The eyes of the golf world will be on Valhalla in Kentucky this week for the second Major of the year with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy heading the market for the US PGA Championship.
Scheffler, who has won four of his last five tournaments, returns to action after a paternity break while McIlroy will be full of confidence after romping to glory in last week’s Wells Fargo Championship.
The Northern Irishman won this tournament at this venue ten years ago, which was the most recent of his four Major successes, but there are a host of other players who know they can challenge for the big prize.
PGA Championships tips
- Brooks Koepka to win the US PGA Championship @ 16/1
- Max Homa to win the US PGA Championship @ 35/1
- Tommy Fleetwood to win the US PGA Championship @ 45/1.
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PGA Championships tips
Koepka coming into form for a strong defence
While Scheffler and McIlroy head to Louisville at the peak of their powers, defending champion Brooks Koepka could eclipse them both.
Koepka has won this tournament three times and looks in a good place to make another strong challenge, having finished ninth at LIV Adelaide and followed that effort by winning the breakaway tour’s most recent gathering in Singapore.
Valhalla is a long track at 7,609 yards which can still be tamed by long, straight drivers, so a player who knows how to win this tournament, has the necessary attributes and is in good form has to be considered a strong bet.
Homa beginning to show his mettle in Majors
Max Homa has won six times on the PGA Tour and before this year there was a feeling that he had not reached his potential in the biggest tournaments.
However, his third spot behind Scheffler at last month’s Masters suggests that could be about to change for the 33-year-old.
Homa did not play well in the Heritage, finishing 55th in the week after his Augusta effort, but there were strong signs that he could make a Kentucky challenge after he was eight at Quail Hollow last week.
He should be hungry to make the next step and we should anticipate another strong showing at Valhalla.
First Stateside win cannot be far away for Fleetwood
It seems strange that a player of Tommy Fleetwood’s quality is still looking for a first win in America, but there is no reason why it cannot happen this week.
Fellow Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick claimed his first Stateside success in a Major when he won the 2022 US Open, and Fleetwood can follow suit on a long, difficult course which should be right up his street.
The Southport swinger was third at the Masters and his 13th at the Wells Fargo last week suggests he could be geared to make his presence felt at the top of the leaderboard.
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