Rory McIlroy 66/1 to land calendar grand slam ahead of PGA Championship

Having finally landed the career Grand Slam with victory at the Masters in April, Rory McIlroy has been installed as the 4-1 joint favourite with current world number one Scottie Scheffler to prevail at the PGA Championship. 

Punters can also get 66/1 on McIlroy becoming the first golfer ever to secure the calendar Grand Slam. 

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McIlroy made history in April when he became just the sixth male player to win the career Grand Slam, picking up all four Majors across his illustrious career. Before that victory, which came after the Northern Irishman nearly threw away a four-shot lead on the final day, McIlroy had failed to pick up a major since 2014. 

Despite being considered one of the best naturally gifted golfers of all time, critics point to his lack of majors as a serious flaw. Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors while Woods picked up 15. In fact, his current haul of five puts McIlroy in 15th on the majors leaderboard.  

This year’s PGA Championship tees off on Thursday at the Quail Hollow Club. McIlroy and current world number one Scottie Scheffler are currently ranked 4/1 joint favourites, ahead of Bryson DeChambeau at 15/2. 

READ: PGA Championship betting tips: Can Spieth emulate McIlroy and win golf’s grand slam?

McIlroy has form, both in terms of the course and the tournament, having won at Quail Hollow four times and lifted the PGA Championship twice, in 2012 and 2014. If McIlroy can win here again, he would become only the sixth player in the past 70 years to pick up the first two majors of the year. 

The PGA Championship typically favours American players. McIlroy, or any other non-American victor, would be the first since Jason Day in 2015 at Whistling Straits. 

Standing in McIlroy’s way is a resurgent Scheffler. The world number one endured a delayed start to the season following a hand injury, but he finished three shots behind McIlroy at Augusta in April and then shot a 31 under-par at the CJ Cup: a joint record for the lowest 72-hole score. 

McIlroy will undoubtedly be hoping to build on his history-making start to the year, and bookmakers give him a reasonable chance of winning at least one more major in 2025. 

Although he is priced 1/2 to end the calendar year with just one major trophy, he has been given odds of 15/8 to pick up one more trophy, 14/1 to make it 3 majors, and 66/1 to complete the calendar Grand Slam. Only two male golfers, Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods, have won three calendar Majors, while 16 male players have won two majors in the same year.

One of those players is current player Xander Schauffele, who, as well as the 2024 Open Championship, also won last year’s US PGA Championship, played at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Schaufelle and McIlroy are among 95 of the top world’s 100 golfers who will be taking part in this year’s tournament, which starts on Thursday 15 May, and concludes on Sunday 18 May.