the Open Championship to finish out the 2022 calendar. 

22. Adam Scott

OWGR: No. 38
Odds: +6600

After missing the cut in both 2021 and 2022, Scott is back on a course where he finished tied for fifth in 2013. He also has two top-10 finishes in his last two starts at the Wells Fargo Championship and the AT&T Byron Nelson, so maybe the stars are aligning for a run at the Wanamaker this weekend. 

23. Talor Gooch

OWGR: No. 63
Odds: +6600

With wins at the LIV Golf Australia and Singapore events, Gooch has banked nearly three times as much as he would if he were to win at the PGA Championship this weekend. To that end, Gooch had his best finish in a major at the 2022 PGA Championship, when he finished tied for 20th.

24. Sungjae Im

OWGR: No. 18
Odds: +3000

Im has four top-10 finishes in his last six PGA Tour starts, which certainly bodes well for his chances. What doesn't is his driving: He ranks 105th in distance, but 20th in accuracy. No risk it, no biscuit, especially in a major tournament.

25. Shane Lowry

OWGR: No. 26
Odds: +9000

Lowry posted a T-16 at the Masters and has a couple of top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship, so maybe things will break right for him. Speaking on breaking right, Lowry is fifth in right rough proximity and seventh in total driving (ninth in driving accuracy). Those might be some sneaky-helpful numbers for the Irishman. 

26. Sahith Theegala

OWGR: No. 25
Odds: +8000

At his first Masters start, he finished in ninth — does he have what it takes to build on that at his first PGA Championship start? Theegala is an aggressive, but mercurial, player. The course could play well into those strengths — or he could bomb out in a big way. 

27. Tommy Fleetwood

OWGR: No. 23
Odds: +5500

Fleetwood finished tied for fifth at the 2022 PGA Championship, and has only missed one cut this PGA Tour season. Fleetwood would very much benefit from avoiding the rough, though; He's 201st in rough proximity, and given the gross thick stuff at Oak Hill this weekend, he might find himself in a lot of trouble.

28. Hideki Matsuyama

OWGR: No. 24
Odds: +5000

Matsuyama has two top-five finishes in the PGA Championship, which maybe would bode well for him for this weekend. The problem: Matsuyama was seemingly having some issues with one of his legs at the Byron Nelson, and that could throw a wrench into his tourney this weekend.

29. Tyrrell Hatton

OWGR: No. 17
Odds: +4000

Hatton has two T-10 finishes at the PGA Championship and finished T-13 in 2022. He's coming off a T-3 finish at the Wells Fargo and a T-5 finish at the Byron Nelson. He finished second at The Players earlier this year, and has flirted with a number of major wins over the last five. Hatton seems to be working back into major shape after missing five majors between 2020 and 2021. 

30. Phil Mickelson

OWGR: No. 80
Odds: +15000

Mickelson has gone from cuddly to cantankerous and the spicy attitude has seemingly rejuvenated his play just a tad. He finished second at the Masters, and lest we forget, he won the PGA Championship in 2021. That's not so long ago, and even at 52, his performance at the Masters should show he still has something left to give on the course.

Full PGA Championship field 2023