Five Things to Know before the PGA’s first round

TULSA, Okla. – A reimagined classic is hosting, and many of the game’s best players arrive in top form. This week’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills has the makings of a memorable major. Here’s Five Things to Know before Thursday’s first round.

RELATED: Full tee times | Power Rankings | Expert Picks

1. RAVE REVIEWS

It’s been 15 years since Southern Hills last hosted a major, and the course underwent a dramatic renovation by Gil Hanse in the meantime. The changes have received rave reviews thus far.

Southern Hills offered a traditional test (think long rough and narrow fairways) for the four PGA Championships and three U.S. Opens it hosted before this year. Short grass will be the defining characteristic this week. The putting surfaces roll off into tightly-mown chipping areas, requiring players who miss a green to execute touchy recovery shots. Playing from around the putting surfaces is something of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. Tiger Woods said he’s seen players use everything from hybrids and long-irons to the classic 60-degree wedge for their chips and pitches. Players will watch balls roll back to their feet if they don’t pick it cleanly. The grainy Bermuda often means putting from off the green isn’t an option, as well.

“The Bermudagrass makes it difficult to chip,” said Justin Thomas. “It puts a premium on having different techniques and different styles around the greens.”

Thomas also called Southern Hills “sweet” and “an unbelievable major championship venue.” He isn’t the only one singing its praises.

Hanse widened the fairways, as well, and while the rough is lower this week, it will be harder to judge. The dreaded flier becomes more likely with this shorter rough. Woods called it a “guessing game.” But more width means the confident player can pull driver more often. Woods relied on his trademark stinger for many of his tee shots in 2007. Now, the game’s best drivers can separate themselves from their peers with a good week off the tee. Rory McIlroy said he’s hit more drivers than anticipated in his practice rounds.

In short, Southern Hills will offer a well-rounded examination this week.

“Iron game needs to be good, short game, putting, driving, everything,” said Jon Rahm. “Otherwise something really will have to excel for something else to be lacking.”

2. ON A HIGH NOTE

In case you missed it, Tiger Woods is here. And he thinks he’s capable of contending.

“I feel like I can, definitely,” he said Tuesday. “I just have to go out there and do it.”

Woods may have his hands full with the generation of players he inspired, however. The game’s current crop of stars is in good form, including many who arrived at Southern Hills on a winning note. It starts with FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler, who’s undefeated at majors as the world No. 1. He has a history at Southern Hills, as well, winning the Big 12 Conference Championship here in his freshman year at Texas. And then there was that 64 in a recent practice round. Scheffler finished T15 in last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, his lone start in an individual event since his Masters triumph.

Jordan Spieth (RBC Heritage), Jon Rahm (Mexico Open at Vidanta), Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (Zurich Classic of New Orleans) and Max Homa (Wells Fargo Championship) are among the winners on TOUR since the Masters. Rahm, Cantlay and Homa all won in their last start before the PGA. Schauffele followed his win with Cantlay at the Zurich with a T5, including a Sunday 61, at last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson while Spieth has a win and runner-up in his last two starts.

3. SLAM!

Jordan Spieth almost arrived at Southern Hills on the heels of back-to-back victories. He followed his RBC Heritage win with a runner-up finish at last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, where he finished a stroke behind K.H. Lee. Those strong results came on the heels of his first missed cut at the Masters. Spieth stayed the course after that poor finish at Augusta National, though, a testament to the belief in the work he’s doing on his golf swing.

“The old me a few years ago may have tried to go back to the drawing board and said, ‘How do I fix this? What do I need to change?’” Spieth said Wednesday. “But instead I went out on Sunday, decided I didn't want to watch the final round (of the Masters), and went and played golf with Jay (Danzi, his agent) and Michael (Greller, his caddie) over in Hilton Head. And I just wanted to keep pushing what I was pushing because I just think my level of patience with my game is far superior than where it was a few years ago.”

Spieth went on to win that week at the RBC Heritage despite losing strokes on the greens. It was testament to his improved ballstriking.

He’s eighth in both the world ranking – his highest position since 2018 – and the FedExCup despite ranking 175th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. He’s in the top 30 in the two Strokes Gained stats that measure ball-striking, Off-the-Tee and Approach-the-Green.

He again excelled with his ballstriking at the Nelson, ranking in the top 10 in both Strokes Gained ballstriking stats, while having his best performance in Strokes Gained: Putting since January.

Spieth said Southern Hills feels familiar, and not just because he played the 2009 U.S. Amateur here (losing a playoff for the final spots in match play). The Bermudagrass run-offs around the greens remind him of the course he grew up on in Dallas and at the PGA TOUR venue where he’s had the most success.

He said Southern Hill was “Colonial on steroids.”

“A little more undulation and driver in your hands more,” Spieth said of this week’s venue. Both courses were designed by Perry Maxwell. Colonial is the annual site of the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he’s finished outside the top 25 just once in nine appearances. That includes a win in 2016, three runners-up and three additional top-10s.

4. FORE-CAST

The 2007 PGA was defined by high temperatures. High winds could be the story this week.

In a year where we’ve seen wild weather at THE PLAYERS and Masters, that trend looks to continue this week.

Gusts of 30-plus mph are forecasted for each of the first three rounds and, while the wind is expected to weaken for the final round, it still could blow 20 mph Sunday.

It will blow in different directions, as well, coming from the southwest for the first three days before switching to the northeast Sunday.

A cold front is expected to hit Friday afternoon, sending temperatures plunging from around 90 on Thursday and Friday to no higher than 70 degrees for the weekend. That front could lead to severe storms, including hail, late Friday. There is a chance of rain both Friday and Saturday, as well. The weather will be another element for players to overcome this week.

“We're going to see a different golf course almost every day,” said Tiger Woods.

5. POWERFUL PAIRINGS

Tiger. Rory. Jordan.

The 8:11 a.m. tee time for Thursday’s first round doesn’t even need surnames – although in Woods, McIlroy and Spieth we have one of many very compelling pairings to track throughout the opening two rounds. They own a combined 22 majors, including six PGA Championships, and five FedExCups.

Spieth is on a career Grand Slam quest. Woods’ incredible comeback continues. And McIlroy is looking for his first major since the 2014 PGA.

Thursday afternoon’s heavy-hitting group features Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, U.S. Open winner Jon Rahm and Open champion Collin Morikawa. They’re otherwise known as the top three players in the world and they’ll tee off at 1:36 p.m. Thursday.

Three FedExCup champions – Dustin Johnson (2020), Patrick Cantlay (2021) and Justin Thomas (2017) -- tee off two groups ahead of the top trio.

PLAYERS champion Cameron Smith’s short game clinic begins at 8:00 a.m. He’ll be joined by ball-striking geniuses Viktor Hovland, who starred at nearby Oklahoma State, and Will Zalatoris, who won as an amateur at Southern Hills.

Some other star-studded trios worth watching are Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau and Hideki Matsuyama (7:38 a.m.); Max Homa, Tyrrell Hatton and Denny McCarthy (7:49 a.m.) and Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry and Adam Scott (1:03 p.m.).