8 Biggest Storylines Ahead Of The 2024 PGA Championship

The second Major of the year is upon us, which is sometimes overlooked but there's plenty of reasons why the 2024 PGA Championship is in the headlines this year.

As the war in men's pro golf rumbles on there will be plenty of eyeballs on the LIV Golf contingent, while there's also an under-the-radar Grand Slam bid that could be completed.

Brooks Koepka is looking to go back-to-back, Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky will conjure up memories of Rory McIlroy's last Major triumph, while a certain Tiger Woods was also a PGA Championship winner here.

That and the World No.1 having baby issues means there are plenty of talking points ahead of the 2024 PGA Championship.

Will baby derail Scottie's bid? 

Scottie Scheffler won The Masters for a second time last month and has been head and shoulders above the rest for most of the year.

With a worst finish of T17 in his 10 events this year so far, Scheffler has won four of his last five tournaments - finishing T2 in the other! So the question was rightly raised as to who could stop him winning them all this year?

He'd be red-hot favourite to win every Major this year, including at Valhalla, but he's still waiting for wife Meredith to give birth to their first child, so Scheffler isn't even guaranteed to show up.

And even if he can, who knows what mental and emotional state he'll be in - it's likely that only his own child is the only person that can stop him winning a third Major here.

Rory back at Valhalla

It was at a different time of year back then, but a decade ago the PGA Championship was held at Valhalla and won by Rory McIlroy - making it back-to-back Majors after he'd also won The Open at Hoylake.

Taking his tally to four, McIlroy looked set to dominate, but that remains his last Major triumph and 10 years later he'll hope his return to Kentucky can be the lucky omen he needs.

The Northern Irishman has been knocking on the door in the big ones over the last couple of years, finishing in the top eight in seven of the last nine Majors.

He's finished 8 and T7 in his last two PGA Championships so he'll hope the memories of 2014 come flooding back and he can defend at Valhalla.

Spieth can complete career Grand Slam

McIlroy's career Grand Slam bid at The Masters every year hogs the headlines, but Jordan Spieth could beat him to it if he can muster a fourth Major victory at Valhalla.

Spieth won The Masters and US Open in a dominant 2015, before lifting the Claret Jug in 2017, so this will be his eighth attempt at becoming the sixth man ever to complete the Grand Slam.

His form in this Major hasn't been anything to shout about recently though, and he missed the cut here in 2014 so there is not much confidence in him joining the most exclusive list in golf.

With Spieth though, we've come to expect the unexpected...

Can Brooks go back-to-back, again?

Brooks Koepka is the ultimate big-game competitor, even now on the LIV Golf tour he shapes his entire season around competing in the Majors - and he's timed a welcome return to form just right with a win just before heading to Valhalla.

That's an ominous sign for the rest of the field, as is the five-time Major winner going into the event as the defending champion - having incredibly backed up all of his Major wins so far.

He won the US Open in 2017 and 2018 and the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019 so just loves being the defending champion - and he'll be looking to add another successful defence in Kentucky.

How will Gooch and the LIV stars get on?

There are 16 LIV Golf players in the field headed of course by defending champion Brooks Koepka - and thankfully including Talor Gooch so this year's winner will not need the asterisk.

Thanks to his asterisk comment and his refusal to try and qualify for the other two Majors this year, Gooch needs to deliver as there's a lot of pressure on him to back-up his and Greg Norman's faith in his ability.

Jon Rahm will try to bounce back from a disappointing Masters defence, Bryson DeChambeau obviously has the game to challenge as does former Open champion Cameron Smith - while it's only three years since Phil Mickelson's incredible victory at Kiawah Island.

Tyrrell Hatton has been there or thereabouts in recent Majors, Joaquin Niemann overpromised but underdelivered at Augusta and Dean Burmester is one of the form guys heading to Valhalla.

Can Tiger make the cut again?

Tiger Woods made Masters history last month as he made the cut for a record 24th consecutive time at Augusta National.

He may have finished last of those making the cut, but with that being his first completed four-round tournament of the year you can forgive even the 15-time Major champion for not lasting the pace.

Although he won the second of his four PGA Championships at Valhalla, that was 24 years ago and changes to both the Kentucky course and more importantly Tiger's body mean this will be a bigger ask than Augusta.

Woods has been playing Valhalla in early scouting trips, but it's a fine line between getting the practice in and not exerting his patched-up body too much which could force him to withdraw like on his last PGA Championship appearance in 2022.

Make no mistake - just making the cut here will be a big achievement.

Could there be another Block story?

The man himself will be back for more but it's a lot to ask of Californian club pro Michael Block to try and recreate last year's fairytale at Oak Hill.

Block's story captivated golf with his sensational T15 finish only half the story - getting to play alongside Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy and of course hitting that memorable hole in one.

It changed Block's life forever as he became a household name, got into a handful of PGA Tour tournaments and even an invite to go play in Australia.

There's another 20 club pros - the low scorers in the last PGA Professional Championship - in the field at Valhalla and the one thing they'll have that Block didn't is hope.

They know it can be done, so anytime one of them gets near the top of the leaderboard expect the fans, and media, to get very excited.

JT back on home turf

He's generally struggled recently so it's easy to forget that Justin Thomas won this event for the second time just two years ago - and this year he has home advantage as a native of Louisville, Kentucky.

Home comforts are no guarantee of success, but it's worth noting that his two previous PGA Championship wins have also come nearby at Southern Hills in Tulsa and Quail Hollow in Charlotte.

JT obviously thrives in southern conditions with southern hospitality so don't rule out a renaissance for an event specialist playing who thrives playing in the area.