A month has now passed since his historic triumph at the Masters, but Rory McIlroy’s exploits at Augusta are still the talk of the golfing world. That all changes this week though, as focus switches to the 2025 PGA Championship.
An extremely busy May has already seen three PGA Tour events take place, with two concluding just 24 hours ahead of the first practice round at the Quail Hollow Club. After world number one Scottie Scheffler won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at the beginning of the month, the Truist Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic were both wrapped up on Sunday evening. Sepp Straka prevailed at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in the weekend’s signature event, while Ryan Fox secured the PGA Championship’s last remaining qualifying spot thanks to a dramatic playoff victory in South Carolina.
It's been almost a decade since Australian ace Jason Day swept his opponents aside at Whistling Straits, the last occasion a non-American player won the PGA Championship. This is the second time the Quail Hollow Club has been selected to stage the event, having also been awarded that honour in 2017. Eight years ago, Justin Thomas navigated four rounds of the Charlotte-based course in 276 strokes to land his first majors title. A total of 14 previous winners – including current world number five Thomas – will compete in this year’s instalment of the PGA Championship.
PGA Championship 2025 – Key Information
Dates: Thursday 15th May (Day 1) – Sunday 18th May (Day 4)
Time: The opening group - consisting of Luke Donald, Pádraig Harrington, and Martin Kaymer - tee-off at 12.00pm (BST)
Location: The Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte (NC)
TV Channel(s): Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event
Last winner: Xander Schauffele – won at Valhalla Golf Club in May 2024.
PGA Championship 2025 - Schedule
Before the tournament gets underway on Thursday morning, players will have a chance to test out the course. Three days of practice rounds commence on Monday, although poor weather may serve to reduce this 72-hour window. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected at the start of the week in North Carolina, resulting in soft ground underfoot for the main competition. This will likely produce some low-scoring rounds, particularly amongst the competition’s big hitters.
Although the potential reduction in practice time is hardly ideal, it shouldn’t cause too much of a headache for the vast majority of competitors. The Quail Hollow Club is a permanent venue on the PGA Tour circuit, routinely hosting the annual Truist Championship. Therefore, most will be extremely familiar with the course’s challenging terrains, strategically-placed hazards, and intimidating final ‘Green Mile’ stretch.
After 36 holes and two days of action, roughly half of the field will be cut. The top 70 or so players will advance to the final rounds on Saturday and Sunday, as the leaderboard really starts to take shape. The cut was made at one under par following the first two rounds of last year’s PGA Championship, the lowest it’s ever been in the long history of the competition. To put this score into some kind of perspective, eventual winner Xander Schauffele sat at the summit of the leaderboard on 12 under par ahead of the third day of play.
Following an extended period of wet and windy conditions in Charlotte, the weather is set to improve in time for Thursday’s opening tee slot. Friday is expected to be the warmest of the four key days of action, with temperatures expected to soar towards 90°F (32.2°C).
Practice Rounds: Monday 12th May – Wednesday 14th May
Day 1 of Practice cancelled due to wet weather
Opening Round: Thursday 15th May (first tee slot – 12.00pm)
Selected groups tee times – starting from Hole 1
18:14pm: Dustin Johnson (USA), Collin Morikawa (USA), Justin Thomas (USA)
18:25pm: Ludvig Åberg (Sweden), Patrick Reed (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA)
18:47pm: Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Viktor Hovland (Norway), Gary Woodland (USA)
Selected groups tee times – starting from Hole 10
12:38pm: Rickie Fowler (USA), Brooks Koepka (USA), Shane Lowry (Ireland)
12:49pm: Jason Day (Australia), Tommy Fleetwood (England), Phil Mickelson (USA)
13:22pm: Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Xander Schauffele (USA), Scottie Scheffler (USA)
Round 2: Friday 16th May (first tee slot – 12.00pm)
Selected groups tee times – starting from Hole 1
18:03pm: Rickie Fowler (USA), Brooks Koepka (USA), Shane Lowry (Ireland)
18:14pm: Jason Day (Australia), Tommy Fleetwood (England), Phil Mickelson (USA)
18:47pm: Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Xander Schauffele (USA), Scottie Scheffler (USA)
Selected groups tee times – starting from Hole 10
12:49pm: Dustin Johnson (USA), Collin Morikawa (USA), Justin Thomas (USA)
13:00pm: Ludvig Åberg (Sweden), Patrick Reed (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA)
13:22pm: Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Viktor Hovland (Norway), Gary Woodland (USA)
*all tee times shown in BST
The cut is made after the conclusion of the second round
Round 3: Saturday 17th May
Final Round: Sunday 18th May
Line-Up: How did players qualify for the 2025 PGA Championship?
A sizeable cross-section of the world’s best golfers will descend on Quail Hollow this week, but only one can be crowned champion. Each competitor took advantage of one of the following qualifying pathways, as tournament organisers ensure only the cream of the crop is permitted entry. As players can qualify by virtue of winning a major, securing a PGA Tour title in the last twelve months, or racking up a sufficient volume of PGA points, some hit the required criteria on several fronts.
Qualification methods
Past PGA Championship winners: As previously referenced, 14 previous champions will compete at this year’s event. This group of players includes several legends of the sport, such as former world number one Vijay Singh, recent Hall of Fame inductee Pádraig Harrington, and six-time major winner Phil Mickelson.
Winners of the last four editions of each major: Players that have either won the U.S Open or Open Championship since 2020 automatically qualify, while the last four Masters champions – up to and including 2025 winner Rory McIlroy – also receive invites.
Reigning senior PGA Championship winner: Having won the 2024 Senior PGA Championship, Richard Bland is awarded a place in this season’s mainstream competition. The Englishman secured last year’s senior title by shooting a four-round score of 267 (-17) at Harbor Shores, three strokes ahead of runner-up Richard Green.
Players that finished in the Top 15 places at the 2024 PGA Championship: As six participants were tied in 12th position come the conclusion of last year’s tournament at Valhalla, a total of 17 players were eligible to qualify via this pathway. South African Dean Burmester, Swedish talent Alex Norén, and American trio Lee Hodges, Sahith Theegala, and Taylor Moore head to Quail Hollow this week after securing a twelfth-placed finish at the 2024 PGA Championships.
Top 20 players in the PGA Professional Championship: This competition is contested exclusively by club pros and teachers, and therefore sits separately from the main PGA Tour. The annual winner receives six exemptions for events on the PGA Tour, while the top 20 players are handed a ticket to the following year’s PGA Championship. Experienced campaigner Bob Sowards will play in his twelfth PGA Championship as a participant on the ‘professional’ circuit, but has never managed to progress beyond the cut.
Top 70 players with the most PGA points: Players earn points for their performance in PGA Tour events and major championships. Only points accrued between last year’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson and this year’s edition of the same competition counted towards qualification for the 2025 PGA Championship, with the highest tallying 70 players securing a tournament berth. To be clear, this pathway is not reserved for those currently occupying the top 70 positions in the official WGR rankings. Players ranked lower than this – such as world number 126 Séamus Power – have registered sufficient points to qualify.
Players that represented either team at the 2023 Ryder Cup: Players that competed for Europe or America at the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup are issued a place on this season’s PGA Championship roster. Tyrrell Hatton, Max Homa, and Nicolai Højgaard will all report to Quail Hollow this week after featuring at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club two years ago. Please note that any player qualifying via this method must be placed within the WGR’s top 100 ranked golfers.
Any player to have won a PGA tour event between the 2024 PGA Championship and the 2025 PGA Championships: Six players earned their spot at Quail Hollow following recent triumphs at one of the many PGA tour events. New Zealand’s Ryan Fox was the final participant to qualify for the 2025 PGA Championship, after edging past Harry Higgs and Mackenzie Hughes at the Myrtle Beach Classic.
Top 3 players in the WGR’s International Federation Rankings: This list is used as a tool to determine top players and young talents currently competing in eastern and southern hemisphere tours. These rankings feature players from the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, and the southern African-based Sunshine Tour.
Top 3 players in the DP World Tour’s Asian Swing Event rankings: The four Asian swing events scheduled for the 2025 DP World Tour (also known as the European Tour) season have already taken place, with last month’s two Chinese competitions – the Hainan Classic and China Open – following the Singapore Classic and Indian Open. The top three overall performers in these events secured safe passage through to the 2025 PGA Championship, ensuring Eugenio Chacarra, Keita Nakajima, and Marco Penge all qualified.
PGA of America invitees: A small group of players received a special invite to attend this month’s event from the PGA of America. These were issued for a variety of reasons, including as a way to enable LIV-registered golfers to compete.
After all of the above qualification criteria were applied, there was still room for three additional players to join the 2025 PGA Championship roster. These places went to the players with the next highest volume of PGA points after those ranked in the aforementioned top 70, resulting in Patrick Fishburn, Rico Hoey, and Michael Thorbjornsen all qualifying.
Who are the favourites?
A handful of players will have genuine hopes of emerging triumphant this weekend, as a hugely competitive field assembles in North Carolina. The usual suspects dominate the betting markets, with the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and two-time winner Justin Thomas all being heavily backed.
Interestingly, 2024 runner-up Bryson DeChambeau receives shorter odds than reigning champion Xander Schauffele. The Californian duo engaged in an intense battle for supremacy at Valhalla last year, with early pace-setter Schauffele just managing to keep the chasing DeChambeau at bay. Several others are also tipped to perform well, such as Swedish youngster Ludvig Åberg, consistent top-five finisher Collin Morikawa, and 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm.
We review the bookies’ top three favourites below:
Rory McIlroy
Having now completed golf's holy grail following his long-awaited victory at Augusta last month, Rory McIlroy will undoubtedly be in buoyant spirits heading into this week's competition. The recently turned 36-year-old has been back to his scintillating best this season, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Players Championship before securing the 2025 Masters title.
Although ‘Wee-Mac’ has registered 44 tournament triumphs throughout his highly decorated career, the PGA Championship remains the only major he has won on more than one occasion. McIlroy surged to an emphatic victory at the 2012 PGA Championships, enjoying a bogey-free final round at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort to finish a substantial eight shots ahead of nearest rival David Lynn. A second crown came in 2014, although the gifted Northern Irishman faced a much sterner test at Valhalla than he did in North Carolina two years earlier. As Phil Mickelson threatened to seize the initiative, McIlroy held his nerve on the final three holes – a nerve-shredding birdie putt on the 17th proving decisive – to stay clear of his esteemed opponent.
Scottie Scheffler
After narrowly being pipped to the post in Houston at the end of March, Scottie Scheffler returned to his native state to win his first PGA Tour event of the calendar year. The talented Texan completed four rounds of TPC Craig Ranch in a staggering 253 shots, which duly made him the 2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson champion.
Scheffler delivered his strongest performance at the PGA Championship in 2023, sharing second place with Norwegian youngster Viktor Hovland after registering an overall score of seven under par at the Oak Hill Country Club. Although he hasn’t quite managed to scoop the ultimate prize, the two-time ESPY Award recipient has secured a top-ten finish in four of his five PGA Championship appearances to press. His solitary hiccup in this sequence came in 2022, just over a month on from winning the first of his two Masters titles.
Bryson DeChambeau
Despite relinquishing his PGA Tour membership in June 2022, Bryson DeChambeau has continued to make a significant impact on the masters circuit. Exactly a month before landing his second U.S Open title, ‘the Bison’ performed valiantly at the 2024 PGA Championship. Having recorded a very modest opening round score of 68 at Valhalla, DeChambeau was unlucky not to close the gap on eventual winner Xander Schauffele.
The big-hitting Californian has struggled to find consistency on the LIV Golf Tour, winning just three events since his controversial switch to the Saudi-bankrolled league. Nevertheless, the latest of those triumphs came less than a fortnight ago, as DeChambeau overcame his rivals in South Korea on the seventh weekend of the 2025 campaign. Can he retain his positive momentum at the Quail Hollow Club?
Where can I watch the 2025 PGA Championship?
Sky Sports is the home of televised golf in the United Kingdom. Subscribers can tune into live coverage of the sport’s most prestigious events, as the network boasts exclusive broadcasting rights for the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, DP World Tour, and recently introduced Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL). The only omission from Sky’s comprehensive list of featured tours is the LIV Golf League, which is currently shown on ITV.
Viewers are able to catch every minute of the 2025 PGA Championships on Sky’s dedicated golf channel (Sky Sports Golf), with key playing sessions also being broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event. Coverage starts at 12.00pm on the opening day of the competition (Thursday, 15th May).
Prize Money
While final confirmation of this year’s prize kitty is yet to be announced, many suspect it to eclipse the $20m threshold. The financial rewards on offer have risen exponentially over the years, with a long list of players profiting from the sport’s increasing commercialisation.
Just over two decades ago, surprise package Shaun Micheel became the PGA Championship winner to collect over $1m after completing a stunning four rounds at Rochester’s Oak Hill Country Club. Fast-forward to last year, and we see Xander Schauffele pocketing $3.3m for concluding the 2024 PGA Championships in pole position.
Whatever the champions’ sum will be, it’s likely to be less than what was awarded to Rory McIlroy at Augusta last month. The County Down-born star received an eye-watering $4.2m for his efforts, taking a decent fraction of the Masters’ colossal $21m prize pot.