The world’s best golfers have made their way to Tulsa, Okla. and Southern Hills Country Club for the PGA Championship, the golf calendar’s second major and one of the toughest tests of the year. Virtually every top player is in attendance (Bryson DeChambeau withdrew, still recovering from wrist surgery) and so many elite golfers are trending toward a big win. It’s a perfect set-up for a major in hot, gusty Tulsa.
Tiger Woods returns to Southern Hills
A huge crowd will be following Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and one Tiger Woods on Thursday morning. A huge crowd. Jordan Spieth needs a PGA Championship to complete a career Grand Slam, or the rare honor of winning all four major championships. Rory McIlroy hasn’t won a major in seven years, a drought that seems far too long for such a perennially relevant and well-liked player. And Tiger Woods? He returns to Southern Hills, the place where he won the PGA Championship in 2007. And one could argue – somehow – his impact means more today than it did then, now that he gave millions of fans time to miss him; time to worry about him; time to love him even more.
The golfing world’s favorite son showed his mettle at Augusta National just last month, making the cut and grinding out a 47th-place finish in his first competitive rounds since a brutal car crash in February 2021. It was more than what could’ve been expected for a man that could’ve lost his legs a little over a year prior, and he had the full support of the crowd with every made putt.
Returning to another familiar place in Southern Hills, one has to expect Tiger will want to improve on a 47th-place finish and contend, even when it seems so unlikely. The talent of the world’s best golfers has arguably never been greater, and yet just last year, Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship. How can you not be romantic about golf?
Scottie Scheffler’s historic run
One of those aforementioned top talents is the defending Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler. He’s won four of his last seven tournaments, a nigh-unprecedented clip in today’s times. He hasn’t experienced a Masters hangover, either, finishing 15th in last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson tournament. For Scheffler to have won his first ever PGA Tour event in February 2022 and secure his fourth just two months later, becoming a Masters champion, no less… it really is the stuff of legends.
And yet, the University of Texas alum should feel just as comfortable here in the scorching Tulsa heat, especially during a week where swirling winds could make the test even more difficult. It’s a week for grinders, and Scottie has an all-terrain skill-set clearly suited for majors contention.
Jordan Spieth trending toward a grand slam
Speaking of major contenders, Jordan Spieth looks as sharp now as he has in years, fresh off a win at the RBC Heritage and a second-place finish last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He missed the cut at the Masters, but a trip to Southern Hills, just a couple hours of interstate from his native Dallas, could be the site of his own grand slam victory.
His driver is firing right now, and his iron prowess and around-the-green magic might all align for his first PGA Championship and first major victory since 2017. Playing with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy won’t scare off one of the sport’s most popular figures. If he can get off to a good start Thursday, off to the races.
Tyler Strong, the former business editor of The Augusta Press, works in broadcast operations for the PGA Tour.
