Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler rule golf right now. Can anyone challenge them at the PGA Championship?

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — The second major of 2026 is upon us. The 108th PGA Championship at Aronimink begins Thursday, the year’s second opportunity for someone, anyone to put up a fight against the Scottie Scheffler/Rory McIlroy domination of the sport right now.

Scheffler is the defending PGA champion, McIlroy won last month’s Masters, and the two of them are the favorites heading into this week . But they’re not the only stories. Here are a few we’re watching as the golf world descends on Philadelphia.

Rory McIlroy Last year, McIlroy was strangely off-kilter after his epochal Masters victory, finishing T47 at the PGA at Quail Hollow and remaining silent for most of the week. This time around, he’s been more at ease, more willing to talk about his game and the larger issues of golf. Will it translate to a stronger performance in the PGA, where he’s won twice?

He’s played just twice in the last two months: the Masters and last week’s Truist Championship, where he finished at -5, well off the lead. Scottie Scheffler The defending PGA champion after a bravura performance at Quail Hollow last year, all Scheffler has done in his last three starts is: 2, 2 (playoff loss), 2. An “off” year by Scheffler standards is a career one for anyone else.