PGA Championship: Three Groups You Can’t Miss In The Opening Rounds
PGA Championship: The World’s Best
Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
(Thursday: 2:36 pm CT, Friday: 9:11 am CT)
The aforementioned top three golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings will certainly be must-see action. Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, and Scottie Scheffler will tee off from the first tee at 2:36 p.m. CT on Thursday and from the tenth tee at 9:11 a.m. CT on Friday.
Collin Morikawa is a former PGA Championship winner in 2020 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California – the first major of his career. His second came at the Open Championship in 2021. He’ll look to capture his third major this weekend and continue is ascension to the top of the world rankings at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills this weekend.
At one point, there was no one better than Morikawa on approach. However, he’s still amongst the top eight in said category. His game has been quite similar to previously mentioned Viktor Hovland, great off-the-tee, strong on approach, and quite abysmal around-the green where he ranks 192nd. His putting has been a bit of a struggle too recently.
For only being in his fourth season of professional golf, a few struggles won’t stop Morikawa from hanging with the likes of Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. Don’t believe me? Collin Morikawa posted an Instagram Story showing him dunking a 208-yard, par-3 hole-in-one at the sixth hole during a practice round on Thursday. He’s ready.
Despite only having one PGA TOUR win on the season, Jon Rahm has taken his game to another level. He has always been known as someone who drives the ball well…but he has raised his average driver distance to 316.7 yards, good for fifth and his strokes gained off-the-tee numbers to best on the PGA TOUR. According to Rahm, Southern Hills Country Club favors the big hitters. So you know golf fans are going to be in for a treat off the tee, at the very least.
Rahm has two top-three finishes this season and another top-ten finish, all of this in addition to his win at the Mexico Open at Vidanta Resort in Vallarta, Mexico. Jon Rahm will certainly look to recapture his top spot from group-mate, Scottie Scheffler. You are really nit-picking when you do a deep dive with Rahm side-by-side Scottie Scheffler. With winds expected to be a factor, Rahm is going to have to focus on his short game, where he ranks 113th versus Scheffler’s 10th rank.
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Scottie Scheffler is the expert’s pick, the couch analyst’s pick, and the consensus betting favorite to win this week’s PGA Championship. He has been on a heck of a run through this 2021-2022 PGA TOUR season. Recently, he won the Masters tournament back in April. That win was his fourth for the season making him the first golfer (second ever) since Arnold Palmer in 1960 to win as many events in that time span.
Scheffler didn’t look particularly elite at the 2022 AT&T Byron Nelson, where he finished tied for 15th despite his below-average putting. Back before he was the household name he is now, Scheffler is on record as saying that Southern Hills is probably his favorite golf course. This is a place where he has had success during his amateur career at the University of Texas.