Ahead of the 2024 PGA Championship, some of the best players in the world gave their verdict on what a scratch golfer might shoot at Valhalla Golf Club.
The Kentucky venue is set to host its fourth PGA Championship and first since Rory McIlroy hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy in near darkness 10 years ago.
The course has undergone some modifications since then and now measures just north of 7,600 yards from the back tees, making it a brute of a layout.
With that in mind, the typically brilliant DP World Tour social media team asked some of the 156 players set to tee it up this week how they though a scratch handicapper would get on in tournament conditions.
First up, Min Woo Lee admitted the length of the par-71 course would be the biggest obstacle.
“A scratch golfer would shoot probably 10 to 15-over I would say. It’s tough. I’m a pretty long hitter and it’s long for me,” Lee said.
“Most of the par-4s you’re going in with 8-iron or more, so a scratch handicapper would hit a 5 or a 6-iron in, probably more.
“So yeah, I think a scratch handicap would shoot 15-over.”
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre echoed those sentiments, adding: “They might break 90 if they can drive it. Just got to hit it straight. Simple as that.”
Shane Lowry and Victor Perez struck similar chords with their responses.
Lowry said “if they shot mid 80s they’d be doing very well” and “if they broke 90 they should be happy,” while Perez gave the most precise prediction.
“A scratch golfer, 91,” Perez replied. “I think they’ll be in the rough too much and then hack, bogey. Eighteen bogeys you’re at 90, you give it two disasters and three pars and 91.”
Jon Rahm and Billy Horschel were rather more forgiving in their assessments, even giving scratch golfers a chance of returning a score in the 70s.
“It’s very hard to say because there is a lot of length to it so it would depend on what scratch golfer,” Rahm said. “Tough par-3s and some really tough finishing par-4s.
“A scratch golfer who doesn’t have a lot of experience and enough length, I have a hard time seeing them breaking 80. If it’s somebody with length and a little more golf experience they can maybe shoot something in the high 70s, but it’s a challenging course out there.
“Even if you’re in the fairway you can put yourself in some difficult spots. I would say somewhere from mid 70s to 80.”
Horschel added: “I think he has a chance of shooting in the low 80s. Depending on how good his short game and putting is there’s a possibility he could break 80.
“It just depends on how far he hits it. If he’s a scratch golfer who can fly it 290 I think he can easily shoot in the higher 70s.”
