PGA Championship 2021: Updated Odds, How to Watch Round 2 on TV and Online

Reporter

Corey Conners will start the second round of the PGA Championship on Friday, two shots ahead of the nearest challenger after carding a 5-under par 67 on Thursday.

The Canadian, who has three top-10 finishes since March including tied for eighth at The Masters last month, coped better than anyone else with the challenges posed by the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

"You can't fall asleep out there on any holes," the 29-year-old told ESPN after his first round. "It's very challenging. I was fortunate to have a good day. Made it the least stressful on myself as possible."

At 7-1 with both William Hill and FanDuel, Conners is now the bookmakers' favorite to win the second major of the season, followed by Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka at 8-1 and 10-1 respectively.

Hovland and Koepka are part of a six-man group sitting two shots behind Conners at 3-under. A 22-1 shot at the beginning of the week, Hovland is yet to win a major but arrived at Kiawah Island in great form after back-to-back third-place finishes in his last two starts at the Valspar Championship and the Wells Fargo Open.

Koepka, who won back-to-back PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019, has seen his odds shorten significantly after a first round that included six birdies.

Defending champion Collin Morikawa was a 30-1 shot at the start of the tournament but he's now down to 14-1 after shooting a 2-under par 70 in the opening round.

Morikawa is one of eight players to have finished three shots behind Conners on Thursday, a group which also includes Phil Mickelson. The five-time major winner rolled back the years with a blistering 32 on the back nine in the opening round, but remains a 90-1 outsider.

World No. 3 Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are at 16-1 and 20-1 respectively after finishing even par on Thursday, with odds slightly lengthening from the 14-1 and 16-1 the duo had opened with at the beginning of the tournament.

Things went far worse for Rory McIlroy, a PGA Championship winner at Kiawah Island nine years ago, and world No. 2 Justin Thomas, who both finished the opening round at 3-over par.

The 11-1 favorite going into the tournament, McIlroy's odds have since ballooned to 45-1, while Thomas has gone from 14-1 to 55-1. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, meanwhile, has gone from a 18-1 to a 125-1 outsider after finishing at 4-over par on Thursday.

Here's all you need to know to follow the second round.