Who is playing in the 2024 PGA Championship? Field, top players and predictions

In 2014, Rory McIlroy battled soggy conditions and impending darkness to claim his second Wanamaker Trophy at the Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky, besting Phil Mickelson by a single shot. Ten years later, we’re witnessing Mcllroy having almost carbon copy pre-tournament season, with two tournaments won since January; this year, it was the Zurich Open and the previous week’s Wells Fargo Championship. It will be interesting to see if this coincidence becomes beneficial for the player from N. Ireland, who surely wants to end his 10-year-long crusade of winning another career major.

Scottie Scheffler is coming to Louisville with a unique emotional background now, and the question how he deals with his new life role as a father and if that will influence, his least to say, incredible season, with four wins from five starts and a win at the Masters in April.

Koepka, who has also won back-to-back titles at the US Open, is entering the event after making history in the LIV Golf League by becoming the first four-time champion with his recent victory in Singapore. The 34-year-old has achieved 17 top-10 finishes in majors since 2015 and is expected to be among the favorites again. A win would make him the first four-time PGA Championship winner since Woods and put him on par with Sir Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson, who have six major titles each. Koepka remains the only player to have won a major while being an active LIV Golf player.

Jon Rahm, LIV’s recent high-profile signing, has yet to claim a victory but has consistently performed well, with four top-5 finishes and just one finish outside the top 10 this season at the Saudi-Araby-backed league. Although he had a disappointing Masters defense, he will face less pressure this week, which could lead to an impressive performance by the Spaniard.

The last nine men’s majors have seen five first-time major champions. Many players in this week’s field hope to follow in the footsteps of Collin Morikawa, who won his first major at the PGA Championship.

Despite 12 top-10 finishes in his career, Xander Schauffele is the highest-ranked player without a major title. He is looking to bounce back after losing to McIlroy on Sunday, the final day of the Wells Fargo Championship. Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa have both impressed in majors, and Sahith Theegala will aim to build on his two runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour this season. Meanwhile, Tommy Fleetwood leads the English hopes after his tied-third finish at Augusta National last month.

Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman secured their first major titles last year, winning the US Open and The Open, respectively. With this trend, seeing a new name on the Wanamaker Trophy come Sunday evening wouldn’t be surprising.

What about Tiger?

The 48-year-old Tiger Woods finished last of those who cut The Masters. He impressed over the first two days before disappearing over the weekend with rounds of 82 and 77, and there has been little news since on how he has recuperated from that week at Augusta National.

Woods said he would ‘do his homework’ ahead of the rest of the major season and was seen practicing at Valhalla last week. Some videos are already out there on social media. He still believes in rolling back the years, although it will be interesting to see whether his game and body correspond to his longing.