2024 PGA Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Valhalla
OWGR: 2nd. Best PGA finish: 1st (2012, 2014). Rory McIlroy. 2024PGA/PowerRank/3. 3
Rory McIlroy’s longevity as an elite player is demonstrated by the fact that he’s still one of the top players in the world a full decade after he was on top of the leaderboard at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
The Northern Irishman won his fourth and final (to this point) major by carding rounds of 66-67-67-68 (-16) to win by one in dramatic fashion over Phil Mickelson. Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson were two back. McIlroy rode a back nine 32 to cap an incredible summer of golf. The PGA Championship was the fourth and final major played in August at that time.
Few would have put their hard-earned dollars on McIlroy not winning another major henceforth. Life can be funny sometimes. Especially considering how well he’s played since then, only to bear no fruit at golf’s big four events. McIlroy has had large stretches ranked No. 1 in the world and has earned boatloads of cash cleaning up in PGA Tour events.
Winning his fifth major will feel like he’s winning his first again. That brings a lot of pressure, but it will make it that much sweeter if it happens.
McIlroy is a historian of the game who’d appreciate the opportunity to salvage the latter half of his prime by winning this week and joining rare air in the five-major club. It could be a springboard to pick off a few more while he’s at it.
The buzz is also building now that he enters the week coming off a win at the Wells Fargo Championship. McIlroy brought Quail Hollow, a big and brawny course similar to Valhalla, to its knees. He shot a bogey-free 67 on Saturday and a 65, even with a double bogey on 18, on Sunday to win by three at a Signature Event.
In typical Rory fashion, he led the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (6.117) and in driving distance (337 yards). He mitigated mistakes about as well as he has in an event all year, leading the field in fewest bogeys with five.
The narratives are all in place here in Kentucky. It’s now on McIlroy to execute and get the major championship monkey off his back.