Justin Thomas returns to defend his title at the PGA Championship, where Jordan Spieth can complete the career Grand Slam, Rory McIlroy looks to claim a first major win since 2014 and a strong LIV contingent feature; Watch all four rounds live on Sky Sports Golf
Tuesday 16 May 2023 06:04, UK
Can Jordan Spieth complete the Grand Slam? Will Rory McIlroy end his major drought? Who will end the week as world No 1 and could we see a LIV winner? Storylines to follow at the PGA Championship this week...
Rory McIlroy saw another opportunity to complete golf's career Grand Slam pass him at The Masters last month, with Jordan Spieth the next to have the chance to complete golf's illustrious club.
Spieth won The Masters and the US Open in 2015 before securing The Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017, with the American now only needing a PGA Championship victory to become the sixth player to achieve the Grand Slam.
Three of the five players to finish the career Grand Slam managed it at their first chance to close it out - Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods - while Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus both did at their third attempt, whereas Spieth is facing his seventh chance to complete the major honours.
Spieth has only posted one top-10 in his past six PGA Championship appearances, claiming a share of third during Brooks Koepka's wire-to-wire victory in 2019, with the 13-time PGA Tour winner admitting ahead of last year's contest that the Grand Slam bid was the 'elephant in the room'.
The former world No 1 followed a tied-fourth finish at Augusta National last month by ending runner-up to Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage a week later, although there are concerns over his fitness after a wrist injury forced him out of the AT&T Byron Nelson last week.
Spieth hasn't been listed on the pre-tournament press conference schedule, raising further doubts over his injury status, but it would be little surprise to see him challenging for the Wanamaker Trophy if he is fit to feature.
There is another strong LIV contingent in major action this week at Oak Hill, with 17 of the 48 players in their league format making the trip from their latest event in Tulsa to compete in the second major of the year.
LIV players impressed at The Masters, with Brooks Koepka sharing second spot alongside Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed ending in tied-fourth, with plenty of their players showing form that could see them challenge this week.
Talor Gooch became the first back-to-back winner of LIV events earlier this campaign, while Dustin Johnson arrives in confident mood after beating Open champion Cameron Smith and South Africa's Branden Grace in a play-off to win the LIV tournament on Sunday.
Koepka is a two-time recipient of the Wanamaker Trophy and will be joining Thomas in searching for a third victory this week, while Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann and Paul Casey among the other LIV names involved.
McIlroy finished no worse than eighth in his four major appearances last season, a year where he topped the season-long standings on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, although has seen his remarkable consistency slide away in recent months.
The Northern Irishman remained a pre-tournament favourite at The Masters, having bounced back from a shock missed cut at The Players to impress at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, only to suffer another surprised early exit at Augusta after struggling to rounds of 72 and 77.
McIlroy withdrew from the RBC Heritage for a break following an eventful period on and off the course, during which he said he would "love to get back to being a golfer", then failed to force his way into contention on his return to action at the Wells Fargo Championship.
The four-time major winner was defending champion when the PGA Championship was last staged at Oak Hill in 2013, where he claimed eighth spot, with McIlroy since becoming a member due to it being close to where his wife Erica and her family are from.
No player has had such a gap between their fourth and fifth major titles as McIlroy's would be, with the Ulsterman posting 17 top-10s in majors since his last success at the 2014 PGA Championship, although he will care very little about that record should the drought end this week.
Scottie Scheffler missed out on the opportunity to replace Jon Rahm at the top of the world rankings at the AT&T Byron Nelson, finishing tied-fifth, although has another chance to leapfrog the Spaniard this week.
Rahm is top of the world rankings after four wins from 11 starts in 2023 and has held top spot since succeeding Scheffler as the Masters champion last month, where he claimed a four-shot victory and second major title.
Scheffler made a successful title defence in the WM Phoenix Open and also won The Players at TPC Sawgrass, his sixth PGA Tour win in 13 months, with the American finishing no worse than 12th in each of his last 13 worldwide starts.
The world's top two have given themselves a considerable two-point advantage over closest challenger Rory McIlroy in third, with Scheffler the only player who can challenge Rahm's world No 1 status this week.
Should Rahm go on to add to his major tally this week, he would have the chance to complete the career Grand Slam at The Open this summer. Based on his recent form, you wouldn't bet against it.
Koepka and Woods are the only players in the stroke play era to successfully defend their PGA Championship title, with Justin Thomas the latest to attempt to join that group.
Thomas overturned a seven-stroke deficit during the final day of last year's contest to defeat Will Zalatoris in a play-off, although the American has failed to add to his victory tally since that success at Southern Hills.
The world No 15 has only registered two top-10s on the PGA Tour so far in 2023 and missed the cut at The Masters but arrives looking to become just the sixth player to win the PGA Championship three or more times.
Oak Hill has served as a venue for a major title defence before, with Curtis Strange securing his second successive US Open win there in 1989, so Thomas will hope to follow suit and enjoy more major success.
There hasn't been an English winner of the PGA Championship in the stroke play era, although several of this week's field arrive in form and looking to end that surprise record.
Fitzpatrick finished fifth in last year's contest before winning the US Open a month later, with the 28-year-old winning on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage last month, while Tyrrell Hatton has also threatened victory on American soil in recent months.
Hatton has enjoyed a tied-fourth finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, claimed second at The Players and arrives at the PGA Championship off the back of successive top-five finishes on the PGA Tour.
Tommy Fleetwood is just outside the world's top 20 after an impressive tied-fifth finish at the Wells Fargo Championship and it would be little surprise to see him become the fifth player to make a major their first PGA Tour victory, having posted six previous top-five finishes in majors.
Justin Rose won on the PGA Tour at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier in the season, with 12 English players - including Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, LIV member Paul Casey and 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett - all currently in the field this week.
Watch the 105th PGA Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 1pm on Sky Sports Golf.
