Golf: Brooks Koepka looks to defend his title as PGA Championship starts tomorrow
Golf set for another major PGA-LIV face-off as Koepka looks to defend his title and Scheffler aims to continue winning form when PGA Championship begins on Thursday.
A still ball. Some steadfast tradition. And a sport in the throes of a disruptive market. The PGA Championship, starting Thursday, is another opportunity for golf to navigate the enduring tension between elite skill and profound skullduggery. It is fitting perhaps that the defending champion Brooks Koepka carries the flag for LIV Golf, which has poured an unimaginable stash, soaking the game in confusion and controversy.
The field is stacked — 16 former champions and 33 major champions, besides 98 of the top 100 in the rankings. Clearly, the stage is set for another round of this bruising bout between the incumbent powers of the traditional circuits of golf and an irreverent, disruptive new circuit.
Rory McIlroy collected his last major, his fourth, when the event found its climax in the dark hues, late on a Sunday evening in Louisville, Kentucky. Since that day in 2014, McIlroy has been hunting for new layers to an already impressive career. Unfortunately, for the passionate man from Northern Ireland steeped in the colours of success, any more major glory has remained elusive. The world No. 2 will hope that memories of the past, and current form will add up this week. But even by McIlroy’s high standards it will take an enormous effort to match the rousing finish last Sunday, when he rode to victory at Quail Hollow.
The realm, it might seem, does
