PGA Championship kicks off: Scheffler, McIlroy and Game of Thrones

The battle between world number 1 and number 2

Quail Hollow Club heats up as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy lead the world's best living golfers into the PGA Championship, the second major of the year (May 15-18, US time).

Scheffler and McIlroy – the current world No. 1 and No. 2 – arrive in Charlotte on the back of recent victories.

Scheffler has won his first title of the 2025 season. Photo: PGA Tour

The most welcome was Scheffler, the golfer who held the world No. 1 ranking for 104 consecutive weeks. It took him a while to get his first win of the year, after a freak accident at home on Christmas.

Scheffler was forced to reschedule after breaking his hand. But when he did win, he did it in spectacular fashion, shooting under par at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

There, Scheffler shot a total of 253, eight strokes ahead of second place and setting a record for the lowest score in PGA history in the 72-hole format.

If Scheffler impressed by the way he won, McIlroy made history by what he achieved: the title at The Masters ended an 11-year drought of major titles.

The trophy at Augusta is rich in tradition, helping McIlroy enter the legendary temple with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods - the rare people to complete the Grand Slam with all 4 majors .

It was Scheffler who put the prestigious green jacket on McIlroy, freeing him from the ghosts of his past.

“I had to win against myself. I’m glad it’s over and I can move on,” McIlroy recalled of the Masters final as he prepared for the PGA Championship earlier this week.

“I don’t want to go through that Sunday afternoon again,” Rors stressed. “I felt the weight of history on my shoulders. I feel much more comfortable now.”

McIlroy practices at Quail Hollow. Photo: EFE

Quail Hollow is a place that suits McIlroy's style of play, averaging 69.3 strokes per round (par 71) every time the course hosts the Wells Fargo – now renamed Truist Championship, recently won by Sepp Straka.

DeChambeau and other competitors

Scheffler and McIlroy will play the first two rounds with Xander Schauffele, the reigning PGA Championship champion. They are also the top three in the world rankings.

Along with them, Bryson DeChambeau, the reigning US Open champion, is another notable face. Experts call this “the battle of the throne” – Game of Thrones.

DeChambeau is a rare golfer who left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf in Saudi Arabia and still received support. He always knows how to attract enthusiastic crowds.

Like Scheffler and McIlroy, DeChambeau comes to Quail Hollow fresh off a win at the LIV tournament in South Korea.

DeChambeau finished fifth at the Masters after a neck-and-neck battle with McIlroy. There, on the Sunday that decided the title, they did not speak to each other.

At Quail Hollow – a hotbed for power hitters – DeChambeau promises to create an exciting showdown between the “big guns”. At Augusta, Bryson leads in driving distance (average 302 yards), followed by Rory (301 yards).

DeChambeau's long drives are an advantage at this PGA Championship. Photo: Augusta National

This year's PGA Championship venue welcomes the world's top golfers with the biggest challenge coming in the final three holes.

The course is known as the “Green Mile”: the extremely long 483-meter par-4 16th, a 203-meter par-3 17th with a peninsula-shaped green, and the 451-meter par-4 18th with a creek running close to the left. These three holes have historically averaged better than par.

In the last 9 times held, the PGA Championship has witnessed American golfers winning, 3 of which were Brooks Koepka, 2 times by Justin Thomas - who recently won the RBC Heritage.

Jason Day is the most recent non-American winner, winning in 2015. A year earlier, McIlroy won his second PGA Championship (first in 2012).

It is the American golfer's series of victories that has inspired Scheffler, DeChambeau, Schauffele, Koepka, Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/pga-championship-2025-scheffler-mcilroy-va-tro-choi-vuong-quyen-2401412.html