The PGA Championship returns to Quail Hollow this week for the first time since 2017 and with Justin Thomas the winner that year and in form again, history might well repeat itself.
Quail Hollow is one of the best courses on the PGA Tour circuit and it definitely suits some players more than others.
Rory McIlroy is one of those players, having won around the course four times in his career.
However, Quail is also gettable for other players as well, as the 2017 leaderboard showed.
But while Justin Thomas topped the board that week to get his first major win, fortunes have differed immensely for the four who finished just below the American.
The top five at the PGA Championship 2017 including two LIV Golf stars
Golf has been a whirlwind of a sport in recent times and the split that LIV Golf brought about has shaken things up immensely.
As mentioned, Thomas was the main man the last time the PGA Championship was held at Quail Hollow but the leaderboard underneath him looked different to what we see on most tour events nowadays.
In second, Italian golfer Franceco Molinari tied with South African Louis Oosthuizen at six under par to finish two shy of Thomas at the summit.
Since then, Molinari enjoyed much success, while Oosthuizen was one of the players to take the money and move himself over to the LIV Tour.
Below those two, and again tying for second, was another LIV player in Patrick Reed. The American posted a six under par total for the week but unlike Molinari and Oosthuizen, Reed has enjoyed success since.
Reed won The Masters in 2018, before winning three more PGA Tour events ahead of signing with LIV Golf.
Finally, rounding out the top five was Justin Thomas’ good friend, Rickie Fowler.
Fowler finished at minus five for the week but like so many, he’s not had a great time of things either since then.
Fowler did win the Waste Management Open in 2019 and then finally landed The Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2023/24, but in the main, his form has been disappointing.
The American’s best attempt at winning his own major came the year after when he finished second at Augusta, while he also finished T5 at the US Open in 2023.
Can Rickie Fowler finally win a major in 2025?
Right now, the short answer would appear to be no. However, you just never know in golf and we’ve seen over the years how big surprises can come out of nowhere.
Based on his form in 2025, though, Fowler is nowhere near where he needs to be to compete.
His best finish in 2025 so far was his T15 at this week’s Truist Championship and even there, he wasn’t looking anywhere close to challenging the leaders.
Right now, Fowler is likely to need a miracle to win at Quail Hollow and he’ll be hoping to summon some of that form from 2017 to at least make a good fist of the week.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
