The 2026 PGA Championship begins Thursday morning at Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pennsylvania, with several of golf’s biggest stars entering the week chasing history. Scottie Scheffler returns as the defending PGA Championship winner after dominating last year’s tournament at Quail Hollow, while Rory McIlroy arrives fresh off back-to-back victories at The Masters.
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth enters the tournament with another opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam, something only six golfers in history have accomplished.
Rory McIlroy Chases Back-to-Back Major Championships
McIlroy enters the PGA Championship attempting to become the first player since Spieth in 2015 to win the first two majors in the same calendar year.
The Northern Irish star captured his sixth major championship at Augusta National in April, one year after completing the career Grand Slam at the same tournament.
McIlroy acknowledged Tuesday that he feels more settled heading into this year’s PGA Championship than he did a year ago.
“I think I came into this tournament last year a little bit sort of uncertain of what my future was,” he told reporters.
” I conquered this thing that I wanted to conquer for so long [Grand Slam].”
“I still hadn’t really reset goals or found whatever that motivation was to keep going forward or go forward and set myself goals for the rest of my career,” he said. “It probably took me a good few months to get to that point.”
Now, McIlroy believes he has renewed motivation entering Aronimink.
“As I’ve said, coming into this tournament feels a lot different than what it did last year,” he added. “I feel like I’ve got some nice, clear road ahead to try and get some more of these majors.”
Scottie Scheffler Looks to Defend Championship Title
Scheffler also enters the week with history on the line. A victory at Aronimink would make him just the fourth player in the stroke-play era to win consecutive PGA Championships. Only Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka have accomplished the feat in recent decades.
Despite remaining the world No. 1, Scheffler has endured several runner-up finishes recently, including losses to McIlroy at The Masters and Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage.
“Last week, my wife was like, ‘Hey Scottie. You’re like the first guy in PGA Tour history to have three solo runner-ups in a row,’” Scheffler told reporters.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s probably because the guy that was playing that good figured out a way to win one of those.’”
Still, Scheffler said he remains encouraged by his consistency.
“You know you’re playing good golf, and you’d love to get some wins,” he said. “Finishing second hurts, but I think when you reflect and you’re looking at things to work on, there’s a lot less to clean up when you’re finishing second than there is when you’re finishing 30th.”
For the record, Scheffler has not finished 30th or worse in an event since August 2024.
Jordan Spieth Continues Career Grand Slam Pursuit
Spieth enters the week once again trying to win the only major championship missing from his resume.
The three-time major winner captured The Masters and U.S. Open championship before winning The Open Championship in 2017. Since then, the PGA Championship has remained the final hurdle in his pursuit of the career Grand Slam.
Spieth discussed the challenge during his own Tuesday press conference at Aronimink.
“So as far as the career Grand Slam, the tournament’s always highlighted,” Spieth said.
“If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one for that reason.”
“But the easiest way to do that is to not try to, in a weird way,” he explained.
“Just go out and get ready for the first hole, get a good game plan in and attack it the way it needs to be attacked,” he concluded.
Spieth enters the tournament playing some of his strongest golf in years. He has already posted four top 12 finishes this season, including The Masters.
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