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Sahith Theegala will have some great company in Sepp Straka in the opening round of the 107th PGA Championship, but he also has some worries hanging around his neck, as per a release from PGA.
Theegala, who has grown into one of the top global stars, will play with the winner of last week's signature event, the Truist Championship, where the Indian-American had to withdraw after three rounds because of a neck strain that saw him shoot 78 in the third round. Theegala will wait and see how his neck has progressed as he plays with Straka and Max McGreevy. Another Indian-American Akshay Bhatia is trending well with a third place in Players to his name this season. Bhatia, who on the eve of the Masters signed up with Hero from India, from where his parents originally came, is drawn to plays alongside Denny McCarthy and Sam Burns. Aaron Rai, an Indo-British player, will tee up alongside Joe Highsmith and Cameron Young. Playing at Truist, Theegala withdrew from the event last week, citing a neck injury. The event did not have any cut, but Theegala, who opened with rounds of 69 and 71 carded four bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey in the third round at the Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course. Theegala received some physical therapy before leaving the event. After Rory McIlroy, a two-time PGA Championships winner in 2012 and 2014, completed the career Grand Slam in April at the Masters, there is a lot of focus on Jordan Spieth, who needs only PGA Championship to do the same. Spieth has won the Masters and the US Open in 2015 and added the Open in 2017. Since then he has been looking to add the PGA Championship to complete a Career Slam, which McIlroy did last month. The big marquee pairings will see Masters champion Rory McIlroy alongside Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele, while the two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas plays with Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa. The PGA Championship, the second major championship of the season, returns to the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Picking up his first win of the season in dominating fashion two weeks ago at TPC Craig Ranch at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, Scottie Scheffler is a big favourite even ahead of McIlroy. The field this week has 99 of the Top-100 with only Billy Horschel missing out due to hip surgery. Scheffler, a two-time major championship winner, makes his sixth visit to the PGA Championship. He owns four top-10s in his first five appearances, highlighted by sharing second at Oak Hill Country Club in 2023. McIlroy's victory at the Masters was his third win of 2025, the most on TOUR. Also in the fray will be the U.S. Open winner in 2024 and 2020, Bryson DeChambeau. Halfway to the career Grand Slam is Jon Rahm who has wins at the Masters and U.S. Open champion. (ANI)
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