CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The PGA Championship is the second major of the year and occasionally gets overlooked between the Masters and the U.S. Open. That’s not the case this year when the 107th edition returns to Quail Hollow Club.
Rory McIlroy is the toast of golf after he won the Masters green jacket on his 17th try and became only the sixth player with the career Grand Slam. That last happened 25 years ago, and there’s a chance it could happen again in 35 days if Jordan Spieth were to win.
Remember Scottie Scheffler? The world’s No. 1 player had been slow to hit his stride after a freak hand injury he got while making ravioli. He comes into the PGA Championship off an eight-shot victory in which he tied the PGA Tour’s record score for 72 holes.
Here is a look at what you need to know leading up to the PGA Championship.
When is the PGA Championship?
The first round begins Thursday at about 7 a.m. and players in groups of three go off and on both nines, morning and afternoon. The PGA Championship typically puts one of the 20 club professionals in the first group. The biggest names will start on No. 10 in the morning or No. 1 in the afternoon for television purposes.
The top 70 players and tie make the 36-hole cut Friday and advance to the weekend.
How can I watch the PGA Championship?
There is wall-to-wall coverage of the PGA Championship. It starts Thursday and Friday at 7 a.m. on ESPN+ until noon, and then it switches to ESPN until 7 p.m. On the weekend, coverage goes from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on ESPN+, then moves to ESPN until 1 p.m. CBS (and Paramount+) take over from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Who are the betting favorites?
Scottie Scheffler is a slight favorite by BetMGM Sportsbook at +450, followed by Rory McIlroy at +500. Bryson DeChambeau is next at +1100 and defending champion Xander Schauffele, who hasn’t won this year after a rib injury kept him out for two months, is at +1600.
Jordan Spieth, who needs to win the PGA Championship for the career Grand Slam, is at +4000. Compare that with McIlroy at +8000 to sweep all the majors this year.
What’s at stake?
The winner gets the Wanamaker Trophy, which at 27 pounds is the heaviest of the four major championship trophies.
Rory McIlroy will try to become the fifth player since 1960 to win the first two majors of the year. Jordan Spieth will try to become the seventh player with the career Grand Slam.
Xander Schauffele is trying to become only the third player to win the PGA Championship in consecutive years at stroke play. And if Justin Thomas were to win, he would join Tiger Woods as the only players to win the PGA Championship twice on the same course.
Who are the players to watch?
Rory McIlroy not only is the Masters champion and a three-time winner this year, he has won four times at Quail Hollow when it hosts a PGA Tour event. He has won more at Quail Hollow than any other golf course in America.
Xander Schauffele, the defending PGA champion, has been runner-up at Quail Hollow each of the last two years.
Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship the last time at Quail Hollow in 2017 and ended a three-year drought by winning the RBC Heritage last month. Scottie Scheffler also comes to the PGA Championship fresh off a victory.
Americans have won the last nine times at the PGA Championship dating to Jason Day of Australia winning in 2015.
What about LIV?
There are 16 players from LIV Golf in the field at the PGA Championship, the same number as last year. That includes John Catlin, a regular reserve for the Saudi-funded league.
The one to watch is Bryson DeChambeau. Not only was he runner-up at the PGA last year, he won the U.S. Open the following month and played in the final group with McIlroy — even led briefly — at the Masters.
What’s the forecast?
Rain and thunderstorms are likely for practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday that could soften the course. For the tournament days, the forecast is for a mixture of sun and clouds with the possibility of afternoon showers. Sunday’s final round is expected to be warm and dry.
What happened last year?
Xander Schauffele won the PGA Championship last year at Valhalla for his first major, making a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau. That’s what happened inside the ropes.
Outside the ropes was an astounding development: Scottie Scheffler, the Masters champion and No. 1 player in the world, was arrested by Louisville police Friday morning and taken to jail in handcuffs on charges he did not follow instructions by police investigating a traffic fatality.
Scheffler was released in time to make it back to Valhalla — there was a rain delay — and then shot 66 and was three shots off the lead. It caught up with him the next day (73) and he finished in a tie for eighth.
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