Strong field, family bonds at heart of PGA Championship identity

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — For a major that has long sought an identity apart from the other three, one element of the PGA Championship stands out. It’s one reason two-time champion Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, among the favorites this year, hold it in high regard.

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The opening tee shot Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club will be struck by Braden Shattuck, the PGA director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club, just 10 miles down the road.

He is among 20 club professionals in the 156-man field. All of them will be back to their day jobs next week, giving lessons and ordering merchandise, not on to the next PGA Tour stop that pays close to $2 million to the winner.

Young’s father was one of those professionals.

Dave Young, recently retired as the golf director at Sleepy Hollow in New York, was never among the club pros who qualified for the PGA Championship. But he worked them as a rules official, and was part of the rules committee at the Masters. He played one PGA Tour event, the 1998 Buick Classic in New York.

“The PGA Championship, for our family, is a great week,” the younger Young, the No. 3 player in the world, said Wednesday. “My dad was a PGA of America professional forever, kind of embraced the whole package of that. … Unfortunately, he never qualified for it, but he was a very good player and had a number of chances to throughout his career.”

Mike Thomas also recently retired from Harmony Landing in Louisville, Ky.. Justin Thomas recalls being in the clubhouse at Valhalla at age 7 — his dad was a PGA officer then — when Tiger Woods won the 2000 PGA Championship. He was in the gallery at Valhalla for the 2008 Ryder Cup, high-fiving Phil Mickelson when the Americans won.

Best of all was winning the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in 2017 and Southern Hills in 2022. That embrace with his father — his grandfather also was a longtime pro — was special.

“I’m well aware everybody feels like it’s the fourth major when it comes to all of them,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t to me. I couldn’t care more of the two I have. It obviously has special meaning to me. I was lucky to have the access I did.”

Even with the 20 professionals, who qualified in the national tournament two weeks ago at Bandon Dunes, the field has 136 touring pros who represent by far the strongest field of the four majors.

The PGA Championship likes to hang its hat on field strength, with 97 of the top 100 in the world. What holds it back is the feeling that it doesn’t seem much more than a PGA Tour event on some of the courses where it is played and the score that often wins.

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Scottie Scheffler won at 11-under 273 at Quail Hollow last year. Xander Schauffele won at 21-under 263 at Valhalla the year before. Single digits under par won three years in a row before that.

That will be put to the test at Aronimink, which hasn’t hosted a major since the 1962 PGA Championship won by Gary Player. A restoration project from roughly a decade ago has added some fairway bunkers and removed a lot of trees, creating a more open feel.

The greens have been the biggest topic this week, renowned for the size of the contours that put a premium on distance control with the irons.

“It’s very, very classic Northeast,” Young said. “The grasses are very familiar. The rough is pretty thick, but I feel like it’s a nice combination.”

Key to the week is the weather. The forecast changed in the PGA’s favor, with rain expected Wednesday night into the early part of the opening round, and mostly dry the rest of the week. The faster a course, the harder it gets to control shots.

That has been Scheffler’s domain that has kept him atop the world ranking for three years, helped him win last year’s PGA Championship, and makes him the betting favorite this week.

Rory McIlroy stepped into a shoe that was a half-size bigger and a little wider and had some cushion around the blister on his right pinky toe. He was all better Wednesday for nine holes of practice and doesn’t anticipate problems the rest of the week.

Young and Thomas played the front nine for their final practice session, and they will be in the same group for the opening two rounds. For a windy afternoon of practice, their fathers were following along, both golf professionals, both of whom taught their sons the game.

On Thursday, Young and Thomas and the strongest field chase after the Wanamaker Trophy.

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