Rory McIlroy, loaded field chase Truist title at unfamiliar course

FLOURTOWN, Pennsylvania – As the golf calendar crescendos to the second Major of the year, the PGA Tour’s best players get one more tune-up on an unfamiliar course.

Quail Hollow, usually the site of the Truist Championship, will instead host the May 15-18 PGA Championship. Subbing in this week is the Wissahickon Course at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the venue’s PGA Tour debut.

The 72-man signature event formerly known as the Wells Fargo Championship teed off at press time.

“I kind of think of (Philadelphia) similar to like in Scotland or Ireland... There’s no bad golf courses it seems like you can play, you know what I mean?” said Justin Thomas, a two-time PGA Championship winner.

“They all look so unique. They have the old templates, the old kind of architecture and the crazy green complexes, the bunkering... It’s cool that we get to come to a new place like this and experience it and play it.”

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is taking the week off after torching the Byron Nelson tournament in a PGA Tour record-tying 31-under 253. But the rest of the world’s top 10 and 43 of the top 50 are in the field, headlined by second-ranked Rory McIlroy.

The Northern Irishman will play in his first standard tournament since winning the Masters on April 13; he competed in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event with Shane Lowry of Ireland only because they were the defending champions.

McIlroy admitted he has been overbooked in the weeks since his Masters breakthrough and is looking forward to playing again. He has won the Truist four times, including in 2024, but like everyone else he has to learn a new course.

“It doesn’t quite feel like a defence, but it’s good to be here. At this stage of my career, it’s cool to come to new venues, see new golf courses and do new things,” the 36-year-old said.

Wissahickon is a par-70, 7,119-yard layout this week with only two par-five holes. When the Philadelphia Cricket Club hosted the 2016 Senior Players Championship, Bernhard Langer of Germany won with a one-over final score.

That said, the course is unlikely to play as tough this week, with rain forecast for May 8 and 9 expected to soften the firm fairways and greens.

“I think there’s some hard holes on there and some holes that are really ‘gettable’, so I think scoring is going to be relatively low,” Xander Schauffele said.

Added Thomas: “I think here it’s (find the) fairway first, and it’s more of a second-shot golf course, in my opinion, of where you’re leaving it and putting it in the right positions and giving yourself birdie opportunities.”

Schauffele is gearing up to defend the Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. After a tough start to 2025 that included a rib injury, he said his confidence is rising at the right time.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything to knock myself down in confidence. That can obviously happen pretty quickly, but for the most part I feel like I’m putting nice building blocks together to get me back to a place where I feel like I can win every week,” the 31-year-old said.

Thomas, meanwhile, hopes to have some momentum from winning the RBC Heritage the week after the Masters, his first victory in nearly three years.

Collin Morikawa will make his first start with new caddie Joe Greiner, and Jordan Spieth could be in the mix after he finished fourth at the Byron Nelson. Spieth is a PGA Championship away from following in McIlroy’s footsteps and completing the career Grand Slam.

Other Truist champions in the field include Wyndham Clark (2023), Max Homa (2019, 2022), Brian Harman (2017) and Rickie Fowler (2012).

Meanwhile, the PGA of America will give away 3,000 tickets to September’s Ryder Cup showdown at Bethpage Black, surprising New York area fans with a programme known as The People’s Perk.

Details announced on May 7 by the PGA of America said free tickets will be distributed over the next five months at surprise moments at Bethpage Black and public courses in the New York area.

New York residents will receive complimentary Ryder Cup tickets in consultation with the Metropolitan PGA Section, with other special visits delivering tickets to first responders and community groups.

The 3,000 tickets will include 500 each for three tournament days of the men’s team matches between European and American golfers as well as three practice days before the event. Winners will be assured of two tickets but not necessarily on a particular day.

“The People’s Perk: A Ryder Cup Ticket Giveaway is a special way for us to celebrate the unparalleled dedication and enthusiasm of the New York golf community by providing them with a memorable experience at the 2025 Ryder Cup,” PGA of America president Don Rea Jr said. REUTERS, AFP