US PGA Championship 2026 First-Round Leader Tips: Dave Tindall's three to back up to 100/1

US PGA Championship weather forecast for Thursday

Bring a coat. Temperatures aren't set to get out of the 50s in round one so the ball won't be flying far.

A drop of overnight rain could soften the course a tad while winds hover between 9-13mph for most of the day.

There's no obvious draw bias.

First Round Leader Bet 1: Corey Conners @ 100/1101.00

Corey Conners has some strong FRL history in the US PGA and Aronimink should be a venue where he can go low again.

The Canadian was the solo leader after 18 holes in the 2021 US PGA at Kiawah Island while he sat second after day one and held the halfway lead in the 2023 edition at Oak Hill.

He's finished 26th or better in four of the last five US PGAs so the set-ups suit him.

Aronimink has sloping bentgrass greens and that's also the deal at Augusta where Conners has an excellent record (four top 10s).

That strong form at the US Masters extends to day one as he has first-round positions there of second (2025), sixth (2024) and seventh (2022).

Heading to Aronimink he's been on a good run of Thursday scores. Conners has been in the top 17 after the opening lap in five of his last seven events and eighth following the first round of last week's Truist Championship.

He tees off in the afternoon at 1:21pm and can hopefully give us a great run at a three-figure price.

First Round Leader Bet 2: Alex Smalley @ 80/181.00

The US PGA is surely the least daunting of the majors and Alex Smalley has found some immediate comfort.

He's only played four majors overall but three of those were US PGAs and he's recorded decent finishes of 23rd and 28th.

In last year's US PGA at Quail Hollow, he opened with a 67 to sit fourth after round one while he was seventh at halfway.

He heads to Aronimink on the back of five straight top 25s and that run includes second place in the Zurich Classic, seventh at the Cadillac and 17th at the Truist.

Smalley was first-round leader at the Zurich and although that was a pairs event, he sat second after 18 holes of the Cadillac Championship thanks to a 65.

It was actually a slow start which compromised his finish at the Truist but a closing 66 vaulted him into the top 20. Only three players went lower that day.

Smalley, who ranks 6th for R1 Scoring this season, is my second afternoon pick at 2:16pm.

First Round Leader Bet 3: Rickie Fowler @ 40/141.00

Rickie Fowler is a two-time first-round leader in the US Open and in the most recent of those (2023) he started out with a 62 - the joint-lowest round in the history of the majors.

He also had a four-year run in this tournament when he recorded R1 positions of 9-8-2-9.

Fowler ranks 9th for R1 scoring this year and showed his ability to shoot the lights out at the Truist Championship last week when posting laps of 63 and 65 on the way to second place.

He also shot an opening 65 at the RBC Heritage and, although it's going back a bit, he was in the top eight after day one in both his last two visits to Aronimink.

Fowler has ranked in the top 15 for SG: Approach in each of his latest three starts - all top 10s - so really is striking it well.

A 40/141.00 shot, he's my morning starter at 8:18am.

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