{"id":1251448,"date":"2024-05-22T13:33:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T13:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/?p=1251448"},"modified":"2024-05-22T13:33:02","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T13:33:02","slug":"pga-championship-2024-the-nearly-man-makes-it-at-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/pga-championship-2024-the-nearly-man-makes-it-at-last\/","title":{"rendered":"The nearly man makes it at last"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heading into this year\u2019s USPGA Championship at Valhalla<\/span><\/strong><\/a> in Louisville, Kentucky, Xander Schauffele had a clear take on the man who had just beaten him by five shots in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. \u201cHe\u2019s Rory McIlroy, you know?\u201d Schauffele said. \u201cHe hits it 350 yards in the air downwind and he has shorter clubs into firm greens than anyone else. When he\u2019s on, he\u2019s on. Hats off to him for winning. He played unbelievably well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seemingly buoyed rather than depressed by the shock (to us!) announcement of his impending divorce, McIlroy<\/span> therefore arrived at the venue where he had won the most recent of his four major championships, albeit all the way back in 2014, in impressive form. He played decently at the PGA, too, even if at times his putter defied instructions and intentions. But this was a week when neither he nor anybody else could prevent Schauffele from getting his way.<\/p>\n