Following Rory McIlroy's win at The Masters, the excitement in the golf world leading into the 2025 PGA Championship couldn't be higher — even with the tournament being played at the polarizing Quail Hollow Club. With Rory, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele and several others vying for major glory once again, though, the drama should be high. That drama also starts with the groupings at the PGA Championship.
Obviously PGA Championship groupings will change going into the weekend but, for the first and second rounds, we have the threesomes that will be playing the first 36 holes of major championship golf with one another. There are big names abound and even sideshow-adjacent focuses like Michael Block, sure, but what we're really concerned with are the groupings that are simply can't-miss over Rounds 1-2.
Some of it is about the pure collection of talent, others are about morbid curiosity, and there are some groups that fall somewhere in between. Whatever the case, so golf fans don't have to scroll through and find their own, we're giving you the best PGA Championship groupings by our estimation that you should be tuning into over the first two rounds at Quail Hollow.
Best PGA Championship groupings for fans to watch and why
Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler (8:22 a.m. ET/1:47 p.m. ET)
The top three players in the Official World Golf Rankings being grouped together for the PGA Championship is, in itself, so freaking sick. However, there is plenty of drama abound within this group given the narratives around them.
With Rory, coming off The Masters win, everyone wants to see if the burden of major championships has been lifted from his back. It's fitting we'll see that at Quail Hollow, a place where he's a four-time winner on the PGA Tour. It's a tremendous advantage he has before him. As for Scheffler, he's the top player in the world but is still seeking a major win outside of The Masters. Quail Hollow isn't the most natural fit, but his game travels anywhere. Then there's the X-Man, who broke his major drought with two victories last year but started off the 2025 season injured. Now rounding into form, could he make a statement paired with McIlroy and Scheffler, especially as the reigning PGA Champion?
This one's obvious but it's a grouping that deserves to have every set of eyes on it.
Andrew Novak, Keegan Bradley and Maverick McNealy (8:44 a.m. ET/2:09 p.m. ET)
We go from the super group that every golf fan will be interested in to one that is for the golf fans that are entirely in the weeds. That's especially true if you happen to have a keen interest in the Ryder Cup because the captain of the United States team, Keegan Bradley, is going to play the first two rounds alongside two potential Ryder Cup candidates who'd both be making their debuts in the event should they make it.
Both Andrew Novak and Maverick McNealy have been off to stellar starts overall in the 2025 season and are currently just outside the Top 6 spots in the US Ryder Cup points standings that lead to automatic qualification. Still, with their standing, they could easily be justified as captain's picks at this point, so it'll be fascinating for the first two rounds at Quail Hollow — a course that might be a bit easier but requires much of what Bethpage Black will demand — to see how Novak and McNealy show out in order to impress their playing partner and potential captain, Bradley.
Niklas Norgaard, Byeong Hun An and J.J. Spaun (12:58 p.m. ET/7:33 a.m. ET)
Now we're really getting into some sicko stuff, but this could be a wildly entertaining group to watch over the first two rounds, especially in terms of one that's off the proverbial beaten path from the mainstream.
Niklas Norgaard alone is must-watch TV. He's a dynamo off the tee with the driver in hand but the rest of his game is erratic. At the same time, Quail Hollow rewards that type of power, so seeing what iteration of the other phases of his game show up (or don't) will be fascinating.
As for Ben An and J.J. Spaun, they're simply two players who always seem to inject a little bit of chaos into tournaments. Both run extremely hot and cold with little indication of what version you'll get in a given week. On top of that, they're not immune to a head-scratching decision or two in just about every round. Combine that anarchy with the prodigious power of Norgaard, and this could be quite an entertaining threesome to get eyes on.
Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa (1:14 p.m. ET/7:49 a.m. ET)
Back to some more heavy hitters, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa are three of the bigger names in golf. At the same time, they all three come into the PGA Championship with fascinating narratives around them that should be popcorn-worthy in terms of how they collide with this threesome grouped together.
Thomas won the PGA Championship in 2017, the last time it was at Quail Hollow, and has been playing beautiful golf in the 2025 season as well. At the same time, his major performance of late has been spotty at best, so it feels like there's quite a bit of pressure on him to deliver a strong performance.
That's equally true for DJ and Morikawa too. In the case of the former, he's largely been non-competitive outside of the LACC US Open in majors since his move to LIV. Quail Hollow should be a course fit, but are the best days of DJ now behind him? And as for Morikawa, the stats have been impressive this season but it hasn't translated to contention nearly as often as you'd expect. He's a PGA Championship winner in his career, but fans are growing impatient waiting for him to get back to that level.
Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Ludvig Åberg (1:25 p.m. ET/8 a.m. ET)
Putting Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed together in a group is diabolical from the PGA of America given that the latter infamously jabbed a rules official that he might've gotten a better drop if his name was Jordan Spieth once upon a time. Throw in Ludvig Åberg with that duo, though, and this group is going to be a helluva good time on Thursday and Friday to watch tackle Quail Hollow.
Spieth, of course, needs only the PGA Championship to complete the career grand slam. His form doesn't indicate he's a real contender but, as always with Spieth, you never know what you're going to get. Reed, meanwhile, flies in a bit under the radar given that he was tied for runner-up at the PGA in 2017 at Quail Hollow and was solo third at The Masters. As for the young wunderkind Åberg, his form has waned since his win earlier this year at The Genesis, but we've also seen his propensity to make noise at majors and this course should fit him like a glove if he can find his trademark ball-striking again.
Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland and Gary Woodland (1:47 p.m. ET/8:22 a.m. ET)
We finish off with a group whose intrigue starts with Bryson DeChambeau. Speaking of course fits, one could argue that last year's US Open winner is made to overtake Quail Hollow with his electric power and style of play. At the same time, his iron play cost him at Augusta, so you have to wonder how much that's rebounded and if it could come into play this week as well. Still, whenever Bryson is playing, you have to get eyes on it.
Then there's Viktor Hovland, who has quietly been Top 5 in the last two PGA Championships but has been all over the map this season in regard to his form. The talent is never in question and this should be a comfortable course fit — we just don't know where he's at with his swing at any given moment. As for Gary Woodland, he might be the least interesting of the group, but that could also allow him to fly under the radar. His power off the tee could be a real advantage, though his performance almost surely will come down to if his short game is passable or a disaster this week.