PGA Championship 2022 preview- Will USA dominate again?

On Thursday it will be the opening round of the second major of the year- the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Last year’s tournament was one of the most memorable for many years, with Phil Mickleson breaking all records to become the oldest major winner in history.

This time around, there will be no defending champion as Mickleson has decided to withdraw from this year’s event after taking a break from golf since the fall out from his explosive comments about the PGA Tour and Saudi backed breakaway spearheaded by Greg Norman.

This course at Southern Hills will be an extremely tough test for the PGA Tour’s top golfers with accuracy off the tea and to the greens absolutely critical.

Current World Number 1 Scottie Scheffler will be aiming for back-to-back majors after winning last month’s Masters.

The past two winners of the PGA championships have come as surprise winners. Apart from Mickleson’s success last year, few would have expected Collin Morikawa taking the title in 2020 in just his second major start.

There will be plenty of top golfers who are currently in form and will be fancying their chances of winning the tournament.

Corey Conners, who carried a two-shot lead into Friday but faded over the weekend last year is a player who is rapidly improving. The Canadian tied for sixth at the Masters and has posted two solid finishes since.

Sam Burns has already recorded two wins this season including capturing the Valspar Championship. Yet to make an impression in the majors, his time could be coming around quickly.

American Billy Horschel is having a top season so far having not missed a cut in any of his 12 starts along with eight top 25 finishes. Horschel finished runner up behind Burns in his last start at the Zurich Classis.

World ranked eleven Dustin Johnson comes into Thursday’s event his first as a married man after marrying his fiancée Paulina Gretzky last month.

Johnson finished runner up in the event in 2019 and 2020 before missing the cut twelve months ago in Kiawah.

Cameron Smith began the year by shooting an incredible 36 under to hold off the then world number 1 Jon Rahm to win in Hawaii and added another big victory by capturing the Players.

Rory McIlroy’s recent form shows signs of some encouragement for the Irishman to have a good week in Tulsa.

However, the drought of not winning a tournament on the major circuit now dates back to eight years. McIlroy was back to his best at the Masters with a final round of 64 to finish second. He has had four top five finishes and two victories at the PGA Championships in 2012 and 2014. Could this finally be the week that Rory prevails?

Justin Thomas has accumulated no less than nine PGA Tour wins since his maiden victory at Quail Hollow, but has not challenged for a major since winning this event in 2017.

A winner in 2020, Colin Morikawa comes into this week with a fine recent record of two wins, five top ten finishes in nine starts and three top five finishes in the last three majors.

A super iron player with his putting now looking much stronger than it has ever been. A reliable player on any course who must be a serious contender for lifting the trophy on Sunday.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry’s best ever finish at the PGA Championship was tied for fourth place last year.

Has finished in the top 25 in the last nine events he has appeared in. His iron play has improved considerably and comes into this weeks tournament on the back of three weeks rest.

Spaniard Jon Rahm is still searching to find the form that made him world’s number one a short while ago.

Just one victory last season- US Open- was all he has achieved in the past year or so. His driving this season is second to none, and as always will start the tournament on Thursday as one of the favourites to win the event.

Jordan Spieth is still awaiting the task of completing the career Grand Slam this weekend. A missed cut at the recent Masters was a low point for the American. However, he bounced back by winning the RBC Heritage. His best finish in this tournament is second place back in 2015.

The current World’s number one Scottie Scheffler arrives at the year’s second major with four wins, including the cherished green jacket. He has already stated that this course is one of his favourites in the world.

Has taken a short break after the Zurich Classic and will come into the tournament fully refreshed. The golf he is playing this year is nothing short of outstanding, and is one of the favourites to lift the championship come Sunday.

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