PGA Championship: Three Groups You Can’t Miss In The Opening Rounds

PGA Championship: The Showstoppers

Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods

(Thursday: 9:11 am CT, Friday: 2:36 pm CT)

If you told me that there would be a group that would draw more attention than Rahm, Morikawa, and Scheffler, I’d have a hard time believing it – but here we are. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Tiger Woods will tee off from the tenth tee at 9:11 a.m. CT on Thursday and from the first tee at 2:36 p.m. CT on Friday.

Despite how good Spieth and McIlroy have played recently, there is no doubt that a lot of focus for the more casual golf fans will be on Tiger Woods. Woods will be making his first start since playing at the Masters back in April.

He had an encouraging start to the tournament, shooting a one-under 71 in round one, making the cut, and ultimately finishing tied for 47th. By the end of the tournament, the 46-year-old, 15-time major winner, was noticeably grimacing with some aches and pains that were remnants of a surgery he had to repair serious leg injuries sustained in a 2021 car crash. However, he toughed it out and walked the course for all four rounds.

Woods isn’t the only PGA Championship winner in the group. Rory McIlroy is a two-time winner after having won in both 2012 and 2014. McIlroy doesn’t traditionally play well in the first round of major tournaments. Since his last major win in 2014, he is a combined 35-over in the first round. However, round two is where I’d keep an eye on him, where he shoots 68 on average during rounds two and on.

The 33-year-old from Northern Ireland is coming into the weekend with back-to-back top-five finishes. A strong start to the weekend could put Rory in a position to be the first European player in history to win the PGA Championship three times.

This is a well-known narrative at this point in his career, but Jordan Spieth will be looking to complete his career Grand Slam with a PGA Championship win. Spieth was my personal pick to win the tournament. After missing the cut at the Masters, he has caught fire on the golf course, making him a popular pick amongst the gambling-types.

He went out and won the RBC Heritage and finished a lone second at the AT&T Byron Nelson. The recently renovated Southern Hills course in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will play well into what he is known for – grinding through tough, windy conditions, something that Spieth is no stranger to having grown up in Texas.