PGA Championship 2024 Predictions: Our Editors Pick a Winner at Valhalla

Kentucky's Valhalla Golf Club has crowned big names in previous PGA Championships. Is another one in the cards this week?

John Schwarb, Bob Harig, Jeff Ritter, John Pluym, Pat Forde | May 15, 2024

Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa and Scottie Scheffler (clockwise from top left) have our attention. /

The 106th PGA Championship begins Thursday, and as usual there is no lack of storylines going into a major.

The defending champion is Brooks Koepka, whose inner drive is underrated and whose game has rounded into form with a recent LIV Golf win.

Speaking of recent wins, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler stacked up four in five starts including the Masters before taking a three-week break to welcome his first child. Now he's back to work and is the betting favorite at Valhalla.

The other superstar coming to Kentucky off a win in his last start is Rory McIlroy, who romped last week at Quail Hollow and returns to where he won his last major 10 years ago.

Tiger Woods is always a story when he plays, which hasn't been often this year. He said “I wish my game was a little bit sharper” but nonetheless he'll give it a go at Valhalla, where in 2000 he won a duel for the ages.

As for Valhalla itself, the Jack Nicklaus-designed course has had a penchant for drama in major championships. Keep an eye on five holes in particular to perhaps decide who wins—and who doesn't.

But who will win? SI Golf's writers and editors have an opinion. Let us know yours on the SI Golf X account.

Pat Forde, SI Senior Writer: Two weeks after a thrilling, three-horse photo finish in the Kentucky Derby, I'm predicting another three-way battle for victory at the PGA. I can see Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele all dueling down the stretch, and I'm going to pick the one with the least amount of fresh family tumult to win—Schauffele. He's due to capture a major.

Bob Harig, SI Golf Senior Writer: Rory McIlroy. It’s going to happen one of these days. McIlroy is too good to not have another major after all this time. He’s recent form and a course he likes make a difference.

John Pluym, SI.com Managing Editor: Rory McIlroy. He played an unbelievable back nine (the double bogey didn't matter) to win the Wells Fargo. He also won the Zurich with Shane Lowery. He's hot right now. Maybe even hotter than Scottie Scheffler, who is just returning to the golf course after his wife had a baby. If McIlroy continues to hammer 350-yard drives and keep the ball in the fairway, we could have the makings of a two-person fight for player of the year.

Jeff Ritter, SI Golf Managing Director: Through nearly five months, we’re right on the cusp of witnessing a historic season, and Scottie Scheffler has a chance to win again, which would send this conversation into a new stratosphere and put the world on Grand Slam Watch. I like him to fend off two LIV guys, Koepka and Rahm, to win the Wanamaker.

John Schwarb, SI Golf Senior Editor: Max Homa is trending in the big ones: T10 at last year’s British Open, T3 last month at the Masters. He’s had the game but needed the self-belief. There has been a first-time major champion in each of the last nine years, so why not make it 10 and make it Max?

Published May 15, 2024

JOHN SCHWARB

John Schwarb is a senior editor for Sports Illustrated covering golf. Prior to joining SI in March 2022, he worked for ESPN.com, PGATour.com, Tampa Bay Times and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is the author of The Little 500: The Story of the World's Greatest College Weekend. A member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Schwarb has a bachelor's in journalism from Indiana University.

BOB HARIG

Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.

JEFF RITTER

Jeff Ritter is the managing director of SI Golf. He has more than 20 years of sports media experience, and previously was the general manager at the Morning Read, where he led that business's growth and joined SI as part of an acquisition in 2022. Earlier in his career he spent more than a decade at SI and Golf Magazine, and his journalism awards include a MIN Magazine Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

JOHN PLUYM

John Pluym is the managing editor for NFL and golf content at Sports Illustrated. A sports history buff, he joined SI in April 2022 after having spent 10 years at ESPN overseeing NFL coverage. Pluym has won several awards throughout his career, including honors from the Society of News Design and Associated Press Sports Editors. As a native Minnesotan, he enjoys spending time on his boat and playing golf.

PAT FORDE

Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast and is a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.