Horses for Courses: Absent course form, lean on ball-strikers like Xander Schauffele at Truist Championship

With the PGA Championship scheduled at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte next week, the Truist Championship moves to The Philadelphia Cricket Club for a special edition of the event. The shifting to a new course is happening for the third time in the tournament's history, with the 2017 PGA Championship and 2022 Presidents Cup hosted at Quail Hollow.

The Wissahickon Course, designed by A.W. Tillinghast in 1922, welcomes a field of 72 and the PGA TOUR for the first time in history for the sixth Signature Event of 2025. The TOUR made two previous stops in the Philadelphia area, 17 miles down the road at Aronimink Golf Club for the 2011 AT&T National and 2018 BMW Championship. Tillinghast, one of the most influential golf course designers ever, provided the challenge at Winged Foot (2020 U.S. Open) and Bethpage Black (2019 PGA Championship).

Rory McIlroy (+400): The event’s defending champion from Quail Hollow, like most in the field, will be playing the Wissahickon Course for the first time in competition this week. The Masters champion and career Grand Slam winner cashed T8 at the most recent events contested on Tillinghast designs, the 2019 PGA Championship (Bethpage Black) and 2020 U.S. Open (Winged Foot). The favorite and highest-ranked player in the field was also fifth at Aronimink at the 2018 BMW Championship and won earlier this year on another classic design, Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Xander Schauffele (+1600): The Californian has never been bothered by old-school East Coast courses (see table below). His record at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, contested on courses rarely frequented by the PGA TOUR for weekly play, is outstanding. Cashing T16 at Bethpage, followed by T5 at Winged Foot, the two-time major champion from 2024 shared third at the 2018 BMW Championship.

SG: Tee-to-Green

Players listed below are competing this week; 2025 ranking as of May 7.

Like most major championships or any brand-new course in play for the first time, the focus is primarily on those who can move it from tee to green. The Wissahickon Course plays to a stock par-70 at 7,119 yards, trailing only Pebble Beach and Waialae Country Club as the shortest used on TOUR this season. Featuring 118 bunkers, the most on TOUR yet in 2025, the Tillinghast challenge comes from where to place the tee ball and the proper misses into the tiered Bentgrass greens.

The classic course setup runs through an almost treeless meadow known for its challenging greens. Relying on visual tricks and sandy graves off the fairways to protect the putting surfaces, the more fairways and greens found, the less stress on the scorecard. Not many, if any, have experience on the A1/A4 Bentgrass greens, prepped to run almost 13 feet. Lean on the ball-strikers when course form is absent.

Lucas Glover (+11000): The 2009 U.S. Open champion at Bethpage Black cashed T-16 at the 2019 PGA Championship on the same track and earned T-17 at Winged Foot.

Justin Thomas (+1600): The 2022 PGA Championship winner at Southern Hills also hit the top 10 at Winged Foot and was T-12 at Aronimink. Winning at Harbour Town, a demanding tee-to-green course, last time out suggests he’s in control of his golf ball.

Major players on Tillinghast designs (entered this week)

Oddsmaker’s extras (odds)

• Patrick Cantlay (+2000): Sharing third at Bethpage Black, plus winning the 2021 and 2022 BMW Championships on brand-new courses used on TOUR on the East Coast, pushes him up the board this week.
• Keegan Bradley (+4500): The 2018 champion at Aronimink also won the 2024 BMW Championship at Castle Pines last summer, another course rarely featured in the recent past. The past winner at the Travelers in Connecticut, his “home” event, he shines when he’s in form and in the Northeast.
• Erik van Rooyen (+17000): A pair of top-25 results at two major championships on Tillinghast designs suggests the South African is a fan.
• Justin Rose (+7000): The winner of the 2013 U.S. Open down the road at Merion, another classic Philadelphia links club, the Englishman ran second at Aronimink and has cashed on the podium in the last two major championships.
• Hideki Matsuyama (+3500): The 2021 Masters champion collected top-20 paydays on the two Tillinghast challenges and was T16 at Aronimink. The Japanese star has won a FedExCup Playoffs event and two Signature Events in the last 15 months.

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