PGA Championship 2015: How to View Thursday's Live Leaderboard Scores, Updates

Kohler, Wisconsin, plays home to the 97th PGA Championship at Whistling Straits as the tournament tees off Thursday morning. 

A return of the world's top golfer will allow the competition to experience the best possible talent, as he will be pursued by some of the sport's biggest names looking to dethrone him from his No. 1 spot. 

To view Thursday's live leaderboard scores and updates, click here and continue for some of the tournament's biggest storylines. 

Rory Returns

After missing five weeks and the British Open with an ankle injury he picked up from playing soccer, world No. 1 Rory McIlroy will make his return on Thursday after assuring Kevin Maguire of ESPN.com and others that his ankle is good to go:

"

To play golf, it's 100 percent. To go back on a soccer pitch, it wouldn't be quite ready. But to do what I need to do this week, it's 100 percent. ... I was ready to go whether it was this week, whether it was some other tournament. It wasn't like I was trying to get back for this. It just so happened that I was feeling good enough to go this week.

"

That doesn't mean he's going to take it easy off the course, according to PGA.com:

Saying the ankle is 100 percent and proving it will be two completely different objectives. With thick roughs and uneven grounds at Whistling Straits, if McIlroy's play in any way has suffered or dropped, he is going to find himself navigating the dicier areas of the course. 

And if that's the case, walking the sloped areas or bunkers will put plenty of stress on that ankle. 

McIlroy will be looking to win his first major of the season while becoming the first player in the modern era to win the PGA Championship two consecutive years, but more eyes might be set on his ankle rather than his club. 

El Trio Grande

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the New York Islanders had a line of Hall of Fame forwards in Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies. The trio was dubbed "El Trio Grande." 

Well, the PGA Championship has its own version in this year's tournament, with McIlroy, No. 2 Jordan Spieth and No. 12 Zach Johnson all teeing off their first round at 2:20 p.m. ET.

While the pairing headlines the competition, winners of the last three majors usually are grouped together in the first round, and it came as little shock to ESPN.com's Jason Sobel:

For example, last season's PGA Championship saw 2014's three prior major winners open the event together with McIlroy playing with 2014 Masters winner Bubba Watson and U.S. Open winner Martin Kaymer.

To determine this year's top group, it was McIlroy who won last year's British Open and PGA Championship before Spieth rattled off two majors in a row at the Masters and U.S. Open. Johnson is the most recent major winner with a victory at the British Open last month. 

Such a strong group of golfers playing together in the first round will prove as a measuring stick for their respective championship hopes. Being surrounded by the best in the game can add a Sunday-like mentality that each golfer will have to hit the ground running with little margin for error.

If that's the case, expect to see some very low scores after the first two rounds.

But there are other top golfers who will be teeing off their chances to make a claim for the top spot in the World Golf Ranking. No. 3 Bubba Watson and No. 4 Jim Furyk will play together, starting at 8:45 a.m. ET. 

It isn't quite the same as top-ranked McIlroy with No. 2 Spieth, but Watson and Furyk are entering this tournament under the radar. With all eyes on the top group, a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality could be used to make a statement that they are the golfers to beat. 

Either way, a deep field with marquee pairings is going to assure that some great golf will be played this upcoming weekend.

Stats courtesy of PGATour.com.