The second major of the year is here, and if the PGA Championship offers half the drama served up at the Masters last month, golf fans are in for a treat.

It looked like being another agonising near-miss for Rory McIlroy at Augusta National, as he missed a simple par putt for victory on the 18th, only to recover his composure to beat Justin Rose in a play-off.

That ended his 11-year major drought and made him just the sixth man – and the first from Europe – to clinch a career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Gary Player.

The Northern Irishman believes that success may allow him to play future majors with greater freedom, and this year's PGA Championship takes place at one of his favourite venues, at Quail Hollow in Charlotte.

He could now become just the third golfer this century to start a year with back-to-back major triumphs, after Woods in 2002 and Jordan Spieth in 2015. 

But the competition will be fierce, with Scottie Scheffler coming off his first win of 2025 and Xander Schauffele having made the top 10 at seven of the last nine majors.

Ahead of the opening round, we look at the best Opta stats surrounding the key contenders.

A dominant, record-breaking win. Relive Rory McIlroy’s 8-shot triumph at the 2012 PGA Championship. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/sWRrNPMF5U

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 13, 2025

THE CONTENDERS

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy said this week he feels "lighter" off the back of his Masters triumph, as he looks to lift the Wanamaker Trophy for a third time, having won the PGA in 2012 and 2014.

McIlroy now holds five major titles and is bidding to equal Phil Mickelson's tally of six. Woods, with 15, is the only other active golfer with more.

He also remains the most recent European winner of the PGA Championship, through his 2014 triumph at Valhalla.

Everything seems to be in his favour ahead of this tournament, which he enters as the PGA Tour's most in-form player.

McIlroy has already won three times on the Tour in 2025, more than any other player – he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, the Players Championship in March and the Masters in April.

The fact the tournament is taking place at Quail Hollow only advances McIlroy's chances – he has won more PGA Tour titles at Quail Hollow than any other course, doing so four times. It was also on the Charlotte course that he won his first-ever PGA Tour event – the Quail Hollow Championship in 2010.

Scottie Scheffler

The last nine winners of the PGA Championship have all been American, the longest reign of dominance by one nationality at any major since players from the United States won 12 consecutive editions of the U.S. Open from 1982 to 1993.

Scheffler will lead the home charge here, one year after he was arrested at the last staging of the PGA Championship.

Four criminal charges against Scheffler were subsequently dropped, and he returned to Valhalla in time to tee off and shoot a five-under 66 that same day.

After placing fourth at the Masters last month, Scheffler has 13 top-10 finishes in his last 19 major tournament appearances (68%), more than any other golfer since 2020. That tally includes four top-10s in the last five stagings of the PGA Championship.

After a disrupted start to the year, Scheffler enters this tournament in sparkling form.

On his last PGA Tour outing earlier this month, Scheffler matched the Tour's 72-hole scoring record, finishing at 253 and recording an eight-shot victory at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, as he shot an astonishing 31 under in Texas.

Xander Schauffele

Only two players have won back-to-back editions of the PGA Championship in the stroke-play era (since 1958). Woods did so twice, in 1999 and 2000, and 2006 and 2007, while Brooks Koepka achieved the feat in 2018 and 2019.

Schauffele has the opportunity to join them as he defends the title he won by edging out Bryson DeChambeau last year.

Schauffele was tied for eighth at Augusta last month and has an astonishing record of consistency at the majors. Since the 2022 PGA Championship, Schauffele has played in 12 majors and has never finished outside the top 20. 

This run includes a top-10 finish at seven of the last nine majors, and he has competed well at Quail Hollow before.

Schauffele has finished second at his last two Wells Fargo Championships played at this week's venue, behind Wyndham Clark in 2023 and McIlroy in 2024.

Bryson DeChambeau 

Runner-up to Schauffele 12 months ago, DeChambeau should be a fascinating watch this week, having won the most recent LIV Golf event in South Korea.

DeChambeau entered the fourth round of the Masters two shots behind McIlroy and dropped a further two shots to the eventual victor on the final day.

But his last four major appearances on US soil have seen him finish T6, second, first and T5. He has also had three top-five finishes in his last four PGA Championship appearances.

Jon Rahm

DeChambeau is not the only big name from the LIV circuit looking to make a splash this week. 

Rahm has had a top-10 finish on every one of his starts on the breakaway circuit, though he has not hit those heights at recent majors, only making the top 10 once since the start of 2024 (T7th at the Open).

Justin Rose 

McIlroy's iconic Augusta victory came at the expense of Rose, who has now lost two of the last three play-offs to decide a major, having also succumbed to Sergio Garcia at the 2017 Masters.

Rose has now finished runner-up on each of his last two major appearances – T2 at the 2024 Open Championship and 2nd at this year's Masters. 

But the 44-year-old has long favoured this tournament, managing four top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship since 2020, the joint-most alongside Scheffler.

Illness forced Rose to withdraw from the Truist Championship last week, but he will be desperate to stage a recovery and atone for his Augusta near-miss. 

THE OTHER STORIES

There are plenty of other stories to look out for at the 107th PGA Championship, with Quail Hollow hosting the event for the second time.

The 2017 edition at this course was won by Justin Thomas – the first of his two PGA Championship triumphs.

This is the major at which Thomas has the most wins (two), most top-10 placings (four) and the highest proportion of cuts made (89%, eight out of nine). 

However, since winning the 2022 edition, Thomas has only had one top-35 finish at a major, sharing eighth place at last year's PGA Championship.

Another player to struggle at recent majors is Koepka, who has not finished higher than T17 at any major since winning the 2023 PGA. His current run of seven majors without a top-10 finish is the worst of his career.

A challenge is more likely to come from Collin Morikawa, who has finished in the top 20 at each of the last five majors, with only Schauffele on a better such run (12 in a row). The PGA Championship was Morikawa's first major title, back in 2020. 

Viktor Hovland could also force his way into contention – he is the only player to have finished in the top three at each of the last two PGA Championships (T2nd in 2023 and 3rd in 2024). 

The PGA is also the only major at which the Norwegian has always made the cut, having done so five times in five attempts.

Spieth, meanwhile, could follow in McIlroy's footsteps by clinching a career Grand Slam, though he last finished inside the top 25 at the PGA in 2019 (T3rd).