It’s not so sunny in Philadelphia these days.

The Flyers and 76ers were each just rudely dismissed from the playoffs in second-round sweeps, and the Phillies scuffled so badly out of the gates that it cost manager Rob Thomson his job.

So, perhaps, sports fans in Philly could use a break. Touch grass, if you will.

Good thing the PGA Championship — the second major of the men’s golf season — begins Thursday in nearby Newtown Square at Aronimink Golf Club.

Here are six storylines to watch as play gets underway bright and early Thursday morning:

Can anyone stop Scottie Scheffler?

The reigning PGA champion had a weird start to his season. Scheffler won his debut at the Amex in a runaway before his iron play — his greatest superpower — abandoned him some. That led to the same ghastly results for the Texan like, um, T3, T4, T12 and even T24 and T22 (gasp!). Of course, he found his game again at Augusta, but he couldn’t quite catch Rory McIlroy on Sunday in a second-place finish. Then, he recorded two more seconds at his next two tournaments.

Scheffler sits comfortably within the top 20 of each strokes gained category, per Data Golf, and the golf stats site gives him more than a 50 per cent chance of finishing this tournament in the top 10 and a 13 per cent shot at winning — both far and away the highest of any player.

We haven’t quite reached the Tiger-vs.-the-field debates of the 2000s, but Scheffler is awfully close. But given the PGA Championship is the major set up most closely to PGA Tour tournaments (yearly reminder that the PGA Championship is run by the PGA of America, a separate entity from the Tour), and Scheffler dominates the regular circuit, the field is in tough.

Is Rory McIlroy really, truly freed up this time?

The best bet to stop Scheffler is likely McIlroy, the Northern Irishman and back-to-back Masters champion. McIlroy famously endured an 11-year major drought before finally breaking through to win at Augusta last year, also completing the career Grand Slam in the process. The narrative in the weeks that followed was that McIlroy would be freed up; with the gorilla off his back, he’d go out and pick off even more majors.

That didn’t play out. McIlroy was uncompetitive at the PGA and U.S. Open, and while he placed T7 at The Open Championship, Scheffler ran away with that title, too. McIlroy has since reflected that the Grand Slam was unfulfilling in a way, leaving him searching for meaning after having finally achieved a lifelong goal. But he returned this year with a renewed mindset of the history at stake with each major victory (his sixth tied him with LIV rival Phil Mickelson, which he surely enjoyed).

The golf has been pristine too, with McIlroy continuing to lead the PGA Tour in strokes gained: ball striking and tee to green, per Data Golf. Off the course, he seems lighter, joking with reporters last week about his wrongly maligned Masters prep. Put it all together, and McIlroy seems primed for a run of contention — and, perhaps, a long-awaited major duel with Scheffler.

What’s going on with the LIV players?

The biggest story in golf since McIlroy’s Masters win has been the breakaway league, which learned in recent weeks that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would be pulling funding after this season, leaving the tour in dire straits. After all, what rational investor would buy in to a golf league? “The math is never gonna work,” one expert told The Athletic.

One of many issues LIV faces is that it doesn’t have many marketable, competitive players. The headliners are Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm — but the former’s contract is up after this season, and he’s publicly threatening a pivot to YouTube, while the latter recently lamented that his deal was so ironclad that he “doesn’t see a way out.”

And so DeChambeau and Rahm arrive at the PGA with plenty of off-course issues on their minds — not to mention a missed cut and uncompetitive T38, respectively, at The Masters. Both have continued to perform well against weak competition on LIV, but they also know their legacies will be defined four weeks a year, and it’s time to start performing.

Which Canadian has the best shot to win?

It’s now been 23 years since Mike Weir won The Masters, and he remains the most recent Canadian men’s major champion. A foursome of Nick Taylor, Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith and Sudarshan Yellamaraju will try to change that this week.

Conners is typically the best bet at these events, but he hasn’t quite had his stuff this year. Pendrith earned the best major finish of his career with a T5 at last year’s PGA, but he also has struggled of late.

Taylor, in some ways, has always felt like the best bet to break the Canadian major drought — after all, he did just that at the RBC Canadian Open not long ago, and he’s shown a penchant for pulling out wins. Now, he’s coming off a pair of top-15 finishes.

The breakout Canadian, of course, is Yellamaraju, who burst onto the scene with a T5 at The Players Championship. He only got into the PGA field on Sunday, but after his fearless weekend performance at Sawgrass, it would hardly be a surprise to see him in the mix come Saturday and Sunday.

Will Spieth finally complete the Grand Slam?

Let’s dream a little here, shall we? A fan favourite, Spieth has gone through a Rory-like stretch at majors, where he’s been held out of the winner’s circle since the 2017 Open Championship.

Ever since, he’s been chasing the career slam at the PGA, but hasn’t really come all that close outside of a T3 in 2019. He missed the cut altogether last year, and his star has dimmed significantly since his memorable 2015 breakout.

But — but! — there are signs of life for Spieth. He recently referred to his season as “whac-a-mole,” explaining he’s had great weeks in each aspect of the game, but just needs to put it all together over a four-day stretch.

Aronimink could be just the place to do it — it’s relatively short, which will mean a lot of driver-wedge holes, and Spieth was second off the tee last week only behind McIlroy. His wedge and short-iron game, meanwhile, has long been a strength. Plus, Aronimink is known for uneven lies, not unlike Augusta, a course Spieth always seems to play well at, as it unlocks his creativity.

The Spieth experience is never an easy one — but the payoff this week could be worthwhile.

Who are some other contenders?

Cameron Young has two wins including The Players, and always plays well at majors. The Fitzpatrick brothers are on a heater, with Matt having won three times, including once with Alex, who immediately converted his PGA Tour card into a pair of top 10s. Ludvig Aberg and Tommy Fleetwood both continue to play well as they seek their maiden majors. Also in form, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka will aim to add to their major totals.