Golf’s second major of the year, the PGA Championship, returns to the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville for the fourth time next Thursday. The PGA Championship features a field of 156 golfers and promotes itself as the strongest field in competitive golf. Those linksters teeing it up next week includes the top 100 ranked golfers in the world, former champions of the PGA, major champions of the last five years, and special invitees. Unlike the other three majors, the PGA does not include amateur golfers of note. The final 20 spots in the tournament are filled by the top finishers from the recently contested PGA Professionals Championship.
The tournament directors of the PGA Championship are accurate when they promote their strength of field claim. Not only are the top 100 in the world golf rankings teeing it up next week, but they are also joined by 16 golfers who currently compete on the Saudi Arabian backed LIV Golf circuit. The defending champion this time around is Brooks Koepka, a LIV regular. Koepka not only opened a lot of eyes with his impressive victory last year, but the win also marked Brooks’ third PGA Championship and fifth major title. Five major titles put a golfer in the rarified air of Hall of Fame greats such as Byron Nelson, Peter Thomson, and two members of the Great Triumvirate, J.H. Taylor and James Braid. Other LIV golfers in the field who are recent major titlists include Cam Smith, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickelson. Some of the LIV golfers in the field still remain among the 100 ranked golfers. The PGA of America also invited Talor Gooch, David Puig, and Dean Burnester to compete at Valhalla as well. South African Louis Oosthuizen was invited as well, but turned down the invite for personal reasons.
It’s hard to get a read on what type of golfer has an advantage at Valhalla. Mark Brooks won the sole major of his career at the 1996 PGA in a playoff against Kenny Perry. Brooks was an accuracy golfer during his career. In 2000 Tiger Woods captured a most entertaining PGA Championship at Valhalla, having to defeat Bob May in a playoff. In 2000 Tiger was the best golfer in the world. He won three majors that year. Woods has always been a bomber while May was a short knocker who was a great iron master. Fourteen years later, the two longest golfers in the game, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, battled it out into the darkness with Rory winning by one stroke. Valhalla plays to a par of 70 and can be stretched out to 7,540 yards. Wind could be a factor at next week’s PGA.
The purse at next week’s PGA is $17.5 million with the winner pocketing just north of $3 million. The champion will also get to keep the Wanamaker Trophy for the year. It is golf’s heaviest major championship trophy weighing in at just over 30 pounds. Jordan Spieth has to be considered one of the favorites and a victory at Valhalla would give Jordan the career grand slam. He currently has won the other three majors. Rory McIlory also has to be considered a pre-tournament favorite. He is the owner of four major titles and yet he hasn’t advanced to the winner’s circle in a grand slam tournament in 10 years. Cal-Berkeley alum Max Homa and Collin Morikawa are coming off a top three finish at last month’s Masters. Morikawa won the PGA at Harding Park in San Francisco in 2020. Masters runner-up Ludwig Aberg is also playing great golf although he has recently complained about soreness in his knee.
As for Brooks Koepka, the defending champion, it’s hard to know when you consider he plays on the less competitive LIV Tour. He did win a LIV event two weeks ago in Asia, but one never knows when considering just 54 holes. After all, if 54 holes were the standard then LIV commissioner Greg Norman would be the owner of seven major titles, not two.
Yet it would be remiss on the part of any golf prognosticator to fail to consider Scottie Scheffler as the pre-tournament favorite. Scheffler won his second Masters last month. He has had a torrid start to his 2024 season winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March, capturing the prestigious Players Championship one week later, and then prevailing at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town the week after his Masters victory. When Scheffler’s putter is on, he is close to unbeatable. He won the Palmer by five strokes, the Masters by four strokes, and Harbour Town by three strokes. Yes golf is a very intense sport, but when you’re coming down the stretch with a four stroke lead, things aren’t as pressure packed and as tight as they could be with a super crowded leader board.
The PGA Championship was first contested in 1916 and long hitting Jim Barnes took home the Wanamaker as well as a pocketing $500 for his winning efforts. Next Sunday a golfer of note will make history by winning one of golf’s major championships as well as close to $3 million. Fans of the game fully anticipate a great tournament with name players atop the leader board. The PGA Championship will run from Thursday, May 16th through its conclusion on Sunday, May 19th. Because of the length of Valhalla coupled with the pressures of trying to win one of golf’s majors, anticipate that the eventual champion will be a golfer who will add to his already solid future Hall of Fame resume.
