There are probably not too many golf fans who would rank the PGA Championship higher than fourth when discussing how important each of the four majors are.
While any player in the field this week would take a raft of PGA Championship titles in a heartbeat, the event does not have the same prestige as The Masters or The Open Championship. Meanwhile, it has not usually provided the same test as the US Open.
The PGA Championship looks to still be finding its identity in the golfing landscape. But this year’s event appears to have a fantastic opportunity to change that.
Rory McIlroy goes into the second major of the year off the back of his win at The Masters. Meanwhile, both Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau won on their most recent appearances on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf respectively.
Jim Nantz makes a claim about Quail Hollow ahead of the PGA Championship
Elsewhere, Justin Thomas is playing brilliantly, and Xander Schauffele is looking to defend his title.
It is Quail Hollow which will provide the stage for the event. And speaking on 5 Clubs, Jim Nantz suggested that the North Carolina course is the ideal location to host the tournament.
“First off, it truly takes on a look of Augusta in spring time. I know for anybody to be compared to that’s not really fair, but it’s the closest thing I’ve seen with just the look of it, the drive up to the clubhouse, the conditions of the golf course, the white sand, it’s lush. The place is just perfection,” he said.
“Then you’ve got on top of it, the annual tournament which has produced not only quality champions, but riveting tournaments, especially when you consider that closing stretch of holes. I love this course. I could go hole by hole what I like about it. You’ve got two par fours that can be set up to be drivable at the eighth and the 14th. 15’s a fun par five. And then 16, 17, 18 are not only gorgeous, but a little bit death defying; on every single one of them you can lose the tournament. Its set-up is a perfect stage to deliver high drama.
“And we’ve got so many people coming in in peak form. This is just a perfect way to segue from the first major of the year, and all that tension, which I’m still trying to recover from after the journey Rory took on us, to this week in Charlotte. It’s going to be fantastic.”
How the PGA Championship played out on its last visit to Quail Hollow
Another reason Justin Thomas will be amongst the favourites this week is the fact that he won the event the last time it was staged at Quail Hollow.
The 2017 PGA Championship saw Thomas win his first major, with the likes of Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler also inside the top five. Elsewhere, Kevin Kisner, Hideki Matsuyama and Chris Stroud all fell away over the final day after occupying the top three positions with one round to play.
And as Nantz noted, Quail Hollow has delivered some brilliant moments in the regular PGA Tour event now known as the Truist Championship. Rory McIlroy has won at the course on four occasions.
There are not many majors which enjoy a better build-up than this year’s PGA Championship. It could be a real turning point for the event.
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