The second major of the season is upon us and for just the second time this year, the best players from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf are set to collide.
Heading into the PGA Championship all eyes will be on Scottie Scheffler. The 2024 Masters Champion, despite the fractured nature of men’s professional golf, Scheffler has been the undoubted best player in the world and he will be aiming to cement his legacy further with his first major victory away from Augusta.
Set to be played at one of the most beautiful courses in the world, Valhalla, in this preview we will tell you everything you need to know about the course and who the oddsmakers are favouring for the week.
Let’s dive into it.
The Course
The 2024 PGA Championship will be played at Valhalla. Located in Kentucky, Valhalla is a beast of a course. Measuring at over 7,600 yards the course will play as a par 71 for the week. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the course opened in 1986 and contains several unique features. A truly beautiful course, the 13th is one of the most picturesque holes in the world and due to its island green has the ability to make and break anybody’s chances.
In order to conquer this beast, accuracy off the tee will be crucial this week. The fairways are fairly accessible, but if a player strays off line, the rough is thick and juicy and could lead to major problems.
WIth conditions set to be favourable, players have the ability to shoot low, but only those who regularly find themselves on the fairway will have a genuine chance of victory.
The Weather
The last few weeks has seen a great deal of rainfall in the Kentucky area and even more is projected to fall this week. With the course set to be soft, the greens should be accessible and should lead to low scoring.
The Favourites
Scottie Scheffler
As mentioned at the top of this preview, the undoubted favourite for victory is Scottie Scheffler.
Having won four of his last five starts, Scheffler is dominating the PGA Tour and many have compared his dominance to Tiger Woods back in his pomp.
Whilst there are still a few issues with the putter, Scheffler gives himself enough opportunities to make putts thanks to his superb driving and fantastic approach play. When it comes to his iron play, Scheffler is a class apart. Not only does he lead the Tour on strokes gained through approach, but he also leads the way in proximity to the hole.
Even if he misses the green, the Texan ranks in the top five on Tour when it comes to his short game around the green and he has been able to hole a plethora of crucial chips in both his recent Masters and RBC Heritage wins.
Despite his position at the top of the betting markets, there is an element of intrigue around Scheffler as he became a father for the first time just last week. With his preparation impacted, many will hope it will take some time for Scheffler to find his feet. However if Scheffler can shake off a lack of sleep and adapt to his new routine, then there is every chance that we could be about to witness another special week.
Rory McIlroy
The last time Valhalla hosted a major championship was the PGA Championship back in 2014. The winner that year was Rory McIlroy and ten years later, the wait for McIlroy to add to the four majors that he has won goes on.
During his ten year major drought, McIlroy has experienced several near misses, but he wouldn’t have warmed up for a major in better form than this one.
Heading into the week fresh off the back of two successive victories, his victory last week at the Wells Fargo Championship showed McIlroy back to his brilliant best.
Deadly accurate with his driving, McIlroy was simply superb on and around the greens. As last week’s performance showed, McIlroy loves returning to the scene of past glories and if he can bring in his form from last week, he has a great chance of finally winning that elusive fifth major.
Brooks Koepka
Rounding out the top three in the betting is Brooks Koepka. Three times a winner of this famous event, Koepka heads to Kentucky in the hope of defending the title he won so memorably last year.
There’s something about this tournament that clearly get’s Koepka going and as he bids for a fourth title he will arrive full of confidence following his latest victory on the LIV Tour.
A good winner down in Singapore, Koepka was immense with his irons and seemed to have rediscovered his touch on the greens. Everybody knows that Koepka saves his best golf for the majors and if he can work his way to the top of the leaderboard by Sunday’s final round, Koepka could once again find himself with that famous trophy in his hands.
Who else could have a chance of winning?
The beauty of events such as the PGA Championship is that over the course of the championship’s history there have been several shock winners and there is a chance that we could see a surprise winner once more. Here are some of the names to keep an eye on.
Wyndham Clark
Considering he is ranked three in the world, the odds for Wyndham Clark to add to the U.S Open title he won last year seem exceptionally generous.
The strength of Clark’s game lies very much with his driving. One of the biggest hitters on Tour, Clark should be able to put himself in numerous positions to knock his approach close to the hole this week. Much will depend on the flat stick and if he can putt like he has shown in the past, he has all the ability to go close.
Will Zalatoris
Will Zalatoris is slowly working his way back from injury and is starting to show signs of the form that saw him climb inside the world’s top ten.
A runner up in multiple majors, Zalatoris has already shown that he is well accustomed to competing for the game’s biggest prizes. Another man in the field who can have the occasional wobble with the putter, if Zalatoris can keep his putting stroke under control, a big week could follow.
Ludvig Aberg
Despite already quickly rising to become one of the best players in the game, remarkably this is only Ludvig Aberg’s second ever major.
Aberg made his major bow at the 2024 Masters and his top five finish showed exactly why so many believe he has a huge future in the game.
Seemingly unphased by the pressures that being in contention for a major can bring, Aberg would have learnt a huge amount from his Masters debut and that should stand him in good stead for a strong challenge this week.
A huge hitter of the ball, Aberg could really find Valhalla to his liking. If he can bring his best golf, he could announce himself as golf’s next big star and launch his profile into an entirely new stratosphere.
What about Tiger?
Holding odds of 200/1, the bookmakers believe that Tiger Woods could be set for a tough week. A champion of this event numerous times, Woods is playing this week due to a sponsor's exemption but his days of competing for the game’s biggest prizes look to be long over.
Still battling his body, Woods will hope that his body won’t let him down and that he can remain competitive. If Woods can make the cut, that would be classed as a great achievement.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
