The PGA Championship could have hardly wished for more storylines heading into the second major of the year, with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler all in good form ahead of going to Quail Hollow.
It is not controversial to say that the PGA Championship is the least prestigious of the four majors. However, there is going to be real excitement over the coming days with so many players impressing in recent weeks.
Rory McIlroy won The Masters last month, while Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau go into this week having won on their most recent starts.
Justin Thomas ended his long wait for a win at the RBC Heritage, and finished second at the Truist Championship.
Johnson Wagner puts one player behind Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, and ahead of Scottie Scheffler for the PGA Championship
Meanwhile, the likes of Collin Morikawa, Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry have all had good seasons. So there looks to be a really good chance that this year’s PGA Championship is going to deliver a phenomenal finish.
Scheffler’s performance at The CJ CUP Byron Nelson was a real statement of intent, as he won by eight at TPC Craig Ranch.
But speaking on Fried Egg Golf, Johnson Wagner suggested that he would put another player above Scheffler in his list of favourites to win, with only DeChambeau and McIlroy ahead of them.
“Maybe even fourth,” he said, when discussing Scheffler. “You look at the way Xander Schauffele‘s played Quail Hollow over the years. I was standing in the ninth fairway, for the Presidents Cup it was the 18th hole because we rerouted the golf course, and I was standing in the fairway when he hit this little wedge in there and made a putt to clinch the Presidents Cup; he battled with Wyndham two years ago there, he battled with Rory last year, I think Xander Schauffele is sneaky just ahead of Scottie.”
How Xander Schauffele has performed on the PGA Tour in 2025
The concern for fans of Schauffele is that his form has not been overly impressive since his return from injury. He has just one top 10 on the PGA Tour in 2025, which came at The Masters.
That is not to say that the 31-year-old has been poor by any means. But his statistics so far are extremely underwhelming, with Schauffele outside the top 130 in three different strokes gained categories.
| Strokes gained category | Xander Schauffele’s PGA Tour rank (2025) |
| Off the tee | 157th |
| Tee to green | 57th |
| Approach | 7th |
| Around the green | 134th |
| Putting | 139th |
| Total | 86th |
But Schauffele knows what it is like to go into the PGA Championship with questions to answer. He won at Valhalla 12 months ago when many were doubting him after he had lost out at the Wells Fargo Championship to Rory McIlroy the previous week.
So he may be content to go under the radar in the eyes of many.
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