Tiger eyes PGA Championship

ST. LOUIS. - Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and 29 other major golf champions began preparing for the spotlight of supergroup pairings as practice rounds opening on Monday for the 100th PGA Championship.

An elite field with 98 of the world’s 100 top-ranked players gathers at Bellerive Country Club for the year’s final major tournament, which starts tomorrow. Woods, a 14-time major champion, tries to end a 10-year major victory drought in his comeback from spinal fusion surgery while three-time major winner Jordan Spieth tries to complete a Career Grand Slam with a victory.

Add on-form McIlroy, a four-time major winner who was a runner-up at the Open Championship, plus reigning Masters champion Patrick Reed, twotime US Open winner Brooks Koepka and reigning Open Championship winner Francesco Molinari of Italy and it’s clear to see why expectations are high for a thrill-packed final major of 2018.

“I like the way the PGA sets it up,” Koepka said. “It’s very difficult. It’s a battle for sure.”

Second-ranked defending champion Justin Thomas, 14-time major champion Woods in his first PGA Championship since 2015 and McIlroy are grouped together for the first two rounds as are Molinari, Reed and Koepka.

World number three Justin Rose of England, Spain’s seventh-ranked Jon Rahm and eighth-ranked Spieth play together the first two days as do topranked Dustin Johnson and past Masters winners Bubba Watson and Adam Scott.

Thomas and Rose could overtake Johnson for world number one this week, but Rose would need a victory and Thomas no worse than a solo second finish. - AFP.