PGA Championship Preview: McIlroy poised for breakthrough
98th PGA Championship
Where: Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, N.J.
When: Thursday, July 28 - Sunday, July 31
TV: Thursday, Friday: TNT (1 p.m. - 7 p.m. ET)
TV: Saturday, Sunday: TNT (11 a.m. ET - 2 p.m. ET), CBS (2 p.m. - 7 p.m. ET)
Streaming: PGA.com
The Olympics have displaced the 98th PGA Championship, and yet, it will still be the same unrivaled tournament field competing on a similarly renowned American track this weekend at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.
The season's final major championship will tee off just 11 days after Henrik Stenson kissed the Claret Jug in Scotland. And while that's hardly ideal for the players, it's a dream scenario from a fan's perspective. Rio, the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and the Ryder Cup are still to follow a tournament that, for some, has signified the end of summer.
Here are three storylines to follow ahead of the PGA Championship.
Another first-time winner?
On the heels of a year largely dominated by two players in Jordan Spieth and defending champion Jason Day, the first three major winners for this season fall neatly into a running theme.
Danny Willett, Dustin Johnson, and Henrik Stenson captured their first major titles at the Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship, respectively, and those triumphs have heightened the chance that for just the fifth time in history, each major will yield a first-time winner.
With so many dominant players on tour, and most having these titles, it seems unlikely that four different winners would emerge in one year, but it actually hasn't been too long since it last happened. Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, and Keegan Bradley each broke through five years ago.
Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler have the best odds among those who can make it a season slam of first-timers to the winner's circle.
Audible Ror
Two-time PGA champion McIlroy will need to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy for a third time to silence the many critics who have nitpicked his season. And there's good reason to believe he'll do just that.
The world No. 4 has had a highly successful, lucrative year, even without a win in North America or truly contending at a major since his win two years ago at Valhalla. Oh-so-quietly, though, he's coming into peak form, posting four top-five finishes in his last five starts.
Baltusrol sets up incredibly well for McIlroy - if he can sort out his putting stroke, he can use that definitive edge over pretty much every player out there to end his brief title drought.
Only Johnson has better odds to win.
Getting his Phil
The physical aspects that make McIlroy and Johnson favorites don't apply to Phil Mickelson, but Lefty, too, will have a competitive advantage in Jersey coming off a masterful runner-up performance at The Open.
The winner at Baltusrol's only previous PGA Championship was working with the club professional before heading over to Scotland, and will have more first-hand knowledge than any player in the field.
More than a decade and three major titles later, Mickelson returns to the only course aside from Augusta National where he's won a major with intent and brimming confidence.
"I am playing the best golf of my life," he said after the Open Championship, according to Golf Digest. "I truly believe that I still have some big wins in me if I keep playing like I have been."