Rory McIlroy practices at Whistling Straits

If he is able to play at Whistling Straits, McIlroy is grouped for the first two rounds with Masters and U.S. Open victor Jordan Spieth and The Open champion Zach Johnson.

McIlroy stated his recreation was in respectable form, regardless of the lengthy layoff. They tee off at 2:20 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Spieth comes to Whistling Straits just a month removed from finishing one tantalizing shot shy of getting into a playoff at the British Open at St. Andrews with a chance to keep the Grand Slam chance alive.

Rory McIlroy joins the marquee group of this year’s major champions in the opening rounds of the PGA Championship. He won the PGA Championship last year at Valhalla.

Here’s the enduring image from the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits: Dustin Johnson, long on sideburns and heartbreak, using a pencil eraser to wipe out the 5 he thought he had made Sunday on the 18th hole.

There are a few differences in the two statements, though they’re fundamentally sharing the same messages: If you land in sand at Whistling Straits, don’t ground your club.

The on-board video screen suggested McIlroy was departing from Faro in Portugal, where the four-time major victor has been reportedly practising and the location for Thursday’s video of him hitting a driver on the range.

Also at three-under par is Shane Lowry who had played nine holes of his second round and chasing American Jim Furyk who shot a 66 to move well clear of the field at eight-under par.

Outline: Vijay Singh filled with the use of a 76 – the very best finishing round using a victor in PGA Championship historical past – and then got right into a three-man oppose if Justin Leonard’s trifle let him down.

What also doesn’t change is the quality of the field, the strongest among majors.

Quoteworthy: “I knew what was at stake”.

“I have the exact same feeling”. Those were the questions everyone was asking.

Even with his blockbuster year, the 22-year-old Spieth still feels as though he has something to prove.

Asked if there was any soreness at all he said: ‘No, not really.