Rory, $20M, and a Philly Showdown: Truist Championship Tees Off

Rory’s gunning for more Philly gold, but this old-school course isn’t giving out birdies for free.

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Happy Valley Golf Team
May 07, 2025

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Good morning. This is your Happy Valley Golf Team newsletter. Let’s get it!

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

  • Rory McIlroy is back in Philly, chasing his fifth Truist title and looking to dethrone Scottie Scheffler atop the world rankings

  • The Wissahickon Course is a classic beast-tight fairways, gnarly doglegs, and a notorious “Great Hazard” bunker complex that could derail anyone’s round

  • News You Need to Know: Billy Horschel is set to miss the rest of the majors in 2025 due to hip surgery, putting his Ryder Cup hopes on ice.

  • This tip could add some serious distance to your game

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TEE TIME: Rory Eyes Another Trophy at the High-Dollar Truist Championship

Philly gets fancy this weekend as the PGA Tour swings into the City of Brotherly Love for the 2025 Truist Championship (formerly Wells Fargo) at The Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course. This signature event brings a whopping $20M purse, with $3.6M going to whoever rocks the leaderboard come Sunday evening.

New name, new venue, same McIlroy magic?

The defending champ (and newly-minted Masters winner) Rory McIlroy returns seeking his fifth title at this tournament, though his previous four victories all came at Quail Hollow. With that course prepping for next week's PGA Championship, players get to test their skills on A.W. Tillinghast's 1922 classic design that's hosting the Tour for the first time.

McIlroy isn't just chasing another trophy - he's hunting Scottie Scheffler's #1 world ranking. After completing his career grand slam at Augusta, McIlroy's 2025 has been absolutely blistering with three solo victories already (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Players Championship, and The Masters). This will be his first individual 72-hole event since donning that green jacket.

Course breakdown: Old-school challenge awaits

The Wissahickon Course stretches 7,119 yards as a par 70, featuring tight fairways, 13 dogleg tee shots, and tiered greens that reward precision over power. Keep an eye on the 553-yard par-5 15th hole with its infamous "Great Hazard" - a three-quarter-acre complex of bunkers and mounds that fills the fairway 335 yards off the tee.

When the PGA Tour Champions played here in 2016, nobody finished under par. Yikes.

Who's playing (and who's not)

While Rory headlines the 72-player field, Scottie Scheffler is notably absent, opting to rest after casually obliterating the field at last week's CJ Cup Byron Nelson with a ridiculous -31 score.

Other stars making the trip include Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, and Patrick Cantlay. With no cut in this signature event, all qualified players get four guaranteed rounds to chase that sweet, sweet FedEx Cup points haul (700 to the winner).

Poeches corner: McIlroy dominates the odds board

The bookmakers are all-in on McIlroy, making him the prohibitive favorite at +400/+450 - a price that's hard to justify even for a player of Rory's caliber.

Smart money might look at:

  • Justin Thomas (+1800): Coming off a win at the RBC Heritage and thrives with short irons

  • Xander Schauffele (+1600): Poised for a return to the winner's circle according to several analysts

  • Longshot value: Tommy Fleetwood (+3000) and Byeong Hun An (+5500), who finished T3 at last year's event

For the more conservative bettors, Shane Lowry looks like a solid top-20 play at +105.

Catch the action: Thursday-Friday on Golf Channel (3-6pm ET) and weekend coverage split between Golf Channel (1-3pm ET) and CBS (3-6pm ET).

News You Need to Know

👉 PGA Championship field: Who will be teeing it up at Quail Hollow

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Thanks for reading!

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Cody.