Storylines to keep an eye on at the 2019 PGA Championship

For the first time since 1949, the PGA Championship is being played in May. The decision was made as part of the reshaping of the annual golf calendar. The PGA Tour season will end in August, and the PGA Championship can now find a consistent home the week before Memorial Day and give golf fans four months of uninterrupted major golf. Holding the event in May might also lead to some sharper play and energy from the competitors. 

A nagging wrist injury will keep 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas out of this year's event. However, there is obviously plenty of star power still left in the field. A total of 99 of the top 100 players in the world will take on Bethpage Black this week. More than 25 countries are being represented and 16 former PGA Championship winners are teeing off. We want the best, and we're certainly getting the best.

While this will be the first time Bethpage's famed Black Course will host the PGA Championship, it's no stranger to major golf. The Long Island track played host to the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens. It will also be the site of the 2024 Ryder Cup, so this week just adds to the rich history of competitive golf associated with the course.

There have been plenty who want to bash the 18th as perhaps the easiest hole on an otherwise tough golf course. The Black Course's finishing hole plays at 411 yards and is not considered one of the memorable — or difficult — final stops in major golf. However, some bunkers have been strategically placed on 18 to potentially add more drama and indirectly quiet the naysayers. 

With Bethpage doing the honors this season, the state of New York extended its record of hosting the PGA Championship to 13. The Empire State has always had a special place in the heart of competitive golfers and their fans, and not just because of the PGA Championship. The state has hosted the U.S. Open a record 19 times.

One of the most unique aspects of the PGA Championship is the number of club professionals in the field. A total of 20 spots are reserved for the top finishers from the PGA Professional Championship that concluded earlier this month at Belfair in Bluffton, South Carolina. Among those in this year's field are Craig Bowden, who has made 150 PGA Tour starts, and Ryan Vermeer, the 2018 PGA Professional Player of the Year.

Let's turn on the "Way Back Machine" to 2009 when Y.E. Yang rallied to beat Tiger Woods by three strokes at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine. The stunning victory was a blow to Woods' ego and made the South Korean the first Asian-born player to win a men's major. Though Yang tied for eighth at the 2010 Masters and third the next year at the U.S. Open, he's made the cut only three times at the PGA since his victory and none in the last three. He will try to end that drought this week.

Yang will be part of a group that includes 1991 PGA champion John Daly. But while Yang will walk the Black Course, Daly will be tooling around in a golf cart. The 53-year-old Daly, who is dealing with knee problems and Type 2 diabetes, is able to use the cart this week via the Americans with Disabilities Act. Despite those health issues, some, including Tiger Woods, criticized Daly for his wheels. 

Adam Scott is capable of winning the PGA Championship, but he's also worth watching for his wardrobe, specifically, his pants. As Golf Digest noted this week, Scott is expected to be wearing pleated pants at Bethpage, a classic look that might be the start of a trend — or just another way to take the pressure off in a major setting.

The PGA Championship is certainly a worldwide event with plenty of international flavor. However, U.S. golfers have won the event each of the past three years: Jimmy Walker in 2016, Justin Thomas in '17 and Brooks Koepka in August. The last time Americans won four straight at the PGA came during a five-year run from 1999-03. Australia's Jason Day in 2015 was the last non-American to win the event.

Since 2009, the PGA Championship has produced seven first-time major champions. Are we in for another in 2019? There are plenty of quality options, like youngsters Xander Schauffele or Bryson DeChambeau. Maybe it's Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, or will it finally be Paul Casey's turn to claim a major title? We'll wait to see.

First-time major champs have a home at the PGA Championship. So will this finally be the year that either Rickie Fowler or Matt Kuchar gets the major monkey off his respective back? They have 14 PGA Tour wins combined, and both have fared relatively well during the 2018-19 season. They are two golfers who seem overdue in terms of claiming that elusive first major championship.

It was 14 years ago that Phil Mickelson won his first and only PGA Championship. But since then, Lefty has finished in the top 10 only twice (T7 in 2008 and second in 2014) and missed the cut each of the last two years. Before that, in 2016, Mickelson tied for 33rd. He won at Pebble Beach this year and tied for 18th at the Masters, so there's no telling what this week will hold for Phil.

The PGA Championship might have been dominated by U.S. golfers in recent years, but there are plenty of European competitors who have the game to end the American's string of three straight victories at the event. Italian and reigning Open Championship winner Francesco Molinari, England's Tommy Fleetwood, Spain's Jon Rahm and, of course, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland have to be considered among the favorites to give the continent its first PGA Championship triumph since 2014 (McIlroy). 

It's always fun to check out some under-the-radar golfers who are worth keeping an eye on this weekend at Bethpage. There's a guy like Ryan Moore, who has a pair of top 10 finishes on one of the toughest courses in the world. Then there is Gary Woodland, who led the 2018 PGA Championship after the first two rounds before finishing tied for sixth.  

Is there reason for concern that McIlroy finished tied for 21st at the Masters? Or that he's failed to crack the top 15 at the last four PGA Championships? Maybe, but it's probably never wise to write off one of the best in the world. McIlroy really does not have any pressure on him this week, and it would be nice for him to pull out a victory a couple of weeks after his 30th birthday.

Once again, Jordan Spieth will take aim at finishing off his career grand slam. However, accomplishing that feat does not expect to be easy for Spieth, who tied for 21st at the Masters. In 13 starts on the PGA Tour this season, Spieth has not finished in the top 10 and only twice was he in the top 25. Maybe Spieth's got the the field right where he wants it.

Johnson is the No. 1 golfer in the world and coming off a tie for second at the Masters. However, Johnson is not garnering a lot of attention, at least not to the level that's deserving of the top-ranked player on the planet. That's OK. We think Johnson will draw his own attention and be in position to win his second career major. 

Koepka is looking to become the first golfer to win the PGA Championship in back-to-back years since Woods in 2006 and 2007. Koepka tied for second behind Woods at the Masters, so we know he's likely to be locked and loaded to complete the repeat. The attention might be focused on that guy Tiger, but we should know better than to sleep on Koepka.

Do we really need to go into detail about this one? The hype surrounding Woods this week is at a level we have not seen in years. He won the first two majors of the season back in 2002 — interestingly enough when Bethpage hosted the U.S. Open. The betting odds are in his favor, but the challenge might be greater this month considering that he'll have plenty of competition ready to keep him from back-to-back titles.