CHARLOTTE -- Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler own plenty of parallels here at Quail Hollow Club this week. Each won his first career PGA Tour title on this course -- McIlroy in 2010, Fowler in '12. Each has been good-but-not-great this year, at least by their standards, combining to win just one tournament. And each entered this week brimming with confidence, largely based on those parallels, playing the PGA Championship on familiar turf with momentum based on recent results.
As if to only shine a spotlight on these parallels, the PGA of America decided to pair them together for the opening two rounds -- alongside Jon Rahm -- and what unfolded in their first 18 holes on Thursday afternoon simply led to more comparisons.