The spotlight is on Quail Hollow this week as the 2025 PGA Championship gets underway, but things may be getting a little too bright. Although a mainstay on the PGA Tour, the knives are coming out for the PGA Championship venue from all sides, including the players.

The PGA Championship is brimming with compelling storylines ahead of Thursday's opening round, perhaps none bigger than whether Rory McIlroy will be able to build on his career Grand Slam success at one of his favourite venues.

The 2025 PGA Championship returns to Quail Hollow in Charlotte for the second major of the golf season. This North Carolina course last hosted in 2017 when Justin Thomas won by two strokes, and as luck would have it for J.T., he's playing some of his best golf of the last few years entering this edition of the tournament.

Even Rory McIlroy must have had a good chuckle at how quickly the narrative shifted from ‘he will never win another major’ to ‘can he win the single-season Grand Slam?’

Rory McIlroy, whose Masters triumph last month completed a years-long pursuit of the career Grand Slam, said on Wednesday he has accomplished everything in golf he ever dreamed of and will not be burdened by any number-specific goals going forward.