Three distinct personalities and playing styles make for a tantalising PGA Championship showdown

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy shake hands on the 18th green during the first round of the 2024 Masters. Picture: by Andrew Redington/Getty Images

For the 106th PGA Championship, it is hard to fathom a more perfect confluence of form, family and favorites colliding in a much-anticipated horse race at Valhalla Golf Club, just down the road from the twin spires of Churchill Downs.

Mystik Dan won a three-way photo finish by a nose at the wire over Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago – the first leg of the American Triple Crown of horse racing. This week the principal trio of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka come into town red hot to contend for the Wanamaker Trophy in the second leg of golf’s grand slam.