Man, This PGA Championship is Going to Rock

The PGA Championship gets a lot of hate. To be perfectly honest, I’ve contributed to those conversations. To many, it's far and away the least enticing major championship out of the four, and I've even dared to put THE PLAYERS Championship over it here and there. For the most part, the venues aren’t all that interesting—this week included, to be fair—and it just doesn't have that "it" factor golf fans are looking for fresh off of the Masters. But to its credit, it has certainly produced the goods over the last several seasons.

Xander Schauffele besting Bryson DeChambeau by one with a birdie at the last, Justin Thomas outlasting Will Zalatoris in a playoff, 50-year-old Phil Mickelson taking down Brooks Koepka at Kiawah, Koepka looking Tiger Woods in the eye and taking home the Wanamaker.

This tournament has had it all, but I’m thinking this week at Quail Hollow is going to beat them all.

There are so many storylines to follow, so many players to keep an eye on this week in Charlotte, North Carolina. So, let’s run through some of the stuff I’ll be watching for this week and why I think this could end up being a classic.

PGA: Ranking the Field

Rory McIlroy Dominates This Place

The Northern Irishman has been the best player in the world this year. He won at Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, and Augusta National. Not a bad trio. In all, he’s made eight starts this season and has yet to finish outside the top 25. I’m being told that’s good, but who’s to say?

Now he heads to one of his favorite golf courses on the circuit to try and capture the second leg of the Grand Slam—you can’t win all four majors in a year unless you win the first two, right?

McIlroy’s first win on TOUR came at Quail all the way back in 2010, and since then, he’s added three more wins at this venue, including one just last year. Across 12 non-major starts at this track—he tied for 22nd at the 2017 PGA—McIlroy’s finished outside the top 10 just three times. Again, I’m being told that’s good.

With how he’s played this year, coupled with his ridiculous course history, it’d be truly shocking if he’s not at or within two shots of the lead with 18 holes to play this weekend—now that I’ve said I'm terrified that I've jinxed it and now he’ll miss the cut, but the point stands.

Justin Thomas is All the Way Back

JT was a little lost over the last couple of seasons. He hadn’t won since the ‘22 PGA and he just seemed out of sorts. But that slump is over.

Justin Thomas is back to playing Justin Thomas golf with six top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season, including a win at the RBC Heritage the week after the Masters. He also has three silver medals to this point of the season after tying for second in Philly over the weekend. And like McIlroy, he’ll have some solid course history to lean on once the championship gets underway: he won the ‘17 PGA at Quail.

His ball is coming out the right window, his putter is starting to cooperate, and he has full control over his golf ball. He’s back to being the artist that he is.

Like Rory, I’d be shocked if JT doesn’t contend on Sunday.

Scottie Scheffler is…Also Back

How do I put this delicately? Hmm, how about this: Scottie Scheffler stomped all over the field at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson a few weeks back, winning by eight shots. Yes, it wasn’t the strongest field in the world, but that’s still a TOUR event. Those guys are supposed to be his co-workers. But he made them look like 10 handicaps in Dallas.

When he plays like that, it’s terrifying.

Truly, the only thing going against the No. 1-ranked player in the world this week is that he hasn’t seen Quail Hollow that much. He played in the Presidents Cup a few years back when it was staged in Charlotte, but he’s never played in the Truist Championship. But at the same time, I just think this guy’s too good for that to matter.

He’s going to show up, killer instinct on full display, and try to win his first non-Masters major.

Bryson DeChambeau Will Be There

Nothing that Bryson DeChambeau has done over the last few seasons tells me that he won’t be around the lead heading into the weekend.

Since the start of ‘24, DeChambeau has finished T-6 (Masters), 2nd (PGA Championship), 1st (U.S. Open), MC (Open), and T-5 (Masters) in the majors. He’s been a machine in the game’s biggest events. You’d be an idiot to think that’s not going to continue at a golf course that rewards dudes who send it.

This week could turn into an arms race pretty quickly, and there are only a few guys in the world that can hang with Bryson in that department—McIlroy vs. DeChambeau, could we be in for a Part III?

Jordan Spieth Could Join McIlroy in The Club

Two Career Grand Slams in one year? That’d be pretty cool, folks, and it could happen if Jordan Spieth finds a way to hoist the Wanamaker on Sunday afternoon.

He’s played some great golf over the last few months, finishing T-28 (Valspar), T-12 (Valero), T-14 (Masters), T-18 (RBC Heritage), 4th (CJ CUP), and T-34 (Truist) in his last six starts and I honestly think McIlroy’s win at Augusta could have some impact on him.

The Career Grand Slam is possible, he saw it with his own two eyes. Now he can join that same rarefied air just a month later. I also think Spieth completing the CGS right after Rory is a very Spieth-y move. It’d be perfect.

So Many Guys Are Golfing Their Ball Right Now

It seems like the same names keep popping up on leaderboards.

Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa. All these guys are balling and could easily make their way into contention this week. There are so many big names that could claim the Wanamaker on Sunday, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

However! I really, really want to see a Rory vs. Scottie major. I want to see them separate from the rest of the field by the back nine on Sunday so we can get a true head-to-head matchup. Let’s see who’s the alpha.

Man, I can’t wait to get this thing started on Thursday.