Will Zalatoris told reporters that a group of players nearly asked for the second round of the PGA Championship to be postponed after the harrowing early morning hours Friday.

• According to The Athletic, Zalatoris said the conversation among the players lasted around 30 minutes after the death of a pedestrian and the arrest of No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler on a felony charge of assault on a police officer.

  "Some of the guys were talking about, wondering if we should even play today," Zalatoris said, according to the report. "At one point there were a group of guys in the locker room talking about going to the PGA of America about it, but I think it was dead in the water in the locker room. It was bizarre. We just didn't know ... when Scottie was going to get out, any of the details."

  The arrest came as Scheffler tried to enter Valhalla Golf Club as he drove in a player-marked courtesy car. The 27-year-old was attempting to drive around the site of a fatal accident that occurred, per Louisville Metro Police, at 5:09 a.m. ET. In that incident, a shuttle bus struck and killed an adult male pedestrian as he was crossing the road near the front gate of Valhalla. The man was a vendor working at the tournament.

  Scheffler was arrested and charged with four offenses: second-degree assault on a police officer, a felony, as well as third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.

  Scheffler was released from custody after being booked at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, his mug shot taken while wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit. He was released in time to make his tee time, which was pushed back by 80 minutes for all players because of the traffic jam that resulted from the accident.

  Zalatoris, who is a friend of Scheffler, said he thought the round should have at least been delayed a few hours to address the situation.

  "The fatality happened, hey it was maybe, ‘Let's not try to rush this thing in.' It happened right in front of the gates," Zalatoris said. "‘Let's push this back three to four hours or something and we can make it up on the weekend.' When it happened with Scottie, we were just all shell-shocked and didn't know what to do or think or say. In 20/20 hindsight, maybe a four- or five-hour delay just to let the (police) do their business and let them handle everything that happened because a life was lost and let us come in as normal as possible, and unfortunately world No. 1 got arrested. This is the world of golf to a T right now. There's no such thing as normality."

  Scheffler, whose arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. ET, shot a 5-under 66 on Friday and is 9-under par after the first two days of competition.

  --Field Level Media

Done in by a pair of triple bogeys early in his round, Tiger Woods carded a 6-over-par 77 on Friday and will miss the cut at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Ky.

• Woods was unable to improve on the 1-over 72 he shot Thursday morning at Valhalla Golf Club. At 7-over 149, Woods was tied for 134th out of 155 in the field when the second round was suspended due to darkness.

  Woods, 48, has not made the cut at the PGA Championship since 2020, when he tied for 37th. It was the 15-time major champion's first start since making his record 24th straight cut at the Masters last month at Augusta National.

  After his round, Woods said he feels better physically than he did a month ago but he needs to get more reps before the U.S. Open next month at Pinehurst No. 2.

  "I need to play more," Woods told reporters. "Unfortunately, I just haven't played a whole lot of tournaments, and not a whole lot of tournaments on my schedule either. Hopefully everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for Pinehurst."

  Woods went 7 over in a three-hole stretch at Nos. 2-4 on Friday, with triple-bogey 7s sandwiching a bogey at the par-3 third hole. At the second, he had a shot fly from one greenside bunker to another before getting on the green in five strokes and finishing with two putts.

  He was in the sand again at No. 4 when his third shot failed to get up onto the green. His first attempt to get out of the green caught the upper lip and the ball rolled back down to his feet. Again, it took him five shots to land on the green.

  Woods went on to make back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7-8 before they were erased by consecutive bogeys at Nos. 11-12. He finished his week with a birdie at the par-5 18th hole.

  "I got off to bad start and the rough grabbed me at 2," Woods said. "No sand in the bunker as well. Just made a mistake there. I compounded the problem there at 4. Just kept making mistakes and things you can't do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. And I just kept making them. I hung around for most of the day, but unfortunately the damage was done early."

  Woods said there is plenty to fix in his game before he returns to competition.

  "I need to clean up my rounds," he said. "But also -- physically, yes, I am better than I was a month ago. I still have more ways to go, lots of improvement to go physically, and hopefully my team and I can get that done pre-Pinehurst and going into it."

  Woods was playing at the site of his 2000 PGA Championship victory -- the third leg of the "Tiger Slam," which saw him win all four major championships consecutively from 2000-01.

  "The week, it was a great week being here, being here at Valhalla, and unfortunately my scores did not indicate how the people treated me and how great a week I had," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I hit too many shots."

  --Field Level Media

Long described as a level-headed, wholesome family man whose dominance in the game of golf bordered on boring, Scottie Scheffler now has a mugshot in an orange jumpsuit and a scheduled arraignment on his resume.

• Scheffler's peers at the PGA Championship were as shocked as anyone that the No. 1 golfer in the world was arrested hours before the second round of the major Friday at Valhalla Golf Club.

  "You kind of take it all in, and talking amongst all the players and caddies and physios and our little bubble in there, and it's just wild," Harris English said after his round. "Turn on ESPN and seeing Scottie in handcuffs, getting in a police car, I never would have thought I would have seen that this morning."

  A shuttle bus was involved in a fatal collision outside the course at 5:09 a.m., which caused a traffic back-up. Just after 6, after Scheffler tried to drive around the accident, he was arrested and charged with assault of a police officer (a felony), reckless driving, disregard of traffic signals from officers and third-degree criminal mischief. ESPN reported that an officer "attached himself to the side of Scheffler's car" before the vehicle stopped.

  Scheffler said in a statement he merely misunderstood the direction officers had given him, and his attorney said multiple eyewitnesses confirmed Scheffler was only "proceeding as directed."

  Australian Min Woo Lee was one of multiple golfers in the field to tweet the hashtag #FreeScottie.

  "I thought it was a little overreaction," Lee later said of Scheffler's arrest. "Personally I went around traffic, and I was following cars -- a Lexus car that was one of the courtesy cars. I just thought it was more -- I thought it was a bit of an overreaction. A lot of people were doing it. He was in a courtesy car, too, so I don't know what kind of caused it."

  English echoed the fact -- also in ESPN's reporting -- that other golfers got around the accident and onto the property.

  "We had no idea what was going on. That could have been any one of us," English said. "We're all taking that same route coming into the club."

  Scheffler proceeded to make his tee time with Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark, shot a 5-under 66 and moved to 9 under par for the week.

  Scheffler was seen sharing a laugh with Harman as they headed to their tee time. In a pre-round interview with ESPN, Harman added to the chorus of players supporting the 27-year-old from Texas.

  "I don't know all the details, but I know, knowing Scottie, that he is one hell of a dude and I am sure glad he's gonna be out here to play," Harman said.

  "He's one of those guys that smiles at you when he beats the brakes off you."

  Harman said that amid the chaos, the players' locker room was "just supportive" hoping Scheffler would be able to play.

  "We're all here, we all got a job to do and it's a tough deal, but I'm happy to see him walking right over there," Harman said.

  Englishman Ian Poulter, a member of LIV Golf not in the field this week, asserted that too much attention was being paid to Scheffler compared to the victim of the original accident, an employee for a PGA vendor named John Mills.

  "What's more concerning is the tragic loss of life at the PGA to a spectator hit by a bus," Poulter posted. "Thoughts to the families affected by that news. Rather than all the press around Scottie. Sad day in golf."

  --Field Level Media

The police officer who attempted to prevent Scottie Scheffler from entering Valhalla Golf Club for the second round of the PGA Championship on Friday morning was dragged to the ground and suffered "pain, swelling and abrasions" to his left wrist and knee, according to an incident report filed by the Louisville (Ky.) Metro Police Department.

• Per the report, Detective Bryan Gillis was directing traffic near Gate 1 of Valhalla. He was wearing a full police uniform and a "high-visibility yellow reflective rain jacket."

  The arrest came as Scheffler, 27, tried to enter Valhalla as he drove in a player-marked courtesy car. The 27-year-old was attempting to drive around the site of a fatal accident that occurred, per Louisville Metro Police, at 5:09 a.m. ET. It that incident, a shuttle bus struck and killed an adult male pedestrian as he was crossing the road near the front gate of Valhalla. The man was a vendor working at the tournament.

  Per the report, Gillis stopped Scheffler to give instructions but the latter "refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground." The report also noted that Gillis' uniform pants were damaged beyond repair and that he was transported to a local hospital for further medical evaluation.

  Scheffler, the world's No. 1 golfer, was arrested and charged with four offenses: second-degree assault on a police officer, a felony, as well as third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregrading signals from officers directing traffic.

  According to the Louisville Courier Journal, a conviction on a second-degree assault charge calls for five to 10 years in prison on Kentucky.

  Louisville attorney Steve Romines, hired Friday to represent Scheffler, told the newspaper that the golfer "didn't do anything wrong."

  "He was following the instructions of another traffic control officer and trying to get into the facility to warm up and work out," Romines said.

  Scheffler was released from custody after being booked at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, his mug shot taken while wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit. He was released in time to make his tee time, which was pushed back by 80 minutes for all players because of the traffic jam that resulted from the accident.

  He shot a 5-under 66 on Friday, standing at 9-under par after the first two days of competition.

  An arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. ET.

  --Field Level Media

John Daly withdrew from the PGA Championship prior to the start of the second round on Friday due to a thumb injury.

• Daly, 58, carded an 11-over-par 82 in the first round on Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

  Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship as well as the 1995 Open Championship.

  A five-time PGA Tour winner, Daly made his 30th career start at the tournament on Thursday. He has withdrawn from the event on three occasions.

  --Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It was a day the world's top golfer could have never expected.

• Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged with felony assault after an incident with Metro Police trying to get into Valhalla Golf Club after 6 a.m. He was released from jail at 8:40 and teed off in the second round of the PGA Championship at 10:08 a.m.

  And then the reigning Masters champion played like nothing out of the ordinary happened, carding a 5-under-par 66. He is at 9 under for the first two days of the PGA and trailed midday leader Collin Morikawa by two strokes.

  "It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding," Scheffler said of his arrest after the round. "I can't comment on any of the specifics of it, so I feel like y'all are going to be disappointed, but I can't comment on any specifics, but my situation will be handled. It was just a big misunderstanding."

  It all started with a fatal accident on Shelbyville Road, the four-lane road at the entrance of Valhalla. It's the only road that leads into the golf course. A PGA vendor later identified as John Mills was struck by a bus and killed while trying to cross the road at 5:09 a.m.

  The road was shut down in both directions for police to investigate.

  According to ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who witnessed the incident, Scheffler drove past a police officer a little after 6 a.m. in his PGA Championship vehicle. An officer screamed at him to stop and then grabbed onto the car and Scheffler continued to drive for about 10-15 yards. According to the police report, officer Bryan Gillis was dragged to the ground, suffered "pain and swelling, and abrasions in his left wrist and knee" and his uniform pants were "damaged beyond repair."

  Louisville police said Scheffler was booked on four charges, including second-degree assault of a police officer. He is also charged with third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.

  "I was just really confused," Scheffler said. "I was doing my best to defuse the situation really. Yeah, I was just sitting there just trying to remain as calm as possible. Like I said, it was pretty chaotic with what had happened this morning. Once again, I can't imagine what the family is going through. But like I said, I was doing my best to defuse whatever was going on, so I was just sitting there in the back of the car just listening to the police officer as he's trying to figure out who I am, figure out my name.

  "They were trying to find me in the system, but there was something wrong with going across state lines with the Social Security Number and stuff like that. All around, it was a very confusing and chaotic situation, but I did my best to just follow instructions and do as I was told as I was sitting there handcuffed."

  Scheffler said he was confused at what was happening and shaking most of the time. He sat in a holding cell Friday morning and saw his face on ESPN, when he learned tee times were delayed 80 minutes due to the accident and traffic.

  "I didn't know what time it was. I didn't know what was going on," he said. "When I was sitting in like the holding cell or whatever, there was a TV there and I could see myself on the TV on ESPN. ‘Get Up' was on, so in the corner it showed the time and it said they were delayed, and I was kind of thinking about my tee time, I was like, well, maybe I could be able to get out."

  Despite being "rattled," Scheffler said there was never any thought of not playing.

  "You know, the officer took me to the jail, was very kind, was great. Kind of had a nice chat. Calmed me down," Scheffler said. "This one older officer looked at me, I was doing my fingerprints, he was like: ‘You want the full experience today?' I'm like, I don't know how to answer that. He said, ‘Do you want a sandwich?' I go ‘Sure, I'll take a sandwich, didn't eat breakfast or anything.'"

  Scheffler obtained legal counsel from Louisville attorney Steve Romines and was released at 8:40 a.m. He was driven back to Valhalla and arrived at 9:12 in the back of a car that had Jimmy Kirchdorfer, one of the Valhalla owners, in the front.

  Scheffler went into the clubhouse and emerged as he headed towards the practice area around 9:30 a.m. His tee time was 10:08.

  The 27-year-old said it took a couple of holes for his mind and game to settle in, but he did start at No. 10 and went birdie, bogey, birdie. He ended up shooting 34 on the back nine and then made three birdies on the front for a 32.

  "I feel like my head is still spinning," he said. "I can't really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me. That was part of my warmup. I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warmup, I felt like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and play. I started going through my routine and I tried to get my heart rate down as much as I could today, but like I said, I still feel like my head is spinning a little bit. But I was fortunate to be able to make it back out and play some golf today."

  He added: "As far as best rounds of my career, I would say it was pretty good. I definitely never imagined ever going to jail, and I definitely never imagined going to jail the morning before one of my tee times for sure."

  --Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- An opening round of 66 put Rory McIlroy three shots back of the lead at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Course and he hit the clubhouse on Thursday in a defensive mood.

• The 2014 PGA Championship winner on these same grounds, McIlroy was suggestively queried about leaving "a few out there," insinuating his 5-under-par first round could've been better.

  "I don't know about that," McIlroy said. "I sort of felt like it was pretty scrappy for the most part. I don't really feel like I left many out there. I thought I got a lot out of my game today. Some good up-and-downs, the chip-in on 6. I had a little bit of a scrappy part around the turn there, but overall really happy with -- not really happy with how I played but at least happy with the score."

  When McIlroy retraces similarities to his last major win, it's hard to ignore he started that tournament with a first-round 66. McIlroy followed with rounds of 67, 67 and 68 to beat Phil Mickelson by one shot at 16-under.

  McIlroy might have saved his round, and more, on Thursday during a two-hole stretch with a scramble par on the 18th hole before banking a birdie off the flagstick on the start of his back nine at No. 1.

  "It was huge. I could have easily bogeyed 18 and been back to even par, and then again, that ball on 1 could have hit the flagstick and went anywhere," he said. "I could have made bogey from that. Potentially being 1-over par through 10, I'm 2-under. So it's a three-shot difference. It's a big swing."

  Rain softened the course which was evident early Thursday. McIlroy said he senses red numbers will be a tournament trend even if the greens become "a touch firmer" because the general take was Valhalla was very forgiving.

  "It's soft. Greens are really soft, especially for the guys that played last week at Quail Hollow where the greens were particularly firm," said McIlroy. "You come to greens like this, second shots are easier. Chip shots are easier if you do miss the greens."

  --Field Level Media

Tiger Woods saw another solid effort unravel before the finish line as he carded a 1-over-par 72 in the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday.

• A bogey-bogey finish left Woods 10 shots off the lead of Xander Schauffele, who finished with a 9-under 62.

  Woods began his round on the back nine at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., the site of the second of his four PGA Championship victories 24 years ago. He made the turn on Thursday in 1-over 37 and got back to even par with a birdie on the par-3 third hole, his 12th of the day.

  Woods got under par for the first -- and only -- time with another birdie on the seventh, but promptly gave it back with a three-putt on the par-3 eighth hole. His par putt on the ninth slid right of the cup for another three-putt bogey.

  "It was a grind today, certainly," Woods told ESPN after the round. "I didn't drive it particularly well all day. I struggled with the speed of the greens being a little quicker today. I smoked a few past the hole and three-whooped the last two holes."

  For the day, Woods hit 9 of 14 fairways, 13 of 18 greens and converted all three sand save opportunities. He also made 93 feet worth of putts, but it was the final two holes that left a sour taste.

  "It wasn't the way that I like to finish off rounds," he said. "But a long way to go, and we'll see what happens."

  Woods is competing for the first time since making the cut at the Masters last month. An 82-77 finish at Augusta National over the weekend left the 15-time major champion last among those who made the cut.

  He's hoping for a better outcome this week, but will first need to make the 36-hole cut. Woods, who missed the cut at Valhalla in 2014 while dealing with back issues and has battled back from serious knee and leg issues, said it helps that he has more time between rounds as he'll play in the afternoon wave on Friday.

  "It is what it is," Woods said of how his body felt after Thursday's round. "It's competition. And getting out there and competing, it's a long grind out there.

  "I just wish I would have been a little bit more consistent with my driving today and done a little bit better on the greens."

  --Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Xander Schauffle traced his own name in the record books with a 9-under-par 62 in the first round of the PGA Championship, good for the course record Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club and the clubhouse lead in the second major of the season.

• Schauffele now has two of the four rounds of 62 in major championship history. Schauffele posted a 62 in the first round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023. Rickie Fowler also carded a round of 62 at the 2023 U.S. Open, and Branden Grace of South Africa hit the mark in the third round of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2017.

  After his opening-round 62 at the U.S. Open last summer, Schauffele posted three rounds in the 70s and finished in a four-way tie for 10th.

  Schauffele, who has never won a major, fired a bogey-free opening round Thursday with nine birdies. After starting his round on the back nine and collecting five birdies, with four more on his back nine, he arrived to his final hole looking for the field's sixth birdie of the day at No. 9.

  A 33-foot putt that would have given Schauffele a 61 was right of the cup, and he made a 3-footer to end his round.

  The course record at Valhalla belonged to Jose Maria Olazabal with a 63 in the 2000 PGA Championship. Club professional Michael Block also shot 63 at Valhalla in August 2023 in a non-tournament setting.

  Schauffele hit the clubhouse on Thursday afternoon just after 1 p.m. local time with a three-shot lead over Tony Finau, who was still on the course. Among players to complete the first round, Rory McIlroy was four shots back (66) and Ben Kohles (67) was five back.

  Schauffele said he could be playing the best golf of his career right now.

  "Probably, yeah," he said. "I feel there's spurts, moments in time where you feel like you can control the ball really well; you're seeing the greens really well; you're chipping really well. But over a prolonged period, it's tough to upkeep high performance.

  "Yeah, I'd say it's very close to it if not it."

  --Field Level Media

An illness forced defending champion Rose Zhang to withdraw from the Mizuho Americas Open on Thursday after just three holes.

• Zhang began the opening round on the back nine at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J. She parred Nos. 10 and 12 and posted a double bogey on the par-3 11th hole before leaving the course.

  Zhang collected her first LPGA Tour title at this tournament last June and earned her second victory last weekend at the Cognizant Founders Cup in Clifton, N.J., snapping Nelly Korda's record-tying run of five straight titles.

  The next scheduled start for Zhang, who turns 21 next week, is the U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club, which runs from May 30 to June 2.

  --Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It looked like Xander Schauffele all but had his eighth PGA Tour win in hand last week.

• And then he had to play the final 11 holes at the Wells Fargo Championship.

  The 30-year-old Schauffele saw a two-shot lead turn into a five-shot loss as Rory McIlroy pulled even with birdies at No. 8 and 9 and then stormed past him to a victory.

  "Last week was a bit of a buzz saw," Schauffele said. "I felt like if someone would have told me I'd shoot (1-under) at Quail Hollow on Sunday and lose -- it's just a testament to how good Rory played. When someone like him is firing on all cylinders, he's a tough man to beat, and he proved that on Sunday."

  In golf, Schauffele said you have to have a short-term memory.

  The seven-time PGA Tour champion has put it behind him and is now ready to contend at the 106th PGA Championship, which starts on Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club.

  "I'm playing really good golf," Schauffele said. "At the end of the day, when I go to sleep, I remind myself that I'm playing at a really high level. I've put myself in position. Seven years ago I won twice quickly, I had high expectations, then I didn't win for a year or two, then I won two or three times in a year. It's just kind of how it goes sometimes."

  Schauffele, the No. 3 ranked player in the world, is making his first trip to Valhalla.

  He's prepared there all week and said he's been impressed with the course.

  "It's kind of a tale of two nines," he said. "The front nine is much more open. The holes do shape with bunkers. The back nine, there's a lot more trees. The routing is a little bit different. It's sort of tighter almost.

  "Really good finishing stretch. Just beastly holes in 16, 17 and 18."

  Schauffele has finished in the top 25 in eight straight events, including an eighth at the Masters last month. He said he's prepared well this week, also trying to take care of his body.

  "You try and conserve energy," he said. "It's easy when you're on these massive properties to want to get your game in a perfect spot. Us pros like to keep chipping away at what's wrong in our game. Just because it's a major, you want to feel like everything is firing on all cylinders, but at the same time, these rounds are going to be over six hours is my guess. It's just a long walk

  ". . . I've tried to practice each morning just depending on the weather, not really knowing this golf course. Get a little bit of training in, and at the end of the day trying to sleep as much as possible because I know come the weekend you're going to need some rest."

  McElroy's winning score in 2014 at Valhalla was 16-under-par and the tournament has come down to the final holes all three of the previous times the PGA has been held there.

  Schauffele hopes he's there in the end, but knows it will be a dramatic finish.

  "Definitely I think gear up for a really exciting finish, and it's a beast of a property," he said. "With it sort of raining each day, the rough is getting long. The greens are receptive, but the course is still very long. Just because the greens are receptive you're still coming in with like a 5-, 6-iron and not like a wedge or 9-iron very often."

  --Jody Demling, Field Level Media

With storylines ranging from Scottie Scheffler's return to the course to Rory McIlroy's quest to end his major drought to Tiger Woods' latest attempt to recapture the magic, golf's greatest questions and most compelling figures have converged at the PGA Championship.

• Usually considered the sport's least popular major, the PGA Championship has plenty going for it this week when the competition gets underway Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

  Scheffler is the prohibitive favorite to win even as he comes back from a multi-week break to attend the birth of his first child, a son named Bennett. When the golfing world last saw Scheffler, he was winning everything in sight, including the Masters and the RBC Heritage (a signature event) in back-to-back weeks.

  Scheffler has obtained two green jackets but has yet to win any other major. If he prevails this week at Valhalla, the calendar Grand Slam wouldn't be pie in the sky.

  "I may win a lot of major championships. I may be stuck at two the rest of my career. It doesn't really concern me in the moment," Scheffler said. "I'm just trying to prepare as best as possible for this week."

  On the opposite end of the spectrum is McIlroy, the Northern Irishman who is filing for divorce and hasn't won a major in 10 years. He's arrived at the site of his last major triumph, the 2014 PGA, riding the wave of the consecutive wins at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (a team event won with Shane Lowry) and last week's Wells Fargo Championship, where he led the field in driving and ranked top-10 in every relevant stat.

  If Scheffler and McIlroy are the dueling favorites, Brooks Koepka should be right on their tails. Not only is Koepka the defending champion after a victory at Oak Hill last May, he has won three of the past six editions of the event.

  "I'm just looking forward to a major championship," the member of LIV Golf said. "That's kind of my -- (it) gets my excitement going. Something I look forward to all year. So yeah, look, I always enjoy competing against these guys, and anytime you get the best, it's always good, and you just want them to play their best, too. You want to go out and win it."

  Something Scheffler, McIlroy and Koepka have in common this week besides major pedigree is the ability to drive the golf ball better than the rest. Valhalla, a par-71 course, will measure 7,609 yards this week, and players will need to be both long and straight to contend.

  "I think this is a golf course that allows you to play with freedom because it's a big golf course," McIlroy said. "The corridors are wide, not too dissimilar to last week at Quail Hollow, so you can open your shoulders up off the tee and try to take your chances from there."

  McIlroy isn't the only star who's proved himself at Valhalla. Woods won the 2000 PGA Championship here, the third leg of his 2000-01 "Tiger Slam," by beating Bob May in a three-hole playoff.

  Woods, 48, is sure to attract his own crowds this week as he plays the PGA for the second time since 2020 after a made cut at the Masters. He withdrew after making the cut at the 2022 PGA and did not play in 2023 as he needed post-Masters ankle surgery.

  "My body's OK. It is what it is," Woods said. "I wish my game was a little bit sharper. Again, I don't have a lot of competitive reps, so I am having to rely on my practice sessions and getting stuff done either at home or here on-site."

  Of the 156 players in the field, the top 70 and ties after two rounds will make the cut.

  Players on the rise who could contend for their first major title include Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, Max Homa, Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and Byeong Hun An of South Korea.

  --Field Level Media

The second major of 2024 tees off Thursday with the first round of the 106th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky.

• Our golf experts preview the tournament and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.

  106th PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

  Location: Louisville, Ky., May 16-19

  Course: Valhalla Golf Club (Par 71, 7,609 Yards)

  Purse: TBA. $17.5M in 2023 (Winner: $3.15M)

  Defending Champion: Brooks Koepka

  FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler

  HOW TO FOLLOW

  TV/Streaming: Thursday: 7 a.m.-noon ET (ESPN+), noon-8 p.m. (ESPN); Friday: 7 a.m.-noon (ESPN+), noon-7 p.m. (ESPN); Saturday-Sunday: 8-10 a.m. (ESPN+), 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN), 1-7 p.m. (CBS).

  X: @PGAChampionship

  PROP PICKS

  --Tiger Woods to Miss Cut (-225 at DraftKings): Tiger made the cut against a much smaller field at the Masters and hasn't played since. Valhalla is a different beast than the one he tamed in winning 24 years ago, and just walking the lengthy track for two days could prove a significant challenge.

  --David Puig Top 40 (+250 at BetMGM): The young Spaniard sits 109th in the world while plying his trade primarily for LIV Golf. But he did earn a special invite courtesy of his win in Malaysia along with three other top-10 finishes on the Asia Tour this year. In two major appearances in 2023, Puig finished T14 at St. Andrews and T39 in the U.S. Open.

  --Jon Rahm to Beat Xander Schauffele (+130 at DraftKings): Rahm hasn't won an individual event since joining LIV, but he has racked up consistent top-10 finishes. After a miserable showing at the Masters, he will be motivated to show his game isn't deteriorating. Schauffele is the -165 favorite, hence the decent payout for a winning bet on Rahm. While Schauffele struggles to close, he's coming off his eighth top-10 in 11 starts this year.

  2024 Prop Picks Record: 26-28-1

  BEST BETS

  --Scottie Scheffler (+450 at BetMGM) has won four of his past five starts, including the Masters, and tied for second in the other. He is coming off a three-week break for the birth of his first child, but is the book's biggest liability while being backed by the most total bets (18.2%) and money (29.4%) to win since opening at +750.

  --Rory McIlroy (+750) has won his past two starts as he seeks his first major championship since 2014, which came at Valhalla. He's the book's third-biggest liability, drawing 13.3 percent of the money since opening at +1100.

  --Brooks Koepka (+1400) is a three-time winner of the event and won his most recent LIV Golf start. His odds have lengthened slightly since opening at +1200, but he's BetMGM's second-biggest liability with 14.5 percent of the money backing him to win.

  --Xander Schauffele (+1400) is seeking his first career major title and his first victory in nearly two years after being unable to capitalize on his 54-hole lead last week.

  --Jon Rahm (+1800) has had his odds lengthen significantly since opening at +800. He doesn't have much course knowledge as he arrived in Louisville for the first time this week, but Rahm has been playing steadily if not spectacularly for LIV.

  --Ludvig Aberg (+1800) is a career-high sixth in the world following his T10 at the RBC Heritage after a solo second at the Masters. He also finished eighth at The Players.

  --Bryson DeChambeau (+2500) has the length to be a major factor at the 7,609-yard track. He finished T4 at last year's PGA Championship and if he drives it well, DeChambeau would benefit even further if damp conditions make Valhalla play even longer but with more receptive greens.

  NOTES

  --If there is a tie after 72 holes, a playoff would be an aggregate score of three additional holes - Nos. 13, 17 and 18. If needed, the fourth hole would be the 18th followed by Nos. 13, 17 and 18 again.

  -There are 16 LIV Golf players in the field, highlighted by defending champion Koepka. In addition to nine players who qualified, seven others received special invites.

  --Valhalla has undergone a major renovation since the last time it hosted the PGA Championship in 2014. The 2021 project included changing the fairway turf and tees from bent grass to Zeon Zoysia, which requires less water. New championship tees were also created for Nos. 1, 12, 13, 14 and 18, with the course's total length increased by 151 yards.

  --The final two spots in the field went to Chris Gotterup with his win at Myrtle Beach and S.H. Kim, who was the highest finisher at the Wells Fargo behind McIlroy who was not already qualified. Gotterup will make his PGA Championship debut.

  --Jordan Spieth is seeking to complete the career Grand Slam but enters with four missed cuts in his past seven starts.

  --Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Without Jimmy Dunne on the PGA Tour policy board, Rory McIlroy said he believes a discussed merger with LIV Golf is moving in the wrong direction.

• Dunne resigned his position on the policy board earlier this week, ending what he'd started as one of the original negotiators bridging communications between the rival golf circuits and helping finalize the "framework agreement" made public on June 6, 2023.

  "Honestly I think it's a huge loss for the PGA Tour, if they are trying to get this deal done with the PIF (Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund) and trying to unify the game," McIlroy said Wednesday at Valhalla Golf Club, site of the 2024 PGA Championship.

  McIlroy, who resigned a position on the policy board late last year, recently was named to a new transactional committee to steer negotiations with the PIF, which funds LIV Golf. That committee also includes Tiger Woods -- he maintains a seat on the policy board as well -- who called Dunne's departure a "loss" for the tour earlier this week.

  McIlroy echoed what Dunne shared in his resignation letter, which claimed no "meaningful progress" has been made in negotiations since they began.

  "I think the tour is in a worse place because of it," McIlroy said of Dunne's resignation. " ... I would say my confidence level on something getting done before last week was, you know, as low as it had been. And then with this news of Jimmy resigning and knowing the relationship he has with the other side, and how much warmth there is from the other side, it's concerning."

  --Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It's been a wild week for Rory McIlroy.

• The 35-year-old, No. 2 ranked player in the world easily overcame a two-stroke deficit to beat Xander Schauffele by five shots in the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday in Charlotte, N.C.

  McIlroy then filed divorce papers on Monday in Florida. He and his wife, Erica, had been married for seven years and have a three-year-old daughter, Poppy.

  But it was back to business on Tuesday.

  McIlroy was seen at Valhalla Golf Club, preparing for this week's PGA Championship. He was on the driving range and putting green and then on Wednesday played a morning round.

  The four-time major champion was scheduled to meet with media earlier in the week before making an appearance on Wednesday. But the news conference opened with the moderator asking the media to avoid questions about his divorce.

  McIlroy was asked by one reporter how he was doing personally.

  "I am ready to play this week," McIlroy said.

  While there certainly seems like a lot going on in and around his life, it's been business as usually for McIlroy. He said he's gotten in some good practice and is hoping to continue his hot streak.

  McIlroy enters having won consecutive events, including the Zurich Classic in New Orleans with Shane Lowry. He compared his current spiked level of confidence to last summer, when he left the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill and began a run of top 10s that included a win in Scotland.

  "It doesn't seem like that long ago that my game has felt this good," he said. "But I would say from a technical standpoint, some of the shots that I hit last week, some of the three-quarter shots, some of the wedge shots, some of the iron shots, combined with how good I feel with the driver at the minute, when I can see those three-quarter shots and those wedge shots going and starting on the right line, that obviously gives me a lot of confidence."

  Chasing a major win for the first time since 2014, McIlroy would embrace a repeat of that Valhalla experience.

  He hasn't been back to the course since winning the 2014 PGA by one shot over Phil Mickelson. McIlroy said his first time around the course this week "brought back some memories."

  McIlroy was 3-under-par in the final round and was 16-under for the 2014 PGA Championship.

  "The golf course is a little different than it was 10 years ago, a little longer," he said. "A couple little minor changes but for the most part pretty much the same that I can remember from 10 years ago.

  "Sometimes I struggle to remember what I did yesterday. So I don't think if I look that far back, I mean, it's hard to rekindle those feelings and those memories. ... But you know, I think it's all about confidence and momentum, and I have a lot of confidence and quite a bit of momentum coming into this week."

  --By Jody Demling, Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Brooks Koepka was considered one of the heavy favorites heading into the Masters last month.

• But the five-time major champion never threatened, shooting nine-over par and finishing tied for 45th at Augusta. His poor play led to him recently saying he was "embarrassed" by his play.

  "Everybody put in a lot of hard work," Koepka said of his team heading into the Masters. "Dedicated a lot of time and effort and then for me to go out and play like that is not what I expect of myself, I don't think what they expect of me.

  "So yeah, just we had a good talk and just kind of put our nose down and kept grinding. You know, had some difficult punishment workouts. It was long hours on the range. Just worked with everybody and really tried to go back to the fundamentals, and I think that was the important thing."

  Koepka responded by claiming the individual title at the LIV Golf Singapore event and this week he's one of the favorites for the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

  The 34-year-old Koepka has won the PGA three times, including last year at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y.

  "I feel like my game is in good shape right now," he said. "It will be interesting to see how the course plays. It's a little bit wet right now. I don't know if we are going to get any rain this afternoon. Looks like it. Yeah, it's in great shape; it's just as I remember.

  "Obviously changed the grass in the fairways. I think it's made it a little easier to chip off of, but yeah, it's a good track, big-boy golf course. But I feel good."

  The best round at the Masters for Koepka was a 73 on each of the first two days, followed by a 76 and a 75. He said his swing was a little off and blamed the weather at his home course in Jupiter, Fla.

  "It's kind of funny, it's been windy," he said. "It feels like it's blowing 20 miles an hour every time we hit balls from pretty much February on, and every time we seemed to play it was blowing 25 or 30. My ball position just got back. Back with everything.

  "All the way through the bag, even with the putter. So wasn't able to see the start lines. I like to see it start a little bit left of the target and then kind of fade it back, and it was kind of starting on target or a little bit right, and I had the both-way miss, which isn't good. But just it to go back to fundamentals, so that was it."

  Koepka took the week after the Masters off, noting it was always the plan to help him recharge his energy.

  After the break, Koepka returned to play and finished T9 at LIV Golf Adelaide before winning in Singapore.

  "I think no matter how I play in the majors, I feel like I'm not physically exhausted, just mentally, just the grind of what I put myself through or what goes on for the previous weeks of the prep," he said. "It's just a lot more intense. I enjoy taking the week off after. It's kind of enjoyable."

  Koepka said he feels good about his game heading into the PGA. He was on the course all three days prior to Thursday's start, checking out the lay of the land at Valhalla. He finished 15th at the PGA in 2014 at Valhalla but has not been back to the course since, much like that year's champion, Rory McIlroy.

  "The majors are different than everything else," he said. "The majors are -- they just have a different feel than any other golf tournament. I've always enjoyed it and they are always tougher golf courses. That's something I get up for.

  "It's always the peak of our sport for the four times a year we play in majors."

  --Jody Demling, Field Level Media

Ludvig Aberg plan to wear a knee brace at this week's PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., a venue the Swedish star called a "big-boy golf course."

• Aberg, 24, explained to reporters on Wednesday that he withdrew from last week's Wells Fargo Championship for precautionary reasons.

  "Knee's good. It was more of a safety concern last week that I didn't play," he said. "I'm consulting with my doctors and I trust them with everything that I have, so it's not bothering me at all this week and I look forward to playing."

  Aberg said he doesn't expect to have any limitations Thursday when play begins on the 7,609-yard course.

  "I'm wearing a brace just for safety, but it's nothing that's bothering me," he said. "I'm focusing on the golf."

  Aberg, the No. 6 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, competed in his first major last month and finished second to Scottie Scheffler at the Masters. He followed that up with a T10 at the RBC Heritage.

  He has played professionally for just 11 months since completing a strong collegiate career at Texas Tech and earning his card through the "PGA Tour University" pathway. In that time, he's made the European Ryder Cup team and won a tournament on both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.

  "Obviously I'm still doing a lot of firsts when I'm playing these tournaments," Aberg said. "Obviously this week is my first PGA Championship and only my second major. I'm feeling all these things that first-timers do, and it's the same thing for me. So I try to focus on the golf.

  "At the end of the day, this is what I've been wanting to do since I was a little boy and I love doing it."

  Playing at Valhalla for the first time, Aberg acknowledged that the wet conditions so far this week and the length of the course suit his game.

  "I think so. I mean, I like to think that I can hit it high and long. That way, you know, you take away a lot of those things, I guess. It's quite nice because the zoysia grass in the fairways, you can actually launch it pretty high with the irons because it's sitting up so high. You can get a little bit more smash on it.

  "But yeah, I mean, once again, it's a tough golf course. I think everyone is just trying to manage their game the best they can and see where it takes us on Sunday."

  --Field Level Media

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Masters champion and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler wasn't getting much work done on his golf game last week, but he was feeling pretty happy and comfortable at home with his family.

• Scheffler's wife Meredith gave birth to the couple's first child -- son Bennett -- last Wednesday and he said the couple was able to spend some quality time during their first week of parenthood.

  "At home it was a nice time to reflect a little bit on my career so far and where my life has gone," Scheffler said. "I married my high school sweetheart and I always wanted to play professional golf and now I'm here. I was sitting there with a newborn in my arms and the green jacket in the closet. It was a pretty special time I think at home."

  But on Monday, it was back to work. Scheffler left his home in Dallas and flew to Louisville to prepare for the second major of the year -- the PGA Championship, which starts on Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club.

  Scheffler said he already missed his son "like crazy," but noted the couple knew he needed to play in the PGA.

  "It was not easy to leave the house Monday morning," he said. "But like I said, I told my son as I was leaving, I was like, ‘I don't want to leave you right now, but I need to.' I'm called to do my job to the best of my ability.

  "I felt like showing up Wednesday night wouldn't really be doing myself a service this week when it comes to playing and competing in the tournament, so I had to show up, especially with the weather forecast, showing up, being prepared and ready to play and being back home as quick as I can."

  Scheffler will play in his fifth PGA championship and try to continue his amazing streak of recent hot play, which included a win at the Masters last month.

  The 27-year-old Scheffler has won four of his last five starts, including the Masters and RBC Heritage in back-to-back weeks. He has not played since winning the Heritage, but he had a good excuse.

  Scheffler said prior to the Masters that he would leave no matter when Meredith went into labor. He did not end up having to worry about that and was there for the momentous occasion for the couple.

  During a 15-minute press conference at Valhalla, Scheffler repeated the word ‘nuts' on multiple occasions.

  The couple didn't know the sex of the baby until he was born.

  "So being able to tell my wife that it was a boy, yeah, it was a wild ride," he said. "Extremely proud of Meredith after watching her go through that. It's nuts. I'm glad it was her going through it and not me because I don't know if I could have done it. It was pretty nuts.

  "And the look on her face right after birth, she was just glowing, so proud of herself and so excited to have our little boy."

  Now Scheffler is preparing to play Valhalla for the first time as he tries to stay on his heater.

  "I only played nine holes yesterday and today, so as the tournament goes on we'll see how the course plays," Scheffler said. "But with soft greens and soft fairways, I'd imagine the scores would be fairly low here. ... I think what we're looking for is be rewarded for good shots and punished for bad ones, and from what I've seen around this golf course, it seems like an appropriate test."

  --Jody Demling, Field Level Media

Scottie Scheffler is the hottest golfer on the planet, even after a baby break for a couple weeks. Rory McIlroy is soaring as he returns to a course where he's won the Wanamaker Trophy before.

• All of this is old news by now. So instead of putting money on Scheffler (+450) or McIlroy (+750) to claim the PGA Championship this week, and settling for that meager return on investment, here are five other options down the board who offer both a good shot to win and a nice number worth chasing. (All odds courtesy of BetMGM.)

  Brooks Koepka (+1400)

  He's tied with Xander Schauffele for the third-shortest odds on the board, but 14-to-1 isn't a bad number to get the best major champion of his generation. Not only is Koepka the defending champion, he's won three of the past six PGA Championships and five majors overall since 2017.

  Koepka comes to Louisville, Ky., off a win at LIV Singapore. He remains one of the best drivers in the world and his putting has shown improvement on the LIV circuit. And while all the focus is on Scheffler and McIlroy, maybe Koepka will have extra motivation to strut his stuff on one of the biggest stages in golf.

  Ludvig Aberg (+1800)

  The great unknown for Aberg right now is his health. He dropped out before the start of the Wells Fargo Championship, citing a knee issue. This was news to the golf world and new territory for the 24-year-old shooting star who's succeeded at just about everything since turning pro 11 months ago. Aberg is scheduled to speak to the media Wednesday and could reveal how serious (or minor) the injury is.

  If Aberg were at 100 percent, he might have been a top-three pick to win this week. His first major start further proved that he is not afraid of the spotlight, as he improved as the week wore on and finished solo second at the Masters behind Scheffler. Aberg is already one of the best ball-strikers on tour and it's practically a given that he will win a major -- the question is when.

  Bryson DeChambeau (+2500)

  Two LIV golfers on one list? Believe it. DeChambeau flexed his major championship pedigree in 2020, tying for fourth at the PGA before winning the U.S. Open. Injuries and seemingly conflicting priorities (i.e. his long drive competition phase) knocked him off the path for a while, but joining LIV has not marked the end of his relevance as a golfer.

  DeChambeau has three top-10s in the past six majors, including another T4 at the 2023 PGA and a T6 at last month's Masters, where -- guess what? -- he was still one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the field. He's no longer in his Beefy Bryson era, but DeChambeau's length will be an enviable weapon for him at the 7,609-yard Valhalla Golf Club.

  Tommy Fleetwood (+4000)

  For someone who hasn't won a major yet -- someone who's never won on American soil, in fact -- there's a lot to like about Fleetwood when this time of year rolls around. He's finished top-10 in three straight majors and eight overall, the kind of consistency that begs bettors to believe next time will be his breakthrough.

  Fleetwood won in Dubai back in January and has missed only one cut on the PGA Tour this season. While his numbers don't exactly jump out and grab you, he's done a fantastic job of limiting mistakes. He hasn't scored any worse than a 72 in his past 20 rounds and he ranks No. 21 on tour in bogey avoidance, an underrated element in competing in majors.

  Jason Day (+5500)

  This is a really nice number to get for a former major champion enjoying an extended career resurgence. After ending a five-year gap between PGA Tour wins last year, Day has kept it up with four top-10s this season -- all coming against stacked fields at signature events.

  Day drives the ball well enough to contend at a major like this, but he can combine that with stellar putting -- he ranks No. 13 in strokes gained putting this season. And if it means anything to you, Day tied for 15th when Valhalla held the PGA Championship in 2014, one year before he won this major at Whistling Straits.

  --Field Level Media

Jordan Spieth said Jimmy Dunne's resignation from the PGA Tour policy board was a surprise while disagreeing with the notion that the board is becoming more "player-driven."

• Spieth spoke to reporters Tuesday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., ahead of this week's PGA Championship. Dunne made his resignation official on Monday, saying in a letter he saw his role was "utterly superfluous" while "no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF."

  Dunne is the figure who set up the initial "framework" deal for a merger of the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

  "I think Jimmy Dunne not being involved when he was involved is a loss," Spieth said. "I've spoken with him just he and I quite a few times over the last few months and had really good conversations, and when he explains kind of how everything went about since he came on the board, it makes a lot of sense to me. So I was a bit surprised, for sure."

  Spieth is one of six player directors on the PGA Tour policy board, joined by Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott of Australia, Webb Simpson and Tiger Woods. Joe Ogilvie, a former pro golfer turned money manager, is on the board as a "director liaison."

  In the wake of the framework agreement with Saudi Arabia blindsiding PGA Tour members, the tour agreed to make changes, which included adding Woods as a sixth player director. But Spieth told reporters they have "got to stop saying" the board is player-driven.

  "It's balanced in a way that at least from what I've heard the investors, Tour management and independents feel it should be," Spieth said. "I think we're in a place where that's the case -- we're being told that this is how it should be as well. It went from a lot less players to a balanced board."

  The policy board remains a key group of individuals as it pertains to the future of men's golf. There is a separate board for PGA Tour Enterprises, the new for-profit entity that has entered an investment partnership with Strategic Sports Group. And the policy board created a "transaction subcommittee" specifically for negotiating with the PIF, featuring Woods, Scott and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.

  While it can look like professional golfers trying to run a business, Spieth said that's a "false narrative."

  "I think we're going to be at a really, really good place where the players can feel really good about -- players on the PGA Tour can feel really good about it, as well as not having players making business decisions," Spieth said. "... If you're in the room, it's very obvious that players are not dictating the future of golf and the PGA Tour. Like, it needs to be -- you need to have everyone's perspective on both sides of it, and everyone that's involved within Enterprises. You have a lot of strategic investors that know a heck of a lot more than any of us players."

  Perhaps lost in the shuffle of the off-the-course comings and goings is that Spieth, who hasn't won a major since 2017, can become the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam with a win this week. Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015 and the Open Championship in 2017.

  "It's the one (major) that's eluded me so far, and it would be pretty incredible to work my way into contention and have a chance this week and see if I can try to make that history," said Spieth, 30. "I've had a number of chances since having the other three and come close a couple times, but never quite close enough at the end to really have a chance, so that would obviously be the goal this week."

  --Field Level Media

Tiger Woods has returned to compete at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., for a third time, with this week's PGA Championship destined to land somewhere in the middle of where his first two ended.

• In 2000, Woods authored one of his more memorable major titles when he outlasted Bob May in a final-round duel that included a three-hole playoff.

  In a scene that has come to define Woods' unwavering determination, the 15-time major champion marched behind his long putt on the first playoff hole at Valhalla, with a pointed index finger that demanded the ball go into the hole. It obliged.

  When Woods tapped in his short winning putt to seal the second consecutive of an eventual four PGA Championship titles, he offered a trademark spinning fist pump.

  "It was a fun week and unbelievable moment, really," Woods said Tuesday.

  Woods touched on the passing of the torch that occurred in that 2000 event as he played his first two rounds with Nicklaus, who was playing in his final PGA Championship. Nicklaus failed to make the cut.

  There also was Woods' quest for his third consecutive major title that year after winning the U.S. Open and Open Championship.

  Woods not only became the first to win three majors in a calendar year since Ben Hogan in 1953, he would also be three-quarters through a run of four consecutive titles. He won the Masters in 2001 to make it four majors in four tries in an accomplishment that would be dubbed the "Tiger Slam."

  "Well, I just remember the pressure I felt," Woods said of his quest to match Hogan. "...The summer was a whirlwind. I was playing well."

  But with the ups, there were the downs. Woods' appearance in the 2014 PGA at Valhalla was marked by back issues as he missed the cut at 6 over par. He already had undergone one back procedure at that point and his spine was ultimately fused.

  Injury issues were only beginning to catch up with a player who transcended golf.

  "Coming into ‘14, I wasn't feeling very good," Woods said. "I'm always going to feel soreness and stiffness in my back, but that's OK. I just need other body parts to start feeling better."

  Where he can take his game this week is anybody's guess. His single-car accident in February 2021 and subsequent major surgery on his right leg have left him a part-time participant on tour.

  This week will be Woods' third tournament of the year. He withdrew from the Genesis Open near Los Angeles in February after one round because of illness and made the cut at the Masters last month before finishing 60th at 16 over par. He was last among all competitors who played all four rounds.

  "Yeah, my body's OK. It is what it is," Woods said. "I wish my game was a little bit sharper. I don't have a lot of competitive reps so I'm having to rely on my practice sessions and getting (rehabilitation) stuff done either at home or here on site.

  "But at the end of the day, I need to be ready mentally and physically come Thursday. And these (early) days of practicing at the golf course ... get all that stuff done early so I can focus on literally playing and plotting my way around."

  The crowds remain large for Woods, even as his level of play has diminished. But he doesn't look at his appearances at majors as merely symbolic. Woods remains steadfast that he can still win tournaments.

  "I can still hit shots," Woods said. "It's getting around that is more of the difficulty I face on the day to day, and the recovery of either practice or pushing myself in competition. You saw it at Augusta. I was right there after two days and didn't do well on the weekend."

  Even as Woods squeezes out as many competitive rounds as his leg will allow, he is actively planning for the future.

  Aside from business interests, Woods still is paying some mind to his competitive side. He could wind up as the next United States captain at the 2025 Ryder Cup, which is set to take place at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y.

  "We're still talking," Woods said. "There has been nothing that has been confirmed yet. We're still working on what that might look like and also whether or not I have the time to do it. I'm dedicating so much time to what we are doing with the PGA Tour. I don't want to (take) the role of captaincy if I can't do it."

  --Field Level Media

Jon Rahm is back to compete against his former PGA Tour brethren this week in Louisville, Ky., and even before the first competitive shot in the PGA Championship has been fired, the former World No. 1 has the field aflutter.

• Rahm was the latest to bolt to Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf, yet on Tuesday he still claimed PGA Tour ties, even as his pockets are filled with a reported $500 million he received for switching tours.

  If Rahm was there to talk about another chance at winning a major title at Valhalla Golf Club, which is playing host to its fourth PGA Championship, the conversation became anything but.

  "So you guys keep saying the other side, but I'm still a PGA Tour member," Rahm said when asked how he sees recent upheaval on the PGA Tour board now that he is an LIV member. "Whether it's suspended or not, I still want to support the PGA Tour and I think that is an important distinction to make."

  Except that Rahm could have made the distinction himself, by staying in an organization that he claims means so much to him. He elected to make the jump, but it certainly wasn't because of how LIV runs its events.

  Rahm has been critical of LIV's 54-hole formats both before he joined the tour and as recently as last month when he played at The Masters. It's called LIV, after all, the Roman numeral for 54.

  While making the best of his LIV reality should be his focus now, the PGA Tour remains on his mind.

  "I don't feel like I'm on the other side -- I'm just not playing there -- at least personally," Rahm said.

  All along, Rahm has been conflicted. He declared his "fealty" to the PGA Tour way back in early 2022. And while saying it was the only time he would address the subject, he repeated the loyalty stance multiple times as he bashed the LIV format along the way.

  But with rumors circulating late last year that Rahm might defect, the native of Spain made the move official in December.

  Major defections are why the PGA Tour board is in flux with Jimmy Dunne stepping down Monday. Dunne authored the framework of an agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund but one year later, the sides have not figured out how to strike an equitable partnership.

  Rahm simply washed his hands of the situation.

  "I don't know what's going on right now," Rahm said. "I haven't really spoken enough to know what is going on with the board and obviously people are not going to be willing to share that information with me since I'm no longer part of those discussions. ... I am going to say what I've said all along: I hope we reach a resolution and the resolution is beneficial for everyone."

  In that scenario, Rahm stands to benefit most by getting his LIV payday and potentially getting to compete on a regular basis again with his former PGA Tour competition.

  In the end, Rahm was asked why it was important to still represent himself as a PGA Tour member, even as a suspended one.

  "Again, I've said, however I can, I would like to support them," Rahm said without a hint of irony. "So even though I'm playing full time on LIV Golf, like I said many times, had I been allowed, I would have played some (PGA Tour) events earlier in the year.

  "... The PGA Tour has given me so much and has given me this platform and the opportunity that I'm not really going to really turn to the side and throw away and go against it. Because I'm not going against it."

  The juxtaposition of what Rahm has done and said is striking.

  As he seeks a PGA Championship win to pair with U.S. Open (2021) and Masters (2023) titles, the talk regarding Rahm was expected to be about the chance to add another major championship to his resume. But the week of his eighth PGA Championship appearance has started down a different route.

  "It's not really the same," Rahm said during his press conference.

  He was talking about the Valhalla Golf Club layout in comparison to previous PGA Championships, primarily in 2000 and 2014. Yet, he could have been talking about something else entirely.

  --Field Level Media

Rory McIlroy has filed for divorce from Erica Stoll, his wife of seven years.

• McIlroy, 35, is preparing to play in the opening round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday. The divorce petition was filed on Monday on McIlroy's behalf in Florida.

  That was the day after McIlroy shot a 65 in the final round to win the Wells Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. -- one of his two tour wins this season.

  "Rory McIlroy's communications team confirmed today that a divorce has been filed," McIlroy's manager, Sean O'Flaherty, said in the statement. "They stressed Rory's desire to ensure this difficult time is as respectful and amicable as possible. He will not be making any further comment."

  The golfer and Stoll met at the Ryder Cup in 2012. As he has relayed the story, McIlroy overslept, and Stoll was the PGA of America staff member who helped him get to Medinah Country Club in Illinois in time to tee off.

  In a relationship with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki at the time, McIlroy didn't begin dating Stoll until 2014.

  They married in April 2017 at a star-studded ceremony in Ireland and had a daughter, Poppy, on Aug. 31, 2020, in Jupiter, Fla.

  Stoll is a native of New York, and she routinely has cheered for McIlroy on the course and also served as his caddy at the 2023 Masters Par 3 contest.

  Reports did not state whether McIlroy's filing indicated a reason for the divorce or any child custody requests.

  --Field Level Media

Pairings for the first and second rounds of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., include back-to-back groupings featuring Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, who are among past Wanamaker Trophy winners on this course.

• Woods' group hits the first tee box, starting at No. 10, at 8:04 a.m. EDT Thursday and will tail a group that includes Justin Thomas. McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose will follow the Woods trio at 8:15 a.m.

  Defending PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka anchors a marquee grouping with Max Homa and Jordan Spieth. They'll open on the back nine at 8:37 a.m. EDT on Thursday.

  Woods, who posted a playoff win over Bob May to win the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla, is joined for the first two rounds by playing partners Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley.

  World No. 1 and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler starts at hole No. 1 on Thursday with a scheduled tee time of 2:13 p.m. in a pairing with Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman. The trio immediately follows Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler and Cameron Young.

  McIlroy claimed a one-shot victory in 2014 at Valhalla, outlasting Phil Mickelson.

  The full list of tee times and groupings for the first round Thursday:

  Starting at No. 1

  7:15 a.m. -- Michael Block, Luke Donald, Shaun Micheel

  7:26 a.m. -- Jeff Kellen, Alex Smalley, Ben Kohles

  7:37 a.m. -- Ryan Fox, Josh Speight, Matt Wallace

  7:48 a.m. -- Zac Oakley, Adam Svensson, Ryo Hisatsune

  7:59 a.m. -- Adam Hadwin, Martin Kaymer, Taylor Pendrith

  8:10 a.m. -- Byeong Hun An, Alexander Bjork, Eric Cole

  8:21 a.m. -- Adam Schenk, Corey Conners, Nick Dunlap

  8:32 a.m. -- John Daly, Lee Hodges, Robert MacIntyre

  8:43 a.m. -- Peter Malnati, Kurt Kitayama, Victor Perez

  8:54 a.m. -- Benn Polland, Zac Blair, Ryan van Valezen

  9:05 a.m. -- Jeremy Wells, Sami Valimaki, K.H. Lee

  9:16 a.m. -- Jared Jones, Taylor Moore, Patrick Rodgers

  9:27 a.m. -- Kyle Mendoza, Andy Ogletree, Erik van Rooyen

  12:45 p.m. -- David Puig, Thirston Lawrence, Matt Dobyns

  12:56 p.m. --- Tracy Phillips, Denny McCarthy, Keita Nakajima

  1:07 p.m. -- Talor Gooch, Cameron Davis, Harris English

  1:18 p.m. -- Jason Day, Shane Lowry, Nicolai Hojgaard

  1:29 p.m. -- Min Woo Lee, Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel

  1:40 p.m. -- Gary Woodland, Tom Kim, Joaquin Niemann

  1:51 p.m. -- Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Fitzpatrick

  2:02 p.m. -- Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young

  2:13 p.m. -- Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler

  2:24 p.m. -- Patrick Cantlay, Camilo Villegas, Will Zalatoris

  2:35 p.m. -- Patrick Reed, Sam Burns, Padraig Harrington

  2:46 p.m. -- Brad Marek, Mark Hubbard, Maverick McNealy

  2:57 p.m. -- Braden Shattuck, S.H. Kim, C.T. Pan

  Tee times starting at No. 10

  7:20 a.m. -- Doug Ghim, Tyler Collet, Adrian Meronk

  7:31 a.m. -- Larkin Gross, Lucas Herbert, Grayson Murray

  7:42 a.m. -- Lucas Glover, Stephan Jaeger, Russell Henley

  7:53 a.m. -- Ludvig Aberg, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas

  8:04 a.m. -- Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley

  8:15 a.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose

  8:26 a.m. -- Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland

  8:37 a.m. -- Brooks Koepka, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth

  8:48 a.m. -- Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton, Sahith Theegala

  8:59 a.m. -- Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau

  9:10 a.m. -- Sepp Straka, Takumi Kanaya, Nick Taylor

  9:21 a.m. -- Andy Svoboda, Ben Griffin, Dean Burmester

  9:32 a.m. -- Preston Cole, Tim Widing, Adrian Otaegui

  12:40 p.m. -- Rich Beem, Sebastian Soderberg, Kazuma Kobori

  12:51 p.m. -- Josh Bevell, Aaron Rai, Jordan Smith

  1:02 p.m. -- Andrew Putnam, Jesse Mueller, Charley Hoffman

  1:13 p.m. -- Si Woo Kim, Tom Hoge, Alex Noren

  1:24 p.m. -- Y.E. Yang, Matthieu Pavon, J.T. Poston

  1:35 p.m. -- Jake Knapp, Jason Dufner, Francesco Molinari

  1:46 p.m. -- Thomas Detry, Jimmy Walker, Rasmus Hojgaard

  1:57 p.m. -- Austin Eckroat, Luke List, Mackenzie Hughes

  2:08 p.m. -- Sungjae Im, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Beau Hossler

  2:19 p.m. -- Thorbjorn Olesen, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell

  2:30 p.m. -- John Somers, Brice Garnett, Jesper Svensson

  2:41 p.m. -- Emiliano Grillo, Evan Bowser, Alejandro Tosti

  2:52 p.m. -- Vincent Norrman, Wyatt Worthington II, Chris Gotterup

  --Field Level Media

Jimmy Dunne, one of the authors of the framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), stepped down from the tour's policy board on Monday, effective immediately.

• The move comes almost one year after Dunne worked to get the PGA Tour and PIF, which bankrolls the rival LIV Golf circuit, in discussions intended to produce an official partnership. The parties have continued to negotiate even after an original Dec. 31 deadline passed.

  In his resignation letter, as reported by multiple media outlets, Dunne wrote that "no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF." With player board members now controlling the board's direction, Dunne added that "my vote and my role is utterly superfluous."

  Dunne, an investment banker, added, per numerous reports, "It is crucial for the Board to avoid letting yesterday's differences interfere with today's decisions, especially when they influence future opportunities for the Tour. Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game. I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction."

  Dunne reportedly wrote of his role in the talks, "When I arrived on the board in January 2023, everybody involved with the game was concerned about the fundamental threat of LIV Golf. As directed by Commissioner (Jay) Monahan, I engaged LIV's majority owner, the Public Investment Fund, to see if we could end the lawsuits and reunify the game.

  "Importantly, we were able to come to an agreement in which the lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice and a path was created for the Tour to remain in control of professional golf. I believe that history will look favorably on this outcome and the very real opportunities now afforded the Tour."

  Monahan said in a statement regarding Dunne's exit: "On behalf of the Tour, I'd like to thank Jimmy for his steadfast service to this organization since he joined the Board in January 2023, not to mention his countless contributions to the game of golf that span decades.

  "Since his arrival on the Policy Board, we have made remarkable progress in setting the PGA Tour up for decades of future success, including ending costly and destructive litigation with the PIF, establishing PGA Tour Enterprises as a growth vehicle to enable and support our ambitions, the arrival of SSG as an outside investor and partner, and the creation of the Player Equity Program.

  "With these foundational elements in place and -- more specifically -- with an active, focused and engaged Transaction Subcommittee, we continue to make meaningful progress behind the scenes in our negotiations toward a potential agreement with the PIF. Our goal remains to deliver the best possible outcome for the PGA TOUR, our players, partners, tournaments and fans."

  Last summer, Dunne spoke before the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on behalf of the PGA Tour regarding the negotiations with PIF.

  --Field Level Media