The PGA Tour heats up with its sixth Signature Event of the season as it visits the Wissahickon Course at The Philadelphia Cricket Club for the 2025 Truist Championship. Designed by legendary golf course architect A. W. Tillinghast in 1922 and redesigned by Keith Foster in 2013, the Wissahickon Course will play as a Par 70, 7,1119 yard layout this week.
Despite this event serving as a Signature Event, this event has a lot of unknowns, as Wissahickon is hosting a PGA Tour event for the first time. The traditional host of this event has been Quail Hollow Club, which is a little preoccupied as they gear up to host the PGA Championship next week. The course is on the shorter end of yardage by tour standards, but there is no such thing as a walk in the park at an A. W. Tillinghast golf course. The course is guarded by 118 bunkers, the most of any PGA Tour course this season, scattered strategically all over the course, prepared to punish the player who strays from the tee or is loosey goosey on their approach. The greens? Arguably the most challenging, non-major greens on tour, as they are multi-tiered and offer plenty of twists and turns, courtesy of the man who also designed the diabolical greens of both Winged Foot and Bethpage Black, among other courses. Give an edge to the player who really has their irons dialed in, who excels when they end up in a bunker and who is able to maintain their composure on firm and challenging greens. But most importantly, the player with the best advantage is the one who can grind out pars, can keep the big numbers out of play, can take what the course gives them and can ultimately rise to the occasion when faced with unexpected bounces or difficult conditions. This is the perfect major setup, and will serve as a great way for players to acclimate to the difficult conditions to be expected both next week at Quail Hollow Club for the PGA Championship and at Oakmont Country Club in June for the U. S. Open.
One of the PGA Tour’s Signature Events, the Truist Championship field is filled with the game’s best (other than Scottie Scheffler, who is resting up for next week’s PGA Championship after a dominant victory last week at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson), who are looking to add some more hardware to their trophy case. Among the favorites this week are Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, while other young guns teeing it up include Nick Dunlap, Thomas Detry, Max Greyserman, Garrick Higgo, Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala, just to name a few.
Contain your amazement, but Rory McIlroy holds the record for most wins in this tournament, hoisting the trophy four times in his career. Max Homa is the only other multi-time winner of this event, with two of his six career PGA Tour wins coming in this event.
Last year’s edition was won by Rory McIlroy, who came from two strokes behind on the final day to beat Xander Schauffele by five strokes. Ben An finished in third place, eighth strokes behind, while Jason Day and Sungjae Im finished T-4, 11 strokes off the pace.
Ludvig Åberg is a controversial fade, but I have to go with my gut here. His driver has been solid, but the rest of his game might be a struggle on this course. He made the top 10 at the Masters and is a fan favorite, but I don’t think he can keep the streak going. He is mentally drained, and I think this course might get the better of him. While I know his game has been steady, I also feel this week isn’t in the cards for him.
Andrew Novak is my sleeper for this event. He has three straight top-three finishes, including a playoff loss to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage and a victory alongside Ben Griffin at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Everything in his game has been clicking for the past month, and now he has the confidence of a PGA Tour winner to go along with it. While odds have him sitting around 60-1, I think this is his moment. His game overall from tee to green is too solid right now for him to not do well here in Philly.
Keegan Bradley is being called a long shot for this event, but I think his playing recently definitely qualifies him to be in the top ten here. He has finished in the top 20 in three of his last five events and is right on the cusp of putts falling. Keegan has to get out of his own way and if he does, he will easily be in the running. His game sets up well for this course, and he shouldn’t struggle.
Rory McIlroy is my pick this week to take the field. He finally has the green jacket, and a huge weight is off of his shoulders. I think coming into this event, he will be swinging free and easy. Rory never had a swing issue, but rather lets his head get in the way. Now that the Masters is over, he should feel confident closing out events. His putting has been strong, and he has to not be afraid to come out of the gate aggressively.
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