The second major of the calendar year is upon us as the PGA Championship returns to Kiawah Island, which was last seen in 2012 when Rory McIlroy cruised to a dominant victory. The Northern Irishman had every aspect of his game working that week, as his winning score of 13 under was eight strokes better than anyone else in the field, which only saw 18 golfers break par.

Over the last decade, the course has seen subtle redesigns and could play up to 7,876 yards, which would make it the longest in major championship history. Being directly on the Atlantic coast, wind is sure to play a factor and the best way to navigate around this beast is with elite ball striking. Do note, the PGA Championship has historically been a breakthrough opportunity for first-time major winners with most recent examples of Collin Morikawa last fall and Justin Thomas in 2017. Two golfers fit a similar mold this week and have value in the outright markets.

Viktor Hovland shows up to the PGA Championship after back-to-back third-place finishes at the Wells Fargo and Valspar championships. At just 23, Hovland has already proven himself to be one the elite drivers in today’s game and stands at 15 consecutive events gaining strokes against the field off the tee.

The Oklahoma State grad initially broke on the scene in 2019 being low amateur at both the Masters and U.S. Open in which he finished 32nd and 12th, respectively. Each major he has competed since has been a made cut, but after two victories in 2020 on coastal tracks, Hovland’s confidence is sky high.

One intriguing thing to note about the greens at Kiawah is golfers need to prepare for a surface they rarely see on the PGA Tour in paspalum. It is a slower, stickier grass that will definitely impact putting. The two aforementioned wins by Viktor came at the Puerto Rico Open and Mayakoba Golf Classic, which both have paspalum grass. Boxes continue to be checked when it comes to evaluating Hovland’s chances for his first major, and it’s why the outright odds continue to shrink. He is available at 22/1 on FanDuel Sportsbook, which is still strong value.

At last month’s Masters, arguably the biggest headline was the run unheralded Will Zalatoris made to be the first debut winner at Augusta in over 40 years. His attempt came up short by a stroke to Hideki Matsuyama, but Zalatoris has gained popularity even among the most casual of golf fans. A meteoric rise from 487th in world rankings a year ago to 30th today has created a sense of belonging as well as swagger from the young ball striker despite not even having a tour card. He is not shy on the big stage, as he also finished tied for sixth at the U.S. Open in September, which was most difficult event on the tour in the past year.

The reason why Zalatoris continues his consistency is his irons are arguably top three in the world, only trailing the two debut PGA Championship winners mentioned earlier in Morikawa and Thomas. Just last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson he led the field in strokes gained by approach but could not capitalize with his putter, which was why his 17th-place finish was somewhat disappointing. If he is able to marry his long game with the putting he displayed at Augusta, Zalatoris is extreme value at 60/1 at PointsBet.