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Best matchup, prop bets for the PGA Championship

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New to golf betting? Check out theScore's PGA Tour wagering guide here.

Major championship golf provides a major assortment of props and matchup bets to wager on. Seeing as the PGA Championship is the first marquee event in over 13 months, oddsmakers are not holding back with their offerings.

Here are our favorite matchup and prop bets to consider for TPC Harding Park.

Xander Schauffele (-115) over Bryson DeChambeau

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Schauffele has proven himself in major competition, while DeChambeau has not. The former finished inside the top 10 in six of his 11 major starts compared to the latter, who has zero top 10s in 12 tries. Schauffele is coming off a sixth-place showing in Memphis and appears more prepared to contend than DeChambeau, who has lost 13.3 strokes on approach shots in his last six rounds.

Abraham Ancer (-110) over Tony Finau

Ancer is going to find fairways at a higher rate than Finau, which is the main reason why he should be considered in this matchup as a slight underdog. Yes, Finau has a clear edge when it comes to distance off the tee, but Ancer should play from better spots more consistently and ultimately turn in a better performance.

Collin Morikawa (-135) over Hideki Matsuyama

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Morikawa sets up perfectly at TPC Harding Park to not only beat Matsuyama, but also contend. His mix of length and accuracy off the tee plus pinpoint control with his irons is the ideal formula for major championship golf. Matsuyama, on the other hand, isn't playing great as of late and is going through a noticeable swing change.

Top Canadian - Nick Taylor (+450)

Taking Taylor as the low Canadian over Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, and Mackenzie Hughes at +450 represents solid value. These four are all fairly similar in their consistency on the PGA Tour while possessing slightly different skill sets. But it's incorrect to suggest Taylor is by far the worst: He won at Pebble Beach earlier this season and is arguably the second-best ball-striker of the group behind Conners.

Top Englishman - Tommy Fleetwood (+450)

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Given the recent success of Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, Fleetwood is undervalued among Englishmen. He's played six rounds since the restart and finally found his stride on Day 4 of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He is England's best ball-striker, which automatically gives him a leg up over his peers in major championships.

Top Austrian - Bernd Wiesberger (+200)

This one is flat-out wrong. Wiesberger is a much better player than both Matthias Schwab and Sepp Straka. His 21 career major championship appearances trounce his Austrian counterparts' single combined start. Wiesberger is the 29th-ranked player in the world and clearly the most accomplished Austrian in the field.

Top-20 finish - Graeme McDowell (+1000)

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The only concern about McDowell is that he might not hit it far enough to win this week, but he certainly possesses the game to crack the top 20. The Northern Irishman loves courses that border the ocean - he has six professional wins on the coastline, including the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He came second at the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club, which neighbors this year's PGA Championship site, and he tied for sixth at the 2005 WGC Championship at TPC Harding Park. McDowell also played well in Memphis last week, gaining 4.2 strokes tee to green.

Top-5 finish after Round 1 - Nick Taylor (+4000)

Building on the points above, Taylor goes low on Thursday. He ranks sixth in Round 1 scoring this season and ended last year as the 16th-best player in opening rounds. His early Thursday tee time also means he will avoid the forecasted afternoon wind, which is expected to make scoring even more difficult.

Top-5 finish after Round 1 - Sung Kang (+5000)

Kang also has an early Thursday tee time, and that appears to be the easiest the course will play all week. The South Korean bombs it off the tee and can get extremely hot if he's finding fairways. He's played well on the West Coast this year (second at the Genesis Invitational) and placed seventh at last year's PGA Championship.

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