Ahead of the US PGA Championship, Valhalla Golf Club is being described by some leading professionals as a “big-boy golf course”. So, what do some of our DP World Tour members think a scratch golfer would shoot at this week’s host venue?
From Major Champions Shane Lowry and Jon Rahm to fellow Rolex Series winners Min Woo Lee and Billy Horschel, all were unanimous in their belief that length is a vital asset - perhaps even more so after recent inclement weather.
With a par of 71 and the course measuring 7609 for the second men's Major Championship of the season, their predicted scores ranged from the mid to high 70s up to the low 90s.
Valhalla is this week hosting the US PGA Championship for a fourth time, with the winning scores at past editions ranging from 11 under to 20 under.
Despite that, a score of par or better just wasn't up for discussion, especially with three-time DP World Tour winner Lee.
Explaining his thinking, Lee said: "I am a pretty long hitter and it is long for me. On most of the par fours you are going in with an eight iron or more.
"A scratch handicapper would probably hit five or six iron in, probably more. I’d say ten [over] for the people that would get mad… but I think a scratch golfer would shoot 15 [over]."
And while Horschel was somewhat kinder in his assessment, distance off the tee was again a key factor in determining how well a scratch golfer could perform.
“I think he has a chance of shooting in the low 80s," he said.
"Depending on how good his short game and putting is, there is a good chance he could break 80. It just depends on how far he hits it. If he is a scratch golfer that can fly it 290, I think he can easily shoot in the high 70s."
That was around the same ballpark as two-time Major winner Rahm.
"There is a lot of length to it so it would depend on what scratch golfer," he said in his evaluation.
"Tough par threes, and some really tough finishing par fours. From the back, today we had a couple that if we didn’t hit it good we wouldn’t have got it all the way to the top with the wind we had.
"If he doesn’t have a lot of experience and length, I would have a hard time seeing them breaking 80. If it was someone with length and more golf experience they can shoot maybe in the high 70s but it is a challenging course."
Whereas, with Lowry he felt breaking 90 would be an achievement.
"If they broke 90 I think they should be happy. They probably won't think that but it is the way it is."
Scroll back up to hear all the other views, including 2023 Team Europe Ryder Cup stars Nicolai Højgaard and Robert MacIntyre.
