This crazy PGA Championship is like a video game. Choose your fighter

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Bear with me because I’m about to say something not everyone will understand … but do you remember that TikTok trend from 2021, with the booming voice, called Choose Your Character? 

It became popular for the TikTok generation to create videos about societal characters with whom they identified, using sound pulled from the Character Selection page of the video game “Super Smash Bros.” If that all sounds insane, stick with us — we’re almost there. 

The reason this relates to the PGA Championship is because the 54-hole leaderboard is so jumbled with characters and possesses so many different storylines — so many permutations could take place, as Aaron Rai said Saturday — that it’s time for everyone at home to work through the options and [booming voice] CHOOSE … YOUR … CHARACTER.

We’ll lay out the options from least likely to lift the Wanamaker to most likely. It’s on you to make a selection.

CHOOSE YOUR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTER

11. If you want chaos that no one knows what to do with …  

You’re choosing Bud Cauley (-2), Brian Harman (-2), Ben Griffin (-2) or any of the other players who have somehow persisted at this wicked setup and yet have been on few consciences all week. They’ve finished the same number of holes as everyone else, and have made only a few more strokes in the process, but have we been aware of them? Maybe Sunday they play the best golf of their lives? If so, we’ll be scrambling to catch up with where they’ve been all week. 

10. If you look back at your younger self wistfully …

You’re going all-in on Joaquin Niemann (-2) or Cam Smith (-2). Both LIV golfers held plenty of promise in past years, but have faded in ways that have to leave them wondering about life in 2022. Niemann has played his best golf on LIV, just before the league earned World Ranking points; Smith played his best golf just before he left for LIV, period. We’ve wanted them to splash in majors, but it just hasn’t happened, and somehow both have resurfaced this week.  

[the ranking continues below the graphic]

9. If Statistics was your favorite class in high school … 

You’re inclined to get down with Nick Taylor (-4), Aaron Rai (-4) or Kristoffer Reitan (-4). Why those boys? Because you believe in the predictive results of the bell curve. How the most expected results happen often but not always. How there have been many majors won by Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, but also some others by Jimmy Walker, Shaun Micheel, Ben Curtis, etc. 

It may sound dismissive to pre-label those gents as could-be-one-time-major-winners, but it feels fair, too. In the next 10 years, there will be a one-time major-winner who steals one. Could it happen Sunday? 

8. If you think elder abuse is serious…

Then you’re praying Justin Rose (-2) gets it done. The 45-year-old has been so good at majors for much of the last two years, carving out top-6 finishes in half of them, that it feels wrong he keeps coming up just short. Rose finished T6, improbably, at the 2024 PGA, then T2 a few months later at the Open, lost in a playoff at the Masters in 2025 and then held the Masters lead last month before losing his grip on a green jacket yet again. It feels like it has to happen before it may never happen again.

7. What do you know about Leicester City? 

The 2015 English Premier League champions were plucky. They didn’t have all the money to buy all the players with all the tools. But they fought hard and felt that people did not take them seriously … right until they had to take them seriously. Then Leicester won, in glorious fashion, and a decade later they’ve been relegated a handful of times. But damnit, they won the league when no one expected it.

Alex Smalley (-6) has somehow led this tournament after each round, and now holds a two-shot lead entering the final stretch. He is not a fan favorite by any stretch of the term, but his game is way more respectable than most fans would recognize. He’s been hanging around Tour leaderboards for the last two months. It’s time to take him seriously. 

6. If you want a party to break out … 

You need the closest thing to a local boy, and that’s Chris Gotterup (-2). Philadelphia golf fans haven’t really had their own rooting interest in this championship, at least not a legit one who could win. But a bunch of Chris Gotterup’s family and friends are here at Aronimink after making the quick trek from New Jersey or New York. 

When Gotterup got to five under and in a share of the lead midway Saturday, his supporters were just starting to get rowdy. If he somehow gets into that position again Sunday, expect the Philly locals to join in. 

5. If you think experience should matter…

Xander Schauffele (-3) is just sitting there, waiting, with two major wins under his belt. He’s been there all week. Two under after the first round, five back after 36 holes, now three under and waiting for everyone to crumble around him, much like they all did at Royal Troon in 2024. Schauffele has mastered the art of just hanging around at majors, finishing in the top 18 of 15 of the last 16 majors. So, yeah, he’ll be there, just waiting.

5b. If you think past experience doesn’t matter…

Then you’re on Ludvig Aberg (-4) Watch. Aberg certainly has some serious major experience in contention, but he’s never broken through. In some ways, he’s what Schauffele used to be — working his way through major heartbreak toward major celebration. The golf nerds love his chances.

4. If “The Talented Mr. Ripley” is one of your favorite tales…

Patrick Reed (-3) is your character. Reed is, like Tom Ripley, a shape-shifting chameleon. He is a former LIV member, a current DP World Tour member and both a former and future PGA Tour member. He is wickedly talented, and now that he’s putting decently, he’s a threat to steal this tournament from whoever you might think is more deserving. 

3. If you cheer for LeBron James…

Then Scottie Scheffler (-1) is your man. Watching greatness in sports gets you going. One fan at Aronimink said “C’mon LeBron” at Scheffler while he walked by on the putting green Saturday. Perhaps that’s because cheering for LeBron — and cheering for Scheffler — is to believe in greatness. To root for a human to achieve what he or she seems to be worthy of. 

2. If you believe in the dust settling…

You’re hoping Jon Rahm (-4) can do what he didn’t last year and finish the deal. Rahm is a generationally great golfer who has willingly made controversial moves during his prime. Those decisions have created a murky narrative around some of the most important years of his golfing life, during which he hasn’t added to his major total nor even contended outside of the 2025 PGA, when he went toe-to-toe with Scheffler and faded late. This time Scheffler may not stand in Rahm’s way, but someone else might …

1. If you want to see history…

You need Rory McIlroy (-3) to show up. You may not love how much his opinions lead golf coverage, but you have to acknowledge that once every Masters comes and goes, only one person can win a calendar year Grand Slam, and that’s McIlroy. He’s decried the course setup more than once this week, started his tournament with a 74 he labeled as “s–t” and has somehow rallied to sit just three back. If he were to win, it would give the sport much juice heading into next month’s U.S. Open, and we haven’t had the chance to really talk about a calendar slam since Jordan Spieth 11 years ago.

For better or worse, he’s my fighter. Who’s yours?