PGA Championship: These hot starts mean cool cash for you

It's PGA Championship week! The best in the world will take on a soggy Valhalla Golf Club starting on Thursday morning, and we think the 7,609-yard track will play much easier than sportsbooks expect due to the heavy rain in Louisville, Ky. this week. Let's take advantage of that by targeting a few first-round unders on players who can take advantage of the soft conditions.

Bryson DeChambeau Round 1 score under 70.5 (-110 FanDuel)

Valhalla is a bomber's paradise, and no one in the field hits it farther than DeChambeau. He's going to employ the same strategy that won him the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot by six shots: Bomb driver on as many holes as he can to set up shorter approach shots, even if that means playing from out of the rough.

DeChambeau opened the Masters with a 7-under 65 in Round 1, and this is a much better course for his game. 

Patrick Cantlay Round 1 score under 70.5 (+105 FD)

This golf course is reminiscent of many golf courses Cantlay has dominated over the years (Muirfield Village, Wilmington Country Club, Caves Valley). He loves driver-heavy courses and bentgrass greens, so Valhalla should be a great fit for him.

Cantlay can't be happy with his performance so far this year, but he still ranks second behind Scottie Scheffler in first-round scoring average. He should get off to a strong start this week. 

Byeong Hun An Round 1 score under 70.5 (+120 FD)

An is playing with a ton of confidence right now, as he's coming off two straight top-five finishes at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the Wells Fargo Championship. The South Korean has been lights out with his ball striking all season, and he led the field in strokes gained from putting at Quail Hollow last week.

An ranks fourth on Tour this season in carry distance, so he's the perfect player to target on a wet golf course. 

In the news ...

Knicks and Nuggets go up 3-2; Oilers score late to tie series; Bruins avoid elimination — NBA fans were excited for Tuesday night's intriguing duo of Game 5s, but the home teams ruined all the fun with two blowouts. Jalen Brunson scored 44 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 121-91 win against the Indiana Pacers, and Nikola Jokic put up 40-7-13 to give the Denver Nuggets their third straight win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, 112-97. In the NHL, the Edmonton Oilers blew a two-goal lead to the Vancouver Canucks in the third period, but Evan Bouchard bailed them out with a game-winning goal with 39 seconds left. The Boston Bruins kept their season alive with a 2-1 win against the Florida Panthers. The Oilers are now -200 to win their series, while the Bruins are +470 to make the comeback.

Caitlyn Clark struggles in WNBA debut — Clark made her WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night, and she got a taste of how different the professional level is from college. The Iowa superstar finished the game with 20 points on 5-15 shooting and 4-11 from three, three assists and a game-high 10 turnovers as the Fever lost to the Connecticut Sun, 92-71. Clark is still the third choice at +1100 to win the WNBA MVP. 

NFL schedule release to air on Wednesday night — It's a busy time on the sports calendar. We have a major championship week in professional golf, heated playoff races in the NBA and NHL and the MLB season heating up. Even with all that going on, the NFL will return to the throne on Wednesday night when the full 2024 schedule is released on NFL Network at 8 p.m. ET. No other sport can generate this much buzz for a schedule release, but that's why the NFL is king. The San Francisco 49ers are +550 favorites to win the Super Bowl in 2025. 

Today's Bark Bets is written by Jack Dougherty