THE second Major of the year, this week’s USPGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa,  throws up a host of fascinating questions.

Can Tiger Woods improve on his share of 47th at the Masters, his first taste of action in 17 months – especially at a course where he shot his lowest score in any Major, a second round 63 that was the springboard for his win in the 2007 USPGA?

Woods still gives out the fear factor.

Can Rory McIlroy go one better than his runner-up finish in the Masters, and finally end his eight year wait to add to his haul of four Majors?

Will Jordan Spieth join the career Grand Slam club at the sixth attempt, and will Bryson DeChambeau even make it to the first tee, barely four weeks after undergoing wrist surgery?

This Major is set up brilliantly, especially with the golf establishment needing to show off its product in the face of a two billion dollar challenge from Greg Norman and his Saudi Arabian paymasters.

Here are a few thoughts on who could grab a share of the spotlight this week…

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Hot shots: Jordan Spieth, 18; Hideki Matsuyama 25-1

Both men arrived in Tulsa after eye-catching warm-ups, with Spieth finishing runner-up in the Byron Nelson on Sunday, and Matsuyama one place back after a dazzling final round 62.

It is surely only a matter of time before Spieth wins the only Major to have eluded him so far, especially as his long game seems so much more reliable now.

The shock of missing the cut at the Masters – where he again sank to a watery doom at the par three 12th – clearly stung, and he won at Hilton Head before being pipped by course specialist K.H.Lee last week.

If he can avoid the short range misses with the putter that have plagued him recently – even more shocking considering he holed everything he looked at a few years ago – membership of the Grand Slam club could easily be his.

Matsuyama seems to have overcome the injury problems that troubled him in the build-up to his title defence at Augusta, where he still managed a respectable 14th. A second Major win cannot be far away.

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Mid price: Shane Lowry, 30-1; Jason Day, 66-1

Lowry has been one of the form players in 2022, and he is refreshed and ready for this. He allowed himself a four week break after finishing in a share of third in a bunch finish at Hilton Head.

He occupied the same position at the Masters, and the 2019 Open champion has become a model of consistency, even though a first win since that epic Portrush triumph remains frustratingly elusive. 

Lowry has not looked like missing the cut in any of his ten starts this year, and has made the top 15 in all but two of them, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Honda Classic. Certain to go one better soon.

Day is the sort of injury-prone player who you almost expect to be knocked out of his stride by a broken fingernail.

But the former world No 1 and 2015 USPGA winner seems to be relatively healthy again. He showed he still has plenty of game with a first round 63 at the Wells Fargo and three more low rounds last week. Day looks over-priced.

Long shots: Davis Riley, 125-1; Sebastian Munoz, 125-1.

Did I just imagine it, or did Munoz really play out of his skin in Dallas last week, before finishing in a share of third with Matsuyama?

No, a look back at last week’s results show that Munoz opened with a 12 under par 60, and added scores of 69-66-69 to keep pace with a host of the world’s best players.

It was no fluke. That was the Colombian star’s second top three finish this year, and he has threatened to knock on the door a few more times during a run of eight tournaments where he has finished inside the top 40 every time.

At three figure odds he has to be worth an each way interest. The same applies to Riley, another player who will be high on confidence when he steps onto the first tee.

Riley won twice on the highly competitive Korn Ferry Tour to graduate to the big time, and has not looked out of place. He was agonisingly close to a first PGA Tour win at the Valspar, where he was beaten in a play-off by Sam Burns.

His last three starts have seen him finish fourth alongside Will Zalatoris in the Zurich Classic, fifth without any need for assistance in the Mexico Open, and a close ninth in Dallas. This is a big step up, but the 25 year old is a fast improver. 

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