By Steve Keating
TULSA, Oklahoma (Reuters) – Spectators poured into Southern Hills Country Club with the goal of getting a look at a golf super group fronted by Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship on Thursday.
It is not every tournament where fans can see a threesome who own a combined total of 22 major titles — making Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth the marquee attraction for the opening two rounds at a steamy Southern Hills.
Former PGA Championship winners John Daly, Shaun Micheel and Y.E Yang were first away at 8am ET (1200 GMT) with threesomes going off on both the first tee and 10th tees but the spotlight was already firmly focused on the 9:11 a.m. ET (1311 GMT) trio of major champions.
The threesome packs enough intriguing storylines for an entire tournament and none more compelling than Woods, who is back in action for the first time since his sensational return to competition at last month’s Masters, just 14 months after a car crash nearly claimed his right leg.
Woods has given himself a tough act to follow after carding a magnificent opening round one-under-par 71 at Augusta National then going on to make the cut before running out of steam to finish in 47th place.
Spieth is bidding to complete the coveted career Grand Slam of golf’s four majors.
If Spieth can walk away on Sunday with the Wanamaker trophy, he would become just the sixth player to complete career Grand Slam and join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods in one of golf’s most elite clubs.
A twice PGA Championship winner, McIlroy arrives in fine form having recorded top-five finishes at his last two events, including a runner-up result at the Masters that has raised hopes that the Northern Irishman can end his eight-year majors drought.
Another high-profile group featuring Scottie Scheffler, who won his first major at last month’s Masters, will head out at 2:36 p.m. ET with U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm and British Open winner Collin Morikawa.
World number one Scheffler is bidding to become the first player to win consecutive majors since Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015. The U.S. Open used to be the second major of the year until 2019, when the PGA Championship was brought forward in the golfing calendar having previously been the final major of the year for decades.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Tulsa. Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
