A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on August 09, 2018, on page 13.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, past major winners trying to rise once more from contenders to champions, tee off side by side when the 100th PGA Championship starts Thursday. Woods, eight months into a comeback from spinal fusion surgery, and McIlroy, seeking his first major win since the 2014 PGA, will be joined by defending champion Justin Thomas for the first two days over the 7,316-yard, par-70 Bellerive Country Club layout.
Woods, a 14-time major champion, has not won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open and hasn't won any event since the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational. But he fired his lowest final round in five years to take fourth in June at the PGA National and led in the British Open final round before sharing sixth at Carnoustie.
Fifth-ranked McIlroy has five top-10 showings in the past nine majors, sharing second at last month's British Open and fifth at the Masters.