World No1 Scottie Scheffler will play with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele for the opening today rounds of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow this weekend
Rory McIlroy is chasing the grand slam this year.(Image: Getty Images)
Scottie Scheffler has hailed “fantastic” Rory McIlroy after they were put in the same three-ball alongside Xander Schauffele for the opening two rounds of this weekend’s PGA Championship
World No1 Scheffler will be joined by new Masters champion McIlroy and defending US PGA champion Xander Schauffele in the marquee group at Quail Hollow among the 156-man field. The trio will head out at 8:22am ET (1:22pm BST) on Thursday then 1:47pm ET (6:47pm BST) on Friday.
And speaking at a press conference on Tuesday night, Scheffler had nothing but praise for the Northern Irishman ahead of their battle because previous pairing have been among the most enduring memories of his career to date.
“I’m playing with two guys that are playing some of the best golf in the world,” Scheffler said. “Xander won two majors last year, and Rory already won The Players and the Masters this year so he’s playing some fantastic golf.
“Yeah, it should be a lot of fun. I’ve seen that pairing before, and we have a good time out there, and it’s competitive. I think when I look back on my career, these will be some of the fondest memories getting to play with some of the best players in the world and compete to try to win tournaments.”
When asked if he would swap attributes with anyone on the Tour, Scheffler reserved the highest praise for McIlroy.
“I think in our game, there’s always little things that I look at in people’s games that I can improve on,” Scheffler added. “You look at a guy like Rory, you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody that has drove the ball better than he has in the history of the game.
“He might be the best driver of the ball that we’ve ever seen. You had a guy like Tiger who had a ton of speed, but Rory just has the accuracy that sets him apart too. Not only does he hit it really far, he hits it really straight.”
Scheffler is a two-time Masters winner but is yet to win the PGA Championship, coming closest when Brooks Koepka beat him in 2023. Asked why he feels he’s not quite been able to get over the line in the second major of the year, he said: “Just a couple shots here and there.
“I was close at Oak Hill the year Brooks won. That was as close as I remember being to winning this tournament. But it’s a good golf tournament.
Scottie Scheffler has praised Rory McIlroy on the eve of the PGA Championship(Image: Getty)
“We’re always playing a great golf course, and same thing this week, another really good golf course, and should be a good test of golf, and I’m looking forward to getting the week going.”
Scheffler won his last tournament, the Byron Nelson, before skipping last week’s Truist Championship.
He added: “Yeah, I think there’s definitely a balance there. It would be silly to say that I can’t ride the positive momentum from a good week like that. To finish off that tournament the way I did and have it not really be too close on the back nine, I played some really nice golf.
“I talked a little bit about how I felt like my game was trending, so it was nice to see some results from a lot of hard work to start the year, and I feel like my game is in a good spot. I think it would be silly to say I can’t ride a little bit of that momentum going into this tournament.”
