PGA Championship 2015: Live Updates for Thursday Leaderboard Scores

Jordan Spieth looks to cap off a remarkable year in style at the 2015 PGA Championship, the final major of a season dominated by the rising star.

While a Grand Slam is no longer in play, the 22-year-old can capture his third major this year when the world's top golfers head to Whistling Straits. The heavy favorite, per Odds Shark, will face a ferocious field of competitors, including the returning Rory McIlroy.

Once the first round commences Thursday afternoon, follow all the action with this live leaderboard:

Preview

Another major victory would cement an all-time great year for Spieth, who has shot up to a No. 2 world ranking with four PGA Tour wins.  

Since missing The Players Championship cut in May, he has notched six top-10 finishes over seven events, including U.S. Open and John Deere Classic wins. But while Spieth is already proving his greatness, the PGA Championship stands as one last hurdle to overcome.

In two tries, the young Texan has missed the cut both times. Per ESPN's Jason Sobel, he admitted those early exits still bother him:

To be fair, Spieth hadn't finished in the top 15 of any major before 2015, when he won the Masters and U.S. Open while finishing fourth at The Open Championship. Upon enjoying seismic leaps, especially in his putting stroke, he can't be discounted due to previous mishaps.

Then again, McIlroy isn't quite ready to step aside. A year removed from claiming two majors of his own, the 26-year-old has suddenly taken a back seat to his younger adversary. He remarked to Sobel about the quick change on top of golf's hierarchy:

Sidelined since June due to an ankle injury, he'll return to Wisconsin to defend his crown. The two-time PGA Championship victor hadn't placed below No. 11 over his last seven tournaments, but he'll need to shake off the cobwebs and display enough driving force off of his recovered ankle.

Those budding rivals will share a tee time, per PGA.com, giving the weekend a grand spectacle to build around. Yet 154 others will also partake in the festivities, including 98 top-100 golfers.

Two unheralded veterans among them are especially poised to push the young guns. Citing "total driving, greens in regulation and putting from 15 to 25 feet" as three pivotal blueprints to success at Whistling Straits, Bill Cooney and Mark Broadie of PGATour.com pegged Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson as course favorites.

Scott, still searching for his second major since seizing the 2013 Masters, places within the top 20 in all three highlighted categories. Golf Channel's Justin Ray observed his overall major success over the past four years:

Stenson, meanwhile, leads the way in total driving and greens in regulation. As noted by the European Tour's Twitter page, those skills have spawned high finishes in past years:

Spieth and McIlroy will steal the headlines, with others still unwilling to move past Tiger Woods, but Scott and Stenson both present steep opposition to the bigger household names.