The Break: Who Will Win the PGA Championship?

Wanamaker a PGA champion?

The second men’s major of the year is here, with the PGA Championship at Aronimink and back in the Philly area (it’s Newtown Square, but say it like the fig cookies brand) for the first time in almost 65 years. That’s a nice touch connected to the United States’ 250th anniversary year.

Right off the top, I’m excited to see how the Gil Hanse-led restoration of Donald Ross’ design, which features a number of un-Ross-y things, holds up against the best in the world. It’s a bit of a compare-and-contrast from two years ago, seeing how Andrew Green’s Ross rendition at Oak Hill held up to crown Brooks Koepka champion.

I’m also curious what we’re going to get from golf’s current Big Four.

Scottie Scheffler has been runner-up in his last three tournaments, including the Masters and two Signature events.

He’s lost to Rory McIlroy, who came out rusty at Quail Hollow, and Matt Fitzpatrick, who seemed to take a mental week off in Charlotte after an amazing run.

Cam Young seemed like the favorite to take down Matt’s brother, Alex, in Charlotte, but then he cowered in a surprise Sunday that saw Norwegian bomber Kristoffer Reitan win.

Do you just trust that the four players who have clearly been the best on the PGA Tour this year will find a way to win between them?

What about guys like Collin Morikawa, whose ballstriking is amazing and whose putting woes could be mitigated on classic Ross greens? Then there’s J.J. Spaun, who is playing well again after an understandble lull after winning in San Antonio. Tommy Fleetwood would be a great breakthrough major winner. Jordan Spieth could still complete the career Grand Slam, but that seems like a distant hope. Ludvig Aberg is playing great again, but we all know his struggles in closing the deal.

It could turn out to be a bit of a strange week. I feel like the majors have mostly been paint-by-numbers in terms of winners for the last five — and that’s been fascinating to watch. I think we’re due for something out of the ordinary.

I’ll be at Aronimink for the weekday championship rounds, and it’s always good to go to a major. I don’t get to many these days. There’s too much to do, and I’d feel like I’m wasting space if I go to a great event and don’t actually watch the golf instead of sit in front of a computer. So, if you don’t see a lot from me on Thursday and Friday, you’ll know why!

For my thoughts on LIV Golf’s reality setting in, scroll down!

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A 14-SHOT WIN?!

I’m gonna be honest, and say that I didn’t watch but maybe 5 minutes of the DP World Tour’s Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship on Sunday. It was Mother’s Day. But on the way to the movie theater — that’s what my wife wanted to do — I saw the eye-popping headline that Yurav Premlall won the tournament in Barcelona by 14 shots. FOURTEEN.

As you might imagine, that sets the DP World Tour’s non-major record for margin of victory. Tiger Woods’ 15-shot 2000 US Open win is the only tour-recognized event with a bigger win spread.

Naturally, I had to go down a rabbit hole to figure out more about this South African. He was 598th in the world before winning in Spain to jump to 250th in the OWGR. The 22-year-old really hadn’t done anything all year on the DP World Tour. His best finish was a T-31 at the Hero Indian Open. He didn’t make the cut at last fall’s DP World Tour Q-School. But had has a number of top-four finishes on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour, and he clearly showed some signs of promise.

But 14 shots? How?

"The last eight, nine months have been such a struggle just to build myself onto a platform where I know I could give myself a chance to win," he said afterward.

It’s been a long grind for Premlall, albeit in his short life. He was 15 when he made the field and the cut in the South African Open. He won as an amateur on Ernie Els’ Big Easy developmental tour at the same age. He’s now found an opportunity and taken it, and now he has DP World Tour status for two years and perhaps an outside chance at earning a 2027 PGA Tour card from the Race to Dubai points list.

I’m not entirely sure what the takeaway here should be, but for me, this is another reminder that there is so much global talent in the game just waiting to bubble up to the surface.

The Links

We have the PGA Championship this week, and the fantasy section of the site already is populated with a bunch of content (the field, rankings, betting odds, one and done picks) — and more to come later today, including The Press podcast.

The LPGA is in Cincinnati for the Kroger Queen City Championship, and I’ll be there to play in the pro-am on Wednesday, which is really exciting.

The Korn Ferry Tour is also in action with a new event in South Carolina, the Colonial Life Charity Classic.

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