Callum Hill – Golf Australia Writer

BANKER: If you had asked me last week, I would have been screaming Brooks Koepka from the rooftops. But that was before Rory McIlroy slammed the door shut on the rest of the field at Quail Hollow. A divorced Rory appears to be a frightening Rory for his competitors. A decade ago, he split from then-fiancée and global tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. He won the BMW PGA Championship in England days later, and then he went on to win the PGA Championship … at Valhalla. Is history repeating? Or is my favourite player just getting me excited before a major once again? Regardless of the off-course stuff, his game looks great, and I think this is the week.

SURPRISE PACKET: Sung-Jae Im is plenty long enough, hits it straight, and is coming off a couple of decent results. Valhalla seems a great fit.

TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: It would be a dream for Justin Thomas win the PGA in his home town (Louisville, Kentucky) but that is what it will remain. The former champion is too volatile for me to even consider him contending.

Rory McIlroy going for gold on 18 at Valhalla GC during a practice round for the 106th PGA Championship. PHOTO: Getty Images

 

Jimmy Emanuel – Golf Australia Contributor-at-Large

BANKER: There are three players this week that I would happily throw my hard-earned behind, but that’s not the name of the game. It’s one and done. So, given Scottie Scheffler is in the post-baby glow and will not have caddie Ted Scott for Saturday, it’s between Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy for me. McIlroy gets my vote, because Quail Hollow is a little closer to Valhalla, he’s won there before, and there is some internal fire.

SURPRISE PACKET: It wouldn’t be that much of surprise to those who have watched his progress closely, but Lucas Herbert wouldn’t be a name on many tipsters’ lips. Though he shot back-to-back 65s in Adelaide, Herbert hasn’t been brilliant individually this year. But the Aussie is benefitting from regular practice rounds with Cam Smith and others. He loves the big stage, his game is very well suited for PGA Championship golf, and there’s not too many fades needed at Valhalla.

TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Easy to opt for the older past champions or the club pros here, but you, dear reader, are looking for greater insight from us supposed experts. So, with that in mind, I am going to either crush or inspire Alejandro Tosti. The Argentine drives it miles but it tends to go everywhere, his iron play isn’t his best, and his temper is becoming legendary, all attributes that don’t meld with Valhalla or major golf.

Lucas Herbert (left) has been practicing a lot with Cam Smith and has a game to suit Valhalla and the PGA Championship. PHOTO: Getty Images

 

Matt Cleary – Golf Australia Senior Writer

BANKER: To coin horse racing parlance, when a tipster wants to be succinct about a near-certainty's chance they will write, simply, “will win”. This week, none other than Tiger Woods has declared that if Scottie Scheffler putts well, he will win. And why wouldn’t Scheffler putt well? His wife has just given birth to the child that was meant to stop him winning the Masters. He believes his victories are pre-ordained by Jesus. Not like he’s going to get yippy. To continue on the horse theme, I once asked the champion jockey Hugh Bowman why Winx was so much faster than the other horsies, and he shrugged and said, simply, “She’s just better.” Scheffler isn’t Winx. But he’s doing a good impression of Black Caviar. Will win.

SURPRISE PACKET: Valhalla GC is a long golf course and Cameron Davis is a long golf ball hitter. He was T4 in the PGA last year and was a leading light for 54 holes at Augusta in April before finishing T12. Responsible gamblers might be surprised and delighted with his odds of 150-1.

TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Xander Schauffele will no doubt come back to bite the soothsayer on the arse and win the 2024 Wanamaker Trophy in a canter. But my, he’s cruelled some responsibly-gambled betting stubs in his time. And despite seven straight top-25s in 2024 and 12 top-10s at majors and a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, you get the feeling that, Schauffele finds it hard to, you know, win.

Scottie Sheffler with a hot flat stick is a potentially lethal combination. PHOTO: Getty Images

 

Rod Morri – Podcast Mogul

BANKER: Everyone will be looking at Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka and tempting as it into find a clever reason why someone else will host the trophy I just can’t. So, to pick from the race in three I’ll take Koepka. Scheffler and McIlroy both have distractions away from the course but Koepka will be laser-focused and that makes him dangerous.

SURPRISE PACKET: Anyone not named McIlroy, Scheffler or Koepka slips into this category but I’ll take Eric Cole. One of the game’s great late bloomers and has enough game to get himself to the back nine Sunday with a chance.

TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: Max Homa. Not because of anything to do with his game but because I tipped him on the ‘Playing From the Tips’ podcast earlier this week and no golfer has ever survived that.

Max Homa: Dreaming, says Rod Morri. PHOTO: Getty Images

 

James Smith – Golf Australia Editor

BANKER: Ludvig Aberg’s signature "I've arrived" moment … has arrived. The world No.6’s recent results are too hot to ignore: an eighth at The Players, T14 at TPC San Antonio, runner-up at The Masters and T10 at the Heritage is his form line leading into the PGA. Has five top-10s already in 2024. Valhalla is a long-hitting stage and he’s a long-hitting Swede. It’s science, or maths. Whatever it is, it will be beautiful to watch.

SURPRISE PACKET:  Of the past 20 PGA Championship winners, 15 had won a tournament in the same calendar year. Using my over-simplified man logic and staying true to the surprise packet theme, I’m going with Wyndham Clark, who struck gold at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. (That’s technically a win, right?) Oh yeah, and there was that time last year when he won the U.S Open, which proved his awesomeness. Sits third in diving distance in 2024. That’s handy at Valhalla.

TELL HIM HE’S DREAMING: After achieving ultimate glory in 2023 by winning at Augusta, it just isn’t happening for Jon Rahm this year. The Spaniard was T45 (+9) at the Masters and at the halfway point on the 14-event LIV schedule, he still hasn’t scored an individual win. Neither have a lot of other players, but you’d expect Rahm to have claimed one by now, surely. He was T3 at LIV Adelaide though, just two strokes behind winner Brendan Steele. So maybe the turnaround has begun …

Long enough, strong enough, and in hot form, Swede Ludvig Aberg's time is now, reckons our man Jimmy Smith. PHOTO: Getty Images