The PGA Championship, the season’s second major, is back this week at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, with Scottie Scheffler defending his title and Rory McIlroy arriving off his Masters victory. If the first major belonged to McIlroy, the second is set up as a showdown between the world’s two clear favorites.
Scheffler has not won since January and has finished second in three straight tournaments, a strange stretch for a player many still view as the class of the field. McIlroy, meanwhile, has already taken the season’s biggest early prize at Augusta, and the pairing gives this championship the feel of a measuring stick for the rest of the year.
The betting and the expert picks tell the same story. Scheffler and McIlroy are the overwhelming favorites, with Jon Rahm and Cameron Young next in line. Matt Barrie went with Young and said there is only one player in the world who has gone head-to-head with Scheffler and McIlroy this season, and it is Young. Mark Brooks also backed Scheffler, calling him the most complete player since Tiger Woods in 2000 and saying he has zero weaknesses and is a fierce competitor. Ken Brown chose Scheffler too, saying that to win a major championship, a player has to be in command of all departments and that Scheffler has the most rounded game on the planet. Tory Cabrera echoed that confidence, saying the year is 2026 and Scheffler is still inevitable.
There are other names drawing support. Jeff Darlington and Michael Eaves both picked Justin Rose, Peter Lawrence-Riddell selected McIlroy, John Maginnes backed Jordan Spieth and Hunter Mahan chose Tommy Fleetwood. Roberto Castro went with Chris Gotterup. Michael Collins pointed to Young as a strong fit, saying he is very comfortable playing the style of golf it will take to win at Aronimink.
That idea matters because the course itself has not been a constant stop on the schedule. Aronimink has hosted only three PGA Tour events since 2010, and Rose won one of them while finishing runner-up in another. McIlroy sharpened the point on Tuesday when he said Aronimink is going to favor players who can bomb it off the tee, which is part of why length and ball-striking are getting so much attention entering the week.
This is not yet a report on who has lifted the trophy. It is a snapshot of how the field looks before the first round, and at the center of it are two players carrying different kinds of pressure: Scheffler trying to turn repeated near-misses back into wins, and McIlroy trying to follow a Masters breakthrough with another major title. If the picks are any guide, the championship may turn on whether Aronimink rewards power as much as reputation.
