Scottie Scheffler insisted there was no on-course rivalry between himself and Rory McIlroy as he prepares to defend his PGA Championship title at Aronimink Golf Club. 

Scheffler comes into the tournament having finished as a runner-up in his last three starts on the PGA Tour, the first of those being The Masters, where McIlroy retained his crown.

The American is the first player to finish second in three successive PGA Tour events since Spaniard Sergio Garcia in 2014, but he is out to end that run here. 

Both Scheffler and McIlroy have played together many times, but the top two golfers in the world rankings have never squared off in the final group on Sunday at a major before. 

After winning at Quail Hollow last year, Scheffler is aiming to become only the third player to win back-to-back PGA Championships in the stroke-play era (since 1958), after Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka. 

Scheffler has finished outside the Top 10 only once in six PGA Championship appearances, but since 2020, he leads all players in both major wins (four) and Top 10 finishes (17 in 23 appearances).

And ahead of the first round on Thursday, Scheffler said he does not need external thoughts of McIlroy's recent successes to fuel his fire in his quest for more titles. 

"I would not say that it drives me," Scheffler said. "When I look over the course of my life, my sources of motivation have always been internal.

"I am talking about my parents not pushing me to be a great golfer."

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Scheffler added he does not pay much attention to what other players are doing, purely focusing on what he can do to improve.

"When I'm at home practising. I'm not thinking about something that somebody else is really good at," he said.

"I'm seeing how something that I'm doing and how I can get better at that. I don't really look for a lot of sources of outside motivation, if that answers your question."

McIlroy, meanwhile, is aiming to become the third golfer since the turn of the century to win the first two majors in a calendar year, after Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015). 

He is also the last European to lift the Wannamaker trophy at Valhalla in 2014, with the last 10 winners of the PGA Championship all being Americans. 

It's the longest reign of dominance by a single nationality at a major since players from the US won 12 consecutive US Opens from 1982 to 1993, and Cameron Young is hoping to add his name to that list. 

Young is among the favourites to win the competition after a stunning run of form that has seen him win the Cadillac Championship and The Players Championship in 2026.

The American has recorded seven Top 10 finishes in majors since 2022, a total only Scheffler, McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele can better in that time. 

He does, however, hold the record for the most finishes inside the top 10 without a victory during this period, with his best finish at this tournament being tied for third in 2022. 

And Young remained calm when asked about his chances, saying: "In terms of sustaining it, nothing really changes. All we do out here is to try to get better each day.

"For me, that just means kind of deciding what I want to accomplish on any given day. I want to do something with my wedges.

"I just want to see the golf course, play nine holes. So it doesn't really change anything day to day in terms of trying to sustain it.

"I think I said it last week. The World Golf Rankings are based on your past play, and it doesn't get you anything going forward."