The stage is set for a head to head summer battle between Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler for the world number one spot.
Rahm, who has confirmed his attendance at the Scottish Open this summer, provides one of the many subplots of what is shaping up to be a remarkable week for the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
Should he win and Scheffler fail to finish higher than joint fifth then Rahm will reclaim the top spot on the world rankings.
But US Masters champion Scheffler’s statement Southern Hills is his favourite course to play at ensures we’re in for a fascinating week.
At this point I don’t expect being world number one to be high on either man’s priorities. They are more interested in the second major of the year.
But really, picking a winner from this field is like sticking a needle in a haystack.
Contenders old and new in the running for the title
I usually have a few guys in mind as potential winners on the eve of a major championship but I just can’t whittle it down this week.
Tiger Woods is back and says he is feeling much stronger than he did when he pitched up at Augusta for the Masters last month.
He has happy memories of playing Southern Hills too having won the last of his four PGA Championships there in 2007.
As I said at the time Augusta National is a daunting challenge both physically and mentally. Southern Hills has a reputation of being a brute in its own right but it is not the hilly challenge of Augusta.
Then you have Jordan Spieth, who needs to tick this one off to complete his career Grand Slam.
He finished runner-up at the AT&T Byron Nelson on Sunday so clearly he is hitting form as chases that elusive major to complete the set.
You can throw in Rory McIlroy for good measure.
He is playing well, had a great finish at the Masters and would love nothing more than to show he is back to his best by winning this event for the third time.
That’s five guys who will all be fancying their chances of winning this week.
I could add Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa to that list.
That’s four exceptional golfers who, for most people, will be flying under the radar.
It speaks volumes of just how competitive golf has become that you could pick any one of these guys as a potential winner.
Mickelson should be at Southern Hills
I am sad that Phil Mickelson has opted not to defend the title he won last year.
He was in the field for Southern Hills but has pulled out on the eve of the tournament.
It is looking increasingly likely his heart is set on playing in the LIV Golf Investments events instead.
That’s his choice to make but it would be sad if we didn’t see Mickelson competing in majors again.
His win at Kiawah Island last year was a fairytale one as Mickelson, at 50 years and 11 months, became the oldest player to win a major in history.
It is one of the game’s unwritten rules that you go back for your defence if you can and it all seems so sad that he won’t be at Southern Hills.
We will see re-runs of his fantastic win last year all week and I believe as a show of respect he should have made an appearance.
He’s a legend of the game and I don’t believe for a second he would not have been made welcome.
But it seems the pushback against the Saudi-backed LIV Investments events has brought us to this point.
There have been all sorts of rumours about who is going to play in the first event at the Centurion Club in London next month.
But we won’t know for sure until the week of the event who is taking part as the DP World Tour and PGA Tour have made it clear they will not grant releases to tour members to play in London.
With no-one backing down we’re effectively in a stand-off as it stands.
It will be fascinating not only to see not only who dares take part but what the repercussions for doing so will be from their respective tour.
