PGA Championship 2024: Early Predictions for Top Prize Money
Scottie Scheffler is once again the favorite to win a men's golf major tournament.
The top-ranked men's golfer in the world conquered the Masters with a dominant Sunday showing in which he pulled away from a handful of contenders.
Scheffler is after his third major at the 2024 PGA Championship, a tournament he finished in a tie for second at last year.
The reigning champion, Brooks Koepka, could be the biggest challenger to Scheffler's back-to-back major quest.
Koepka is looking to successfully defend a major title for the third time in his career. He has not landed inside the top 10 in the three majors since his PGA Championship triumph in 2023, but he is coming off a LIV Golf win in his last start.
Scheffler, Koepka and Rory McIlroy will be popular picks to win at Valhalla Golf Club, but one sleeper with local connections in Louisville may also play a role near the top of the leaderboard.
Scottie Scheffler Contends for Yet Another Major
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Scheffler's spot on the first page of the leaderboard feels guaranteed in his current form.
The two-time major champion captured the green jacket last month and followed that up with a PGA Tour win at the RBC Heritage.
Scheffler has not finished worse than 23rd in his last seven starts since he missed the cut at the 2022 U.S. Open. That was his only missed cut at a major since the start of 2021.
He owns five straight first-or-second-place finishes on the PGA Tour, four of which were victories.
Scheffler's worst round in that five-tournament span was a 72, so even if he shoots around par for four rounds, he should be in great shape to earn a third major crown.
It's hard to imagine Scheffler being out of contention come Sunday because of his remarkable form. He may not win, but he will certainly be a factor to go after the $3.15 million winners' purse.
Brooks Koepka Comes Close to Another Successful Title Defense
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Koepka had an uncharacteristic start to the major season with a tie for 45th at Augusta.
He turned his form around at the last LIV Golf event in Singapore with a victory. That suggests he is ready to contend for another title repeat.
Koepka repeated as PGA champion in 2019 and achieved the same feat at the U.S. Open in 2018.
The five-time major winner owns six top-five finishes at the PGA Championship, the most he recorded at any of the four majors.
Koepka is one of the few golfers, who at his best, can challenge Scheffler in his current form. He beat Scheffler and Viktor Hovland by two strokes last year at Oak Hill.
A Scheffler-Koepka Sunday duel would be one of the dream finishes for golf fans, and it could happen if
Justin Thomas Contends at Hometown Major
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Justin Thomas does not have the profile of a major champion this week.
He comes into Valhalla with four missed cuts in his last five major starts, but he is playing in his hometown and the PGA Championship is his best major.
Thomas' two major triumphs came at the 2017 and 2022 PGA Championships. He won each of those titles after previously finishing in the top 10 at one prior major that season.
Thomas did not make it to the weekend at Augusta, but he displayed some positive signs in his last two PGA Tour starts since the Masters.
He landed in fifth place at the RBC Heritage and finished in a tie for 21st at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Thomas seems to play his best at the PGA Championship and the recent uptick in form could be the boost he needs to contend in his hometown.
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