The 105th PGA Championship gets underway tomorrow with first round action at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.
Tiger Woods, who won four PGA Championships among his 15 major victories, is not competing this week after having lower leg surgery last month.
The history of Oak Hill is definitely present with challenges throughout the entire week to add in the obstacles in order to hoist the 27-pound Wanamaker Trophy to conclude a mentally tough week.
Part of the PGA Championship history in Rochester, N.Y. includes Jack Nicklaus claiming one of his five Wanamaker Trophies and 18 major titles in 1980 when he dominated, en route to a seven-stroke victory. Furthermore, in the 1970s, Nicklaus recorded 35 top 10s in 40 major tournaments. That is nearly 90% of the four biggest tournaments of the year that he was at or near the top of the leaderboard and did that in 10 straight years.
Also read: Who sits behind Jack Nicklaus for the most major victories of all time?
Forty three years after Nicklaus’ win at Oak Hill the players are back looking to strike gold throughout a renovated course with all 14 clubs in the bag with a player and his caddie.
No major is like any other. Last year, Justin Thomas was down by eight strokes at one point before finishing strong and eventually won the three-hole playoff to give him his second major victory.
As a result, here are five bold predictions ahead of this year’s PGA Championship.
1. Jason Day and Rickie Fowler will finish inside the top 10
If there are two players who have revitalized their careers, it is Rickie Fowler and Jason Day. Day won last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson for his first PGA Tour win in five years and eight months. That victory helped him get back inside the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in nearly four years.
It was only a matter of time that the 2015 PGA Championship winner was going to return to the winner’s circle.
Since the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, Fowler only has one finish outside the top 20. That’s nine events for a player who did not play at the Masters last month. Fowler was 14th at the Wells Fargo Championship, his most recent start.
As a result, both of their hot streaks help both of them get inside the top 10.
2. Four LIV Golf Players will be in contention
At the Masters Tournament last month, the LIV Golf players who were competing, found themselves in the hunt but could not quite overcome Jon Rahm. Players like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed finished inside the top five.
Although LIV Golf only plays 54 holes in a different format and schedule, on top no Official World Golf Ranking points, they still show that can compete at the top.
As a result, there are four LIV players who will be near the top of the leaderboard.
Dustin Johnson makes the case after the momentum he comes in with following his win last week at LIV Golf Tulsa. Also in contention this week is Cameron Smith. Despite finishing tied for 34th at the Masters, he came up just short to Johnson but his momentum is his 9-under 61 for a Sunday finish.
Koepka will be in the mix this week. He had the 54-hole at Augusta National last month but could not pull off the win after a final round 3-over 75. That negative motivation will bring him back up to the top as possibly the favorite from the LIV Golf players to win with Johnson. The fourth is Johnson’s 4 Aces GC teammate Reed. In the last five LIV Golf events, Reed has finished no worse than 18th individually a third place finish at Adelaide a couple weeks after the Masters in Australia and a fourth place finish in Tucson in early April.
3. Two-time PGA Championship winner Rory McIlroy uses Woods’ advice to his advantage
If there is one player in the PGA Championship field that needs to turn it around, it is Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut at both The PLAYERS Championship and the Masters within the last couple of months.
McIlroy missed the RBC Heritage, a designated event, due to working on his mental wellbeing, and reported lost $3 million for skipping his second high level tournament this season.
He also tied for 47th in his latest start at the Wells Fargo Championship. However, while at Quail Hollow, his friend Woods noticed something for him to fix in his swing. That could be the difference maker for McIlroy to turn not only his rut around, but could be the start to an exciting finish.
4. Tom Kim shocks a lot of people
One of the youngest players in the field this week is Tom Kim, a 20-year-old from South Korea.
Kim, who was a breakout star at the Presidents Cup for the International Team last fall, already has two PGA Tour victories in his early career, becoming the first player since Woods to earn two PGA Tour titles before turning 21 years old. Kim won the Shriners Children’s Open during the fall and won last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
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Kim is getting set for his third PGA Championship. Despite not making the cut in each of his last two PGA Championships, this is the week he turns that around and makes a shot at the top.
Although he finished tied for 16th at the Masters last month, Kim is third with Patrick Cantlay and Hideki Matusyama and only trails Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick for the most rounds at par or better with nine.
That explains the solid play as he contends this week for his first major title.
5. Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele claim the top three spots
The trio of Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schuaffele and Max Homa ranks directly below Rahm, Scheffler and McIlroy in the OWGR. The difference between the top three verses the next three?
Cantlay, Schauffele and Homa have combined to win zero major tournaments compared to Rahm McIlroy and Scheffler combining for six.
Even despite not claiming a major victory Cantlay, Homa and Schauffele have all their shining moments on the PGA Tour. All three were key pieces to Team USA winning the Presidents Cup last fall.
Cantlay was the FedEx Cup Champion two years ago. Schuaffele won three times last season. Homa has evolved into being in the top echelon of players with Schauffele and Cantlay, among others.
As a result, those three players will claim the top three spots in the leaderboard.