The second Major of the season, the PGA Championship, takes place at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, this week as a 156-runner field tee it up in pursuit of the Wanamaker Trophy.
Scottie Scheffler was the talk of the town in April as he won a second Masters title at Augusta National before following up in the RBC Heritage, and while the world number one remains the man to beat, Rory McIlroy is looming large following back-to-back wins of his own.
McIlroy claimed the Zurich Classic pairs event alongside close friend Shane Lowry, then he doubled up at the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday, and now he returns to Valhalla, the course where he won his last Major at the 2014 PGA.
This Jack Nicklaus design, which also hosted the tournament in 1996 and 2000, is a par-71 measuring in excess of 7,600 yards and the layout looks set to play into the hands of longer hitters with rain softening the course in the build-up to this year's event.
- BROOKS KOPPKA TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
- BRYSON DECHAMBEAUTO WIN AND EACH-WAY
- MAX HOMA TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
Koepka Poised To Upstage Big Two
Scheffler became a father for the first time over the weekend and his preparation has been far from ideal, while McIlroy looks on the short side now with a ten-year Major itch still to scratch.
They are the two form picks but, at more generous odds, it could pay to side with the most dominant Major performer of the last decade, Brooks Koepka, who can successfully defend his PGA crown.
Koepka, champion at Oak Hill 12 months ago, already has five Major titles to his name - one more than McIlroy - and he has positive experience of Valhalla, finishing 15th in 2014 when ranked outside the world's top 70.
The 34-year-old Floridian underwhelmed at the Masters but he has since finished ninth at LIV Golf Adelaide before winning in Singapore on his last start.
BROOKS KOEPKA TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
DeChambeauShould Relish Test Of Power
Another LIV Golf star will be licking his lips at the thought of playing a rain-soaked Valhalla and there is every chance of power-packed Bryson DeChambeau contending for a second Major title this week.
DeChambeau has finished down the field in the last two LIV tournaments but he'd previously finished in a share of sixth at the Masters and he's got form in states that border Kentucky - he won the Memorial Tournament on a Jack Nicklaus course in Ohio in 2018 and his LIV victories came in West Virginia and Illinois.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU TO WIN AND EACH-WAY
Homa Can Build On Masters Effort
Max Homa has won six times on the PGA Tour without ever threatening to win a Major but that all changed at the Masters as the popular Californian finished third having threatened to challenge Scheffler heading into the back nine on Sunday.
That was a huge step in the right direction for Homa, who possesses the long-game class to handle Valhalla and who warmed up with an eighth-place finish at last week's Wells Fargo.
