US PGA Championship Saturday Betting Tips: Double up on Conners and Kitayama

With strong winds adding to the challenge, Aronimink Golf Club continued to provide an interesting and exacting test on day two of the 108th PGA Championship, leaving us with a perfectly poised event as we head into the weekend.

Here are my US PGA Championship Saturday betting tips...

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*You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest US PGA Championship 2026 Odds over on betfred.com

Leaderboard after round two:

T1 – Alex Smalley (-4)

T1 – Maverick McNealy (-4)

T3 – Hideki Matsuyama (-3)

T3 – Chris Gotterup (-3)

T3 – Aldrich Potgieter (-3)

T3 – Stephan Jaeger (-3)

T3 – Min Woo Lee (-3)

T3 – Max Greyserman (-3)

It’s all change at the top of the leaderboard, as the duo of Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy now lead the way in Pennsylvania.

Each of these players is on the up, with Smalley one of the most improved players on the PGA Tour this year and McNealy arriving after securing his first major top-20 at Augusta. However, the pressure cooker of contending in one of the game’s biggest tournaments will be a new experience for both, and it will be interesting to see how they handle it today.

The top players in the field are still struggling to stamp their authority around this layout, which is represented by a diverse group of six players tied for 3rd. Chris Gotterup made the most significant move of the day, firing a five-under 65 to jump up 64 places, whilst Hideki Matsuyama’s 67 means he is the only major winner in the top eight.

Given his potential, there is little surprise to find Min Woo Lee up there. Meanwhile, last year’s Rocket Classic – an event played at the Donald Ross-designed Detroit Golf Club – 1st and 2nd-place finishers, Aldrich Potgieter and Max Greyserman, have given that line of form a boost, as has Stephan Jaeger, who has twice finished inside the top 10 there.

Although that top octet of players may lack superstar quality, a whole bunch of classy individuals are lurking just one shot further behind on -2. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler struggled in the tougher conditions on Friday but is still just two back, whilst the third-best player in the world, Cameron Young, leaped 40 spots up the standings after his three-under 67.

Ludvig Aberg produced the second-best round of the day (with a 66) thanks to a barrage of birdies on his back nine to join this group of challengers; Justin Thomas accompanies him there after another solid 69; while David Puig, Harris English and Si Woo Kim all carded 67s to climb inside the top 10.

With Jon Rahm, Jason Day and Patrick Cantlay all under par, and the likes of Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele still within five shots of the lead, there is no end of players who can play themselves into contention on what promises to be a thrilling, action-packed moving day.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Scottie Scheffler 7/2, Cameron Young 17/2, Maverick McNealy 10/1, Ludvig Aberg 11/1, Min Woo Lee 12/1, Chris Gotterup 12/1

This wide-open contest leaves us with a competitive odds board. Scottie Scheffler has drifted out in price but still holds on to favouritism, now followed by Cameron Young after his bounce back in the second round.

Shooting the two best scores on Friday, it was a fantastic day for pre-event selections Chris Gotterup and Ludvig Aberg, who each now sit inside the top six in the betting.

With my picks in the specials markets, Min Woo Lee (Top Australian) and Aldrich Potgieter (Top South African), also leading the way in those respective markets, we have plenty to play for over the weekend.

Given those positions, I’m going to avoid the outright betting and have taken a look at Saturday’s two-balls, coming up with a couple of selections to add some extra interest in round three.

Corey Conners to beat Nick Taylor

The all-Canadian pairing of Corey Conners and Nick Taylor has been a ball-striking mismatch so far this week. With the former also possessing the far superior major record, I’m taking him to get the better of his compatriot today.

Both of these players made positive under-par starts on Thursday (Conners -2 and Taylor -1) but found things a touch too difficult on Friday in the toughest conditions of the week thus far. This led to each of them dropping to +1 as we enter the weekend.

That said, the two players have got to this number in completely contrasting fashions. Conners has hit the ball supremely throughout, ranking 1st in SG: Ball Striking, 1st in SG: Approach and 3rd in GIR across the entire field.

Taylor, on the other hand, has struggled with the long game, sitting 114th in SG: Ball Striking and has been particularly poor with his irons, placing 126th in SG: Approach and 141st in GIR. Instead, he’s had to rely on a field-leading scrambling display and a top-five ranking on the greens, something that is much harder to sustain.

Conners has suffered a bit of a drop-off in his performances in 2026, though he has looked much more like his old self in the long-game departments this week. It’s this prowess that has guided him to five top-25s in his last seven major appearances, whilst Taylor has made just one during his entire career.

Unless his long game improves, he’ll fail to add to that this week. With Conners striking it beautifully and much more comfortable in this environment, I think he’ll come out on top of this one.

Kurt Kitayama to beat Aaron Rai

Kurt Kitayama and Aaron Rai are both players who compensate for their weakness on the greens with quality – yet differing in style – ball-striking games. Kitayama’s power makes him a more suitable fit for this challenge and with Rai’s putting above his mean through two rounds, I expect the American to outscore his playing partner today.

Kitayama hit the ball strongly on Thursday (ranking inside the top 20 in SG: Ball Striking) but could only sign for a level-par round after being let down by the putter. He moved under par for the week yesterday thanks to a decent all-round display, where he looked particularly good around the greens, ranking 1st.

In contrast, Rai’s long game disappointed on day one, though he was saved by the putter, ranking 11th. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t able to maintain that, which means that despite his ball striking improving on Friday – placing 2nd in GIR and 8th in SG: Ball Striking for round two – he wasn’t able to take full advantage.

By almost every metric, Kitayama has played better than Rai this year. He ranks 42nd to Rai’s 85th in SG: OTT and, despite being a power player (ranking 19th in driving distance among this field), he’s also a reasonably handy 67th in driving accuracy.

That minimises the impact of Rai’s superior accuracy off the tee. When we also consider that he’s 10th in SG: Approach compared to Rai’s 45th, and 82nd in SG: Putting to Rai’s 113th – areas in which the Englishman has outperformed him over the opening two rounds here – Kitayama’s upside for the rest of this tournament is considerably greater than his counterpart.

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