Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. That's been the early theme of the 2025 PGA Championship at a soggy Quail Hollow Club, but it's a song Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau surely won't be singing this week.
For those two bombers, the more rain the better.
The PGA Championship is setting up perfectly for Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau
Quail Hollow is already one of the longest golf courses the pros play every year. It measures a whopping 7,623 yards as a par-71, including five par-4s longer than 480 yards. The shorter hitters are already at a disadvantage on this monster setup, but Quail Hollow will play even longer than its official yardage this week due to the heavy rain hitting Charlotte.
It rained so much on Monday that the course shut down access to spectators. The showers continued on Tuesday and Wednesday, and they could return on Friday and Saturday. Heavy rain, of course, creates soft conditions on the fairways and rough, meaning carry distance will be paramount at the PGA Championship.
That's bad news for most players in this field, but it's ideal for DeChambeau and McIlroy, who rank first and second, respectively, in the field in carry distance over the past year. Players won't be able to get much roll out of their drives, but that won't matter to McIlroy and DeChambeau because they can launch it long and high enough to carry fairway bunkers and set themselves up for much shorter approach shots.
That brings us to the second major advantage these two will have over the rest of the field. Most players will be hitting a ton of approach shots from 200-plus yards out on these par-4s.
Those shots wouldn't be too big of an issue if the greens were as soft as the fairways, but Quail Hollow has a SubAir system that keeps its greens playing firm and fast, even through heavy rain. Good luck holding them consistently with 4-irons and fairway woods in your hand.
McIlroy and DeChambeau won't run into that problem thanks to their elite carry distance off the tee and their ability to launch mid- and long-irons high in the air to hold firm greens.
These two will be playing a completely different course than 90 percent of the players this week, which is a massive problem for the rest of the field because they're already playing dominant golf without this distinct advantage.
Bryson DeChambeau is hoping for another final day face-off with Rory McIlroy 👥 pic.twitter.com/WKxjUfQMbz
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) May 13, 2025
McIlroy has won three times in eight PGA Tour starts this year, including a drought-breaking victory at The Masters that should free him up mentally in other majors. DeChambeau has four straight top-five finishes and is coming off an impressive win at LIV Golf Korea in his last start.
For our money, one of these guys will walk away with the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday afternoon.