The 2026 Truist Championship is set to start on Thursday from Charlotte’s Quail Hallow. This will be a regular PGA Tour stop again this year after the course hosted the 2025 PGA Championship which was won by Scottie Scheffler. If Scheffler was part of the field this week in Quail Hollow, he would have been the favourite. But, he is not. There are three players in the top 10 who need to be considered this week. Let’s take a look who they are.
Rory McIlroy
The world number two from Holywood, Northern Ireland has won the only major of 2026. He won the Masters in April with a winning score of -11. In a battle of the top two players in the world, McIlroy defeated Scheffler by a single stroke. McIlroy has had great success at Quail Hollow in the past, as he has won the tournament four times (2010, 2015, 2021 and 2024). In the four events where McIlroy was in the winner’s circle, he had a combined total score of -63.
Cameron Young
The world number three is red hot at the moment and is a multiple champion in Florida in 2026. He was victorious at the Players Championship in March and the Cadillac Championship just last week. Young has not won the Truist Championship in the past, but finished second to Max Homa in 2022 when Wells Fargo was the title sponsor and the event was in Maryland. According to Ryan Andrade of Rotowire, there are a lot of similarities between the Blue Monster and Quail Hollow.
Xander Schauffele
It has been a tough year for Schauffele, as he has gone down seven spots in the world rankings from third to 10th. However, Schauffele was runner-up at Quail Hollow in back-to-back years in 2023 and 2024.