Tournament: The 107 PGA Championship, May 15-18, 2025
Course: Quail Hollow Club, par 71, 7,626 yards. Just on the southern outskirts of Uptown Charlotte (don’t call it “downtown” – they take offense).
Defending Champ: Xander Schauffele. The San Diego State product finally broke through with his first major of his career, holding off the resurgent Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson would capture the US Open a month later, and Schauffele capped off the 2024 majors with the British in July.
Fun Fact: Quail Hollow is sometimes compared to Augusta National. The rolling hills, the outward and inward nines adjacent but not really intertwining, water really coming into play only on the second nine but being a prominent feature on most of the closing holes, the low point of the course being around holes 11-13… that kind of thing. The original designer, George Cobb, was a consultant at Augusta National and did design their par 3, so it somewhat tracks.
TV Times: Thursday-Friday: 7 a.m.-noon (ESPN+), noon-7 p.m. (ESPN). Saturday-Sunday: 8-10 a.m. (ESPN+), 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN), 1-7 p.m. (CBS, Paramount +)
‘Dawgs in the Field: 7. Let’s dive in and see how the season has gone for each so far:
Sepp Straka. Macondawg already recapped Straka’s 4th Tour win last Sunday, winning a Signature Event with an elite field. He’s not only 2nd in FedEx Cup (FEC) points, but now up to 9th in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Straka took a cue from fellow Bulldog Brian Harman and debuted a shaved head this season, deciding not to fight a receding hairline. That was a good decision, as he’s made 12 of 14 cuts, 4 top 10’s, and now 2 tournament wins. He did miss the cut at the Masters, but since has finishes of T11, T5, T14, T28, T13, T12 and last week’s win. He’s now logged a top 15 finish in 5 of the 6 Signature Events, and that equals big money and big FEC points.
Harris English. The Hudson Swafford of Harris English’s, he captured his 5th Tour win back in January at the Farmers. And he’s made 9 of 11 cuts so far, including the last 5. That includes a T12 finish at the Masters and T11 last week. He’s 24th FEC and 34th OWGR.
Russell Henley. The Stratford Eagle alum won his own Signature Event, the Arnold Palmer, back in March for his 4th career Tour victory. He’s 6th in FEC/8th OWGR thanks to that win and making 9 of 10 cuts this season. He too missed the cut at the Masters, tied for 8th at the RBC, and T46 last week.
Brian Harman. The bow-hunting Brian notched his 4th Tour win in April at the Valero Texas Open. He is the only other former Bulldog to win a major, capturing the 2023 Open Championship. He’s made 11 of 13 cuts this season. Besides the win, he tied for 3rd at the RBC and T36 at the Masters. He’s now sitting 18th FEC and 23rd OWGR.
Chris Kirk. The former Bulldog with the most career wins (6) still currently playing the PGA Tour (Bubba has 12), Chris has regressed in 2025. He’s made 8 of 12 cuts, but his best finish is a T18 and he missed the cut at Augusta last month. Kirk has fallen to 84th in the world, and is only 128th in FEC.
Keith Mitchell. Currently 75th in FEC and 80th in the world, Mitchell is just on the outside of the automatic qualifying for the majors and Signature Events. As Macondawg mentioned, he was an alternate last week at the Truist and took advantage of the opportunity with his T7 finish (though maybe disappointing considering he led after both round 1 and 2). But he’s trending – he’s played the weekend the last 6 entries and his last 4 finishes are T12, T2, T18, and T7.
Davis Thompson. The young player already has a Tour win on his resume’, and has had a decent 2025 season. So far he’s made 10 of 13 cuts, including his last 5 in a row and a T46 at the Masters. He’s 58th in FEC, and 50th in the world rankings.
If you’re a daily fantasy player or like to bet on the ponies and golfers, I’m not sure how much this info will help you but it should indicate what kind of form each are in. Here are some other storylines going into Glory’s Last Shot the 2nd major of the year.
Justin Thomas won the 2017 PGA Championship also held at Quail Hollow with a score of 8 under par. That may or may not have a bearing on this year’s scores. A) It was 8 years ago, B) there are a lot of players who can go low, and C) the course will be playing soft thanks to all this rain from the recent low pressure system stall.
Speaking of playing long and soft, Rory McIlroy really likes those conditions. He famously lapped the US Open field at Congressional back in 2010, bombing drivers than didn’t run into the rough and hitting wedges close. He’s won 3 times this year already including at Pebble Beach, the Players, and the Masters. Oh, and he’s won on this course 4 other times in his career. He’s comfortable in Charlotte, he doesn’t have the pressure of the career Grand Slam nor the green-jacketed monkey on his shoulders, and he looks to be in good form.
Speaking of career grand slams, there is the Jordan Spieth factor. With the other 3 majors in his trophy case, a PGA Championship victory puts the formerly known as the Golden Child in the rarified air of the 7th player to win all four majors. I think Tiger was the first player in 3 decades to win the Grand Slam in 2000, it took over 2 decades for Rory to complete the feat, and now Spieth can do it just a month later. If memory serves, Phil Mickelson is the only other active golfer with 3 majors, lacking just the US Open (which he’s come in 2nd place 6 times, and he’s about to turn 55 years old).
Speaking of criminals, it was a year ago where the #1 player in the world was cuffed and stuffed by Louisville, KY police and jailed hours before his opening round tee time. Scottie Scheffler was fighting traffic and trying to enter the Valhalla grounds in the early morning hours, thwarted due to a tragic accident with loss of life, and the ACCPD Louisville’s finest stopped his car and took him to jail. He was released shortly and actually made his late morning tee time, but no doubt the incident affected his performance.
This is only the 2nd chance to see LIV players competing against the best in the world. DeChambeau has pretty good odds and won recently on LIV, Jon Rahm has played well but not spectacularly of late, you never know what you’re going to get out of Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Tyrell Hatton were in the hunt at Augusta, and Joaquin Niemann is a media betting favorite. Dustin Johnson received a special exemption by the PGA of America to play this week, as another reminder that this tournament is not hosted by the PGA Tour but by the separate PGA of America. Don’t get it twisted, folks.
Okay, we’ve covered the course, the broadcast, some storylines and players, and most importantly the former Georgia Bulldogs in the field. Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions or who you think is best suited for a soft Quail Hollow. And as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!