When is it on?
The second men’s Major of the year, the 2024 US PGA Championship, will begin at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky on Thursday and will run until Sunday.
How can I follow it all?
The US PGA Championship is being broadcast exclusively on Sky Sports and NowTV all week. Coverage will run from 1pm on Thursday and Friday on Sky Sports Golf, and from 10.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event. On Saturday and Sunday, it starts from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf and 7.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event.
What are the tee-times and who is playing?
Rory McIlroy will tee off with Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose at 1.15pm Irish time on Thursday from the 10th tee. Shane Lowry will tee off at 6.18pm with Nicolai Hojgaard and Jason Day from the first tee. Pádraig Harrington will tee off with Patrick Reed and Sam Burns at 7.35pm.
Teeing off the 1st tee (Irish time)
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12.15pm — Michael Block, Luke Donald, Shaun Micheel
12.26pm — Jeff Kellen, Alex Smalley, Ben Kohles
12.37pm — Ryan Fox, Josh Speight, Matt Wallace
12.48pm — Zac Oakley, Adam Svensson, Ryo Hisatsune
12.59pm — Adam Hadwin, Martin Kaymer, Taylor Pendrith
1.10pm — Byeong Hun An, Alexander Bjork, Eric Cole
1.21pm — Adam Schenk, Corey Conners, Nick Dunlap
1.32pm — John Daly, Lee Hodges, Robert MacIntyre
1.43pm — Peter Malnati, Kurt Kitayama, Victor Perez
1.54pm — Benn Polland, Zac Blair, Ryan van Valezen
2.05pm. — Jeremy Wells, Sami Valimaki, K.H. Lee
2.16pm — Jared Jones, Taylor Moore, Patrick Rodgers
2.27pm — Kyle Mendoza, Andy Ogletree, Erik van Rooyen
5.45pm — David Puig, Thirston Lawrence, Matt Dobyns
5.56pm — Tracy Phillips, Denny McCarthy, Keita Nakajima
6.07pm — Talor Gooch, Cameron Davis, Harris English
6.18pm — Jason Day, Shane Lowry, Nicolai Hojgaard
6.29pm — Min Woo Lee, Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel
6.40pm — Gary Woodland, Tom Kim, Joaquin Niemann
6.51pm — Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Fitzpatrick
7.02pm — Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young
7.13pm — Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler
7.24pm — Patrick Cantlay, Camilo Villegas, Will Zalatoris
7.35pm — Patrick Reed, Sam Burns, Pádraig Harrington
7.46pm — Brad Marek, Mark Hubbard, Maverick McNealy
7.57pm — Braden Shattuck, S.H. Kim, C.T. Pan
Teeing off 10th tee
12.20pm — Doug Ghim, Tyler Collet, Adrian Meronk
12.31pm — Larkin Gross, Lucas Herbert, Grayson Murray
12.42pm — Lucas Glover, Stephan Jaeger, Russell Henley
12.53pm — Ludvig Åberg, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas
1.04pm — Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley
1.15pm — Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose
1.26pm — Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland
1.37pm — Brooks Koepka, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth
1.48pm — Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton, Sahith Theegala
1.59pm — Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau
2.10pm — Sepp Straka, Takumi Kanaya, Nick Taylor
2.21pm — Andy Svoboda, Ben Griffin, Dean Burmester
2.32pm — Preston Cole, Tim Widing, Adrian Otaegui
5.40pm — Rich Beem, Sebastian Soderberg, Kazuma Kobori
5.51pm — Josh Bevell, Aaron Rai, Jordan Smith
6.02pm — Andrew Putnam, Jesse Mueller, Charley Hoffman
6.13pm — Si Woo Kim, Tom Hoge, Alex Noren
6.24pm — Y.E. Yang, Matthieu Pavon, J.T. Poston
6.35pm — Jake Knapp, Jason Dufner, Francesco Molinari
6.46pm — Thomas Detry, Jimmy Walker, Rasmus Hojgaard
6.57pm — Austin Eckroat, Luke List, Mackenzie Hughes
7.08pm — Sungjae Im, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Beau Hossler
7.19pm — Thorbjorn Olesen, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell
7.30pm — John Somers, Brice Garnett, Jesper Svensson
7.41pm — Emiliano Grillo, Evan Bowser, Alejandro Tosti
7.52pm — Vincent Norrman, Wyatt Worthington II, Chris Gotterup
What is the course like?
Valhalla is a course to Rory McIlroy’s liking, he won the last time the Major was held there, at the 2014 US PGA Championship. The course has been altered since then, it is faster and firmer, and 130 yards have been added, which could make the course long given the weather forecast of rain during the week. The closest course profile to Valhalla on the PGA Tour, according to Data Golf, is Quail Hollow, where Rory has won four times and as recently as last week. It should be a long driver’s paradise with three par 5s under 600 yards and two short par 4s. The 13th hole is the signature hole called The Island, where water surrounds the green on all sides, built up on large boulders and framed by a waterfall.
Can Rory end his Major drought here?
Yes, he can. When he won in 2014, it was after winning his previous two PGA Tour events. It is the same story here after victories at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Shane Lowry, and last week’s Wells Fargo Championship. McIlroy’s swing has tightened up, with Butch Harmon’s advice coming to fruition, and he is putting better.
But in similar circumstances, McIlroy went into Royal Liverpool last year after a win at the Scottish Open, to a course he previously won a Major, and did not get particularly close to winner Brian Harman. There is also the not-so-small obstacle of world number one Scottie Scheffler, who has won four of his five previous tournaments including the Masters, and defending champion Brooks Koepka, who won on his last LIV start. Scheffler was not in the field for McIlroy’s two recent PGA Tour victories.
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What are the other Irish prospects?
Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington are the other two Irish participants. Lowry has played well on the PGA Tour this year and got a well-deserved victory alongside McIlroy in a team event last month. Not one of the main contenders, Lowry is 90-1 and while he will be aiming to win, a top 10 finish would be a good performance. Harrington gets into the event as a former champion from 2008. He defied his years with a tied fourth in the PGA in 2021, but otherwise you have to go back to 2012 for a Major top 10 for Harrington.
Who are the favourites?
Scottie Scheffler unsurprisingly leads the betting at 7-2. The American is having one of the best seasons in many years on the PGA Tour, winning four times. To illustrate his dominance, he leads scoring in par 3s, 4s and 5s, strokes gained off the tee, approach and greens in regulation. The only new intangible since his last win is that his wife Meredith gave birth to the couple’s first child last week. Whether that affects his form or not remains to be seen, but he is certainly the man to beat.
McIlroy is second favourite at 6-1, while Koepka (12-1) has won the PGA Championship three times and is playing well again having won in Singapore on LIV. In Majors he turns into a different animal and he will relish the challenge of winning a sixth one. Others to watch out for are Ludvig Åberg (14-1), who was an impressive second at the Masters, Jon Rahm (14-1) and Bryson DeChambeau (22-1), whose long and straight driving suits the course profile.
What is the PGA Championship winner’s prize?
The winner gets the Wannamaker Trophy, one of the biggest trophies in golf physically and in prestige, and a winner’s prize that has yet to be announced, but is expected to be between $3 million and $4 million.
What is the weather forecast like?
The weather played a prominent role the last time the US PGA Championship was here and looks set to do the same again. Rainfall could be heavy in the build-up, drier weather returns on Thursday before another low-pressure system brings showers and thunderstorms back to the region Friday into Saturday morning. At least Sunday is better weather, warm and sunny.
