The reigning Masters champion arrived at Quail Hollow, a course he loves having won four times there in the past, this week with renewed confidence as the in-form favourite having finally claimed a Green Jacket at Augusta last month to become only the sixth player in golf history to complete a career Grand Slam.
Such a memorable, emotional victory, sealed in a tense play-off with Justin Rose after a wild final day, also ended McIlroy’s 11-year wait for a fifth major title, but the lifting of that considerable weight has not had the expected impact so far.
The Northern Irishman – who has also won at both the Players Championship and Pebble Beach Pro-Am this year – squeezed marginally under the cut line at the 107th PGA Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, struggling to a first-round 74 before scraping through despite two closing bogeys in a 69 on Friday leaving him one over par for the tournament.
McIlroy, who was looking to win back-to-back majors for the second time, now has a huge mountain to climb to get even close to contention for a third PGA Championship crown and first since 2014, with Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas the leader at halfway despite a disappointing last-gasp double bogey in a 70 on Friday that left him eight under.
England’s resurgent 2022 US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick is in a three-way tie for second place heading into Saturday’s third round after consecutive 68s, level with Matthieu Pavon of France and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim.
Getty Images
When is Rory McIlroy playing today?
McIlroy played alongside Scheffler and last year’s PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele in a blockbuster trio over the first two days, and is back in a pairing with the latter on Saturday.
The duo are out second on hole one at 1:25pm BST, after Max Greyserman and Sam Burns.
PGA Championship tee times
Third round (all times BST unless stated)
1315 Max Greyserman, Sam Burns.
1325 Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele.
1335 Michael Kim, Chris Kirk.
1345 David Puig, Bud Cauley.
1355 Elvis Smylie, Kevin Yu.
1405 Sergio Garcia, Brian Harman.
1415 Justin Lower, Tom Kim.
1425 Thorbjorn Olesen, Maverick McNealy.
1435 Stephan Jaeger, Rasmus Hojgaard.
1445 Nico Echavarria, Harris English.
1455 Brian Campbell, Taylor Moore.
1515 Cameron Young, Daniel Berger.
1525 Byeong Hun An, Collin Morikawa.
1535 Harry Hall, Austin Eckroat.
1545 Corey Conners, Nicolai Hojgaard.
1555 Beau Hossler, Luke Donald.
1605 Matt Wallace, Tom McKibbin.
1615 Wyndham Clark, Rafa Campos.
1625 Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton.
1635 Marco Penge, Lucas Glover.
1645 Jon Rahm, Keegan Bradley.
1655 Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood.
1715 Adam Scott, Joe Highsmith.
1725 Eric Cole, Cam Davis.
1735 Tony Finau, Ben Griffin.
1745 Alex Noren, Ryo Hisatsune.
1755 Richard Bland, Davis Riley.
1805 Taylor Pendrith, Bryson DeChambeau.
1815 J.J. Spaun, Aaron Rai.
1825 Ryan Gerard, Garrick Higgo.
1835 Sam Stevens, Denny McCarthy.
1845 J.T. Poston, Robert MacIntyre
1905 Ryan Fox, Alex Smalley.
1915 Michael Thorbjornsen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
1925 Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler.
1935 Matt Fitzpatrick, Si Woo Kim.
1945 Jhonattan Vegas, Matthieu Pavon.
How to watch the PGA Championship
TV channel: In the UK, live coverage of the 2025 PGA Championship is provided by Sky Sports, starting on Sky Sports Golf at 1:30pm BST on Saturday before Sky Sports Main Event joins at 5pm.
On Sunday, the coverage begins at 4pm on Sky Sports Golf and 7:30pm on Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also watch the action live online via the Sky Go app.
Leader: Jhonattan Vegas is still out in front at Quail Hollow, but closed with a double bogey on Friday
Getty Images
PGA Championship prize money
The exact prize pool for the 2025 PGA Championship will be revealed on Saturday, but last year Schauffele pocketed a cool $3.3million at Valhalla from a total pot of over $18m after beating Bryson DeChambeau by one shot.
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
