PGA Championship: Ranking Favorites, Contenders, and Dark Horses

Scottie Scheffler finishes 12 under par to secure his third career major title. (0:49)

It has been only a month since Rory McIlroy won his second straight green jacket in the Masters on April 12.

But it feels like so much has changed in men's professional golf as the world's best players come together at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia, which will host the 108th PGA Championship starting Thursday.

It will be the first time golfers from both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League will play together since Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announced April 30 that it will not fund the latter circuit beyond this season.

There are 11 LIV Golf players in the field, including past major champions Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm . Two-time PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson is skipping his second straight major this season because of an ongoing family health matter.

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion. He ran away with a five-stroke victory at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, last year.

Aronimink Golf Club last hosted a PGA Championship in 1962, when Gary Player won by one stroke.

The last golfer to qualify for the 155-man field was Brandt Snedeker , 45, who claimed his 10th PGA Tour victory in Sunday's ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic. Snedeker ended a winless drought of more than seven years.

Norway's Kristoffer Reitan , who picked up his first PGA Tour win in the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday, had already qualified for the field.

Here's a look at this week's field for the second major of the season, from the clear favorites to the sleepers:

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Welcome, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick , to the short list of favorites to lift a Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday. While Scheffler and McIlroy have been at the top of the sport seemingly forever, Young and Fitzpatrick have played as well as anyone this season. Young will be trying to win his first major championship this week.

Scottie Scheffler

For all the angst about Scheffler's form, the world No. 1 golfer has finished second in three straight tournaments, including the Masters. He's the first golfer since Sergio García in 2014 to accomplish that. Scheffler leads the tour in strokes gained: total (2.056), scoring average (69.37) and birdie average (5.03). He'll win again soon -- maybe this week.

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy said he feels better after his second Masters victory than his first last year, when he didn't win again on tour. Rory has made only six starts this season. He's a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, most recently at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2014. For the second straight year, he'll try to become the first player to win the Masters and PGA Championship in the same year since Jack Nicklaus in 1975.

Cameron Young

The guy who couldn't win on the PGA Tour figured out how to putt. He picked up his third win since August in the Cadillac Championship with a wire-to-wire, six-stroke victory. He picked up The Players in March and seems ready to collect his biggest trophy of all.

Matt Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick is the only three-time winner on tour this season, finishing first in the Valspar Championship, RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with his younger brother, Alex). He has climbed to No. 4 in the world rankings and is looking for his second major.

Here are the other legitimate contenders to win the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday. They have the games, guts and nerves to handle four pressure-packed rounds.

Xander Schauffele

Schauffele, who won the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla, has put together a strong run of finishes since early February. He has climbed back into the OWGR top 10. He loves Donald Ross designs, having won at East Lake and tying for third in the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink. He ranks third on tour in scrambling, which figures to be important this week.

Jon Rahm

The two-time major winner revealed earlier this week that he probably can't get out of his contract with LIV Golf unless the circuit folds. That's not good news for his legacy. Rahm won for the fourth time in the LIV League in Mexico City on April 19. He was in contention in last year's PGA Championship until he fell apart on the back nine.

Bryson DeChambeau

Another LIV Golf League captain who seems uncertain about his future , DeChambeau has already won twice on that tour this season. He finished in the top five in four of the past five PGA Championships, including runner-up in each of the past two. He won the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, which was designed by Ross. DeChambeau has been dealing with a sore wrist.

Ludvig Åberg

Surprisingly, the ultra-talented Åberg missed the cut in each of his past two starts in the PGA Championship. His game has been trending too well for it to happen again. Given his iron play and work around the greens, it wouldn't be a shocker to see him win his first major.

Justin Rose

Rose still seemed to be battling a post-Masters hangover when he tied for 65th in the Cadillac Championship. He used new McLaren Golf irons, and his initial results weren't great, losing more than three strokes on approach in the first two rounds. He was runner-up in the 2018 BMW Championship, losing to Keegan Bradley in a playoff, and won the 2010 AT&T National at Aronimink.

Russell Henley

Henley tied for third in the Masters, his best finish at Augusta National. He has yet to finish in the top 10 in 12 starts in the PGA Championship. That might change this week if his iron play improves.

Patrick Reed

The 2018 Masters champion isn't eligible to play on the PGA Tour until Aug. 25, so he hasn't teed it up competitively since tying for 12th at Augusta National. He has the short game to be a contender this week.

Collin Morikawa

Morikawa withdrew from last week's Truist Championship. He has battled a back injury since his opening hole of The Players. The two-time major winner was able to grind out a tie for seventh in the Masters. If his back holds up this week, he's capable of winning a second PGA Championship.

Harris English

English's results have been feast or famine during the past couple of months. He was runner-up in last year's PGA Championship, finishing five strokes behind Scheffler. He might be a contender again if his putter heats up.

Tommy Fleetwood

The reigning FedEx Cup champion has five top-10 finishes this season. His work on the greens has prevented him from winning; he ranks 97th on tour in strokes gained: putting (-.128). He had lost strokes on approach in consecutive events before the Truist Championship.

Robert MacIntyre

The Scottish golfer's form has cooled off since tying for second at the Valero Texas Open. If he flips a bird at Aronimink Golf Club this week, he might become a fan favorite outside Philly.

Tyrrell Hatton

Last week, Hatton confirmed that he also has a multiyear contract with LIV Golf, in which he's arguably one of the three or four best golfers. He finished 60th or worse in the past two PGA Championships.

Chris Gotterup

Gotterup picked up two victories in Hawaii and Phoenix at the start of the season, and the law of averages caught him in the past few events. He tied for 24th in his Masters debut, which is no small feat.

Viktor Hovland

It looked as though Hovland was turning the corner with a tie for 18th in the Masters, but then he tied for 42nd in the RBC Heritage and 38th in the Cadillac Championship. As good as he was three years ago, it's surprising he hasn't won a major yet.

Akshay Bhatia

Bhatia got back on track after missing the cut, tying for 16th in the RBC Heritage and 23rd in the Cadillac Championship. He ranks 15th in approach (.528) and third in putting (.848).

Hideki Matsuyama

The PGA Championship hasn't been much fun for the 2021 Masters champion. He missed the cut last year and hasn't finished in the top 25 since tying for 23rd in 2021.

Brooks Koepka

Remember when Koepka would show up at a PGA Championship and say that the majors were sometimes the easiest tournaments to win? Ah, those were the days. Koepka's return to the PGA Tour has been up and down. A fourth PGA Championship victory would tie Tiger Woods for third most in history (Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen won five).

Ben Griffin

After struggling in the Florida Swing, Griffin seems to be turning things around. He tied for 10th in the Zurich Classic team event and was solo third in the Cadillac Championship. He tied for eighth at Quail Hollow last year.

Here are the sleeper candidates to win the PGA Championship. This tier includes a few previous major champions, winners on tour this season and a handful of players who have made comebacks this season.

Rickie Fowler

Fowler stacked up top-10s in his past three starts in the RBC Heritage, Cadillac Championship and Truist Championship. His last PGA Tour victory came in the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Ross-designed Detroit Golf Club. He ranks 20th on tour in putting (.484) and 19th in driving accuracy (63.2%).

Patrick Cantlay

Cantlay's game finally showed some signs of life with three straight top-12 finishes in the Valspar Championship, Masters and RBC Heritage. His putting has held him back from doing more; he's 110th in strokes gained on the greens (-.219).

Jake Knapp

Knapp withdrew from the past two signature events because of a sprained left thumb. He was red-hot during the West Coast swing and finished 11th in the Masters. If Knapp is healthy, he might be a contender this week.

Jordan Spieth

This will be Spieth's ninth attempt to complete the career Grand Slam; he'd become the seventh golfer to do it. His last major championship victory came in the 2017 Open Championship. Spieth doesn't have a top-10 finish this season.

Sepp Straka

Straka posted 68-66 on the weekend to tie for fourth in the Cadillac Championship at 11 under. It was his second top-five finish this season. He didn't play well in the majors last season and tied for 41st in the Masters.

Shane Lowry

Lowry doesn't have a top-20 finish since blowing a late lead in the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches on Feb. 26. Maybe the golf gods will throw him a bone this week. He had top-12 finishes in his past seven PGA Championship starts.

Joaquín Niemann

Niemann is a seven-time winner in the LIV Golf League, but he finished outside of the top 10 in six of his first seven starts in 2026. He tied for eighth in last year's PGA Championship, his only top-10 in 26 starts in majors.

Justin Thomas

Other than a tie for 23rd in the Cadillac Championship, it has been a tough stretch recently for Thomas since he tied for eighth in The Players. He is 121st in strokes gained: total (-.465), 103rd in approach (-.142) and 152nd in putting (-.605). The two-time PGA Championship winner still seems to be figuring things out after undergoing back surgery in November, although he played much better at Quail Hollow.

Sam Burns

Burns is playing better in the majors with three top-10 finishes in his past seven starts. He tied for seventh in the Masters.

Wyndham Clark

Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open winner, came out of a difficult stretch with three straight top-25s, including a tie for 21st in the Masters. Will he putt well enough to contend?

Jacob Bridgeman

Bridgeman has cooled off after his torrid start to the season, and that was to be expected. He still ranks No. 1 on tour in putting (1.106), so he could be a real sleeper.

Jason Day

Day seemed to break through a rough stretch by tying for sixth in the Texas Children's Houston Open and for 12th in the Masters. Hopefully, Malbon doesn't get too crazy with his outfits this week. Those Philly fans can be rough.

Keegan Bradley

This year's results haven't been great for Bradley, who didn't finish higher than a tie for 12th in his first 10 starts. At least he has fond memories of Aronimink, where he outlasted Rose to win the rain-plagued FedEx Cup Playoff event in 2018.

J.J. Spaun

The reign

_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/page/PGArankings2026/2026-pga-championship-ranking-favorites-contenders-hopefuls)._