Justin Thomas is set to defend his title this week at Oakmont Hill in New York
The second major championship of the year is upon us this week. While the PGA Championship is the least celebrated of all the four majors and seems to lack a distinctive personality when compared to the other three, it is still one of golf’s four biggest prizes. The others being The Masters, The US Open and The (British) Open.
Here are four storylines that we think are worth following this week:
Jon Rahm and the potential to make history
World No 1 Jon Rahm of Spain is the bookmakers co-favourite with No 2 Scottie Scheffler of USA to win the PGA Championship. In his last three starts, Rahm has won The Masters, and finished T15th and 2nd in the RBC Heritage and the Mexico Open respectively. He’s already won four times this season and is clearly in the best form of his life.
At The PGA Championship, the World’s current dominant player has the opportunity to create more history. In April, Rahm became the first European player to have won a U.S. Open and The Masters. If he wins at Oak Hills, he will become the first European player to have won those particular three majors (Rory McIlroy is the only European player to have won the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship). A victory in the PGA Championship would also leave Rahm with just The (British) Open to complete a career Grand Slam (at least one victory in each major), which would put him in very rare company indeed.
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On top of that, it would also give Rahm the second leg of the calendar Grand Slam. It’s rare for one golfer to be in a position to achieve so many milestones in one event. But Rahm has been in such good form this season that he’s put himself in this Position.
American Max Homa, who is ranked seventh in this world, used an Avengers movie reference to explain Rahm’s recent dominance to USA Today. “Yes, he’s probably Thanos,” Homa said. “He has a lot of the stones in his toolbox. He’s a tremendous golfer. He has zero weaknesses.”
Will Rory McIlroy contend?
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It’s been a tough month for crowd favourite and World No 3 McIlroy. He was one of the pre-tournament favourites to win The Masters but missed the cut. That disappointment led to his taking a three-week break from the tour, which he said he needed to regain his perspective on the game. McIlroy has not only been one of the best players of the world but has been front and center in the PGA Tour’s battle with the LIV Tour, a battle which has taken a toll on him as a player.
McIlroy returned to competitive action two weeks ago at Quail Hollow, a course he loves and on which he has won three times, but he struggled after shooting an opening 68 and was never in contention. It has also been more than eight years since McIlroy last won a major championship and players don’t usually have such large gaps between major wins. Despite all that, McIlroy, who is the World No. 3, has the best odds to win the tournament after Rahm and Scheffler.
Golf fans can only hope that his reset has put in the right frame of mind to contend this week.
Another first time winner?
Historically, the PGA Championship has provided some of golf’s most unlikely major championship winners. You had Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Y.E. Yang of South Korea shocked Tiger Woods in 2009 – the only time Woods has failed to win a major after being the 54-hole leader.
It’s also been a good tournament for first-time major winners. In the last 10 events, five players have broken through at the PGA. There are plenty of players who would love to make it six out of 11. Tony Finau just beat Rahm to win the Mexico Open and everyone expects him to win a major soon. Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Max Homa have been fixtures in the top-10 of the world rankings for a while. All of them are due to win and this could be their week.
LIV golfers will compete again
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The majors have effectively become the stage for LIV golfers to demonstrate that they have not lost their edge since leaving the PGA Tour. Liv players took 3 of the top 5 spots at The + Masters in April. Brooks Koepka had the chance to throw egg on the face of the PGA Tour when he led after three-rounds, but he wasn’t able to hold on and complete the victory. The PGA Championship field includes 18 LIV golfers, seven of whom have won major championships (India’s own Anirban Lahiri is the field as well).
While the war of words between the players themselves seems to have calmed down, the battle between the tours is still playing out in courtrooms behind the scenes. While a win by a LIV player will not affect the outcome of the legal battle, it would be a significant victory in the court of public opinion and a major shot in the arm for LIV.
Credits:-
Photo – PGA Championship