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Rory McIlroy is on pretty much everyone's mind at the US PGA Championship.
The world number two would have been coming in to this week as one of the favourites in any normal year, but given he finally won the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam last month, the hype is justifiably in overdrive.
Add to that his victories at Pebble Beach in February, the PGA Tour's flagship Players Championship in March and the fact he has won four times at this Quail Hollow course and it is easy to understand why.
Jordan Spieth has been inspired; Justin Thomas is jealous; Bryson DeChambeau is itching for a rematch.
World number one Scottie Scheffler would trade his own driving ability for McIlroy's at the North Carolina venue, while Jon Rahm wants his putting prowess.
McIlroy is yet to speak to the media.
He was scheduled to do so late on Tuesday but the storms that wrecked Monday's practice day returned to further disrupt his - and everyone's - preparations and he will now answer questions at 13:30 BST on Wednesday.
About three inches of rain has fallen in recent days, which will make the fairways softer and therefore make the course play much longer, which may also play into McIlroy's hands.
"There are little things that I look at in people's games that I can improve on," said Scheffler. "You look at a guy like Rory, you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody that has driven the ball better than he has in the history of the game.
"Tiger had a ton of speed, but Rory has the accuracy to set him apart. Not only does he hit it really far, he hits it really straight."
The stats do not appear at first glance to fully back up Scheffler's claim, given McIlroy is well below the 2025 tour average of 59.5% in terms of accuracy off the tee, hitting 51.8% of fairways.
However, he is the fourth-longest driver at 306 yards and tops the leaderboard for strokes gained off the tee, picking up nearly one shot on the field.
By way of comparison, Collin Morikawa leads the accuracy stats at 73% of fairways hit, but is about 20 yards shorter per drive.
But Quail Hollow, which at 7,500-plus yards is the sixth longest on tour, rewards the big hitters and power over accuracy. Add into that McIlroy's confidence at a course he loves and it is easy to see why he is front and centre in everyone's vision this week.
His scoring average at Quail Hollow is 69.48 shots per round. That is a shot better than anyone else. In 14 tournaments, he has 10 top-10 finishes and one missed cut. He is 55 strokes further under par than any other player.
McIlroy's statistics are staggering.
According to the PGA Tour, he plays holes 7-10 and 15-17 better than anyone else. He is 18 shots better than the field on the seventh and almost 16 on the 16th.
He is ranked as the fourth-best putter on the PGA Tour this season and sixth in scrambling. And he has generally putted well at Quail, a fact not lost on two-time major winner Rahm.
"Based on the success he's had here, you almost have to go with some part of Rory's game," said the Spaniard.
"A lot of people probably would [trade for] his driving on this golf course, but as a pretty good driver myself, I'm going to choose how well he's been able to putt on those greens."
McIlroy became just the sixth player to win all four majors with his triumph at Augusta National - a result that has had Scheffler purring.
"It was really cool to see Rory finish that off and to be there for that moment," said the two-time Masters champion.
"He's a good buddy of mine out here, so I was very happy for him.
"It takes a lifetime of work to be able to even have a chance to win major championships, let alone win all four of them."
Thomas, twice a US PGA winner - including at Quail Hollow in 2017 - said McIlroy's victory was like a wake-up call.
"I knew I always wanted to win the Grand Slam, but for some reason, watching somebody do it first-hand, reminded me I really do want to do that," he said.
"It's weird. Any time someone wins that isn't me, if it's a friend, I'm happy for them. But there's always going to be a part of me that's jealous and wishes it was me."
Spieth arrives this week in search of the only title missing from his majors resume. The 31-year-old Texan was the last player to win the first two of the year when he collected the Masters and US Open titles in 2015. He followed that with victory at Royal Birkdale in the 2017 Open Championship.
But in eight previous attempts, he has been unable to complete the career Slam.
"Watching Rory win after giving it a try for a number of years was inspiring," he said.
"You could tell it was a harder win; most of the time he makes it look a lot easier.
"I'd love to throw my hat in the ring and give it a chance come the weekend."
Another American keen to add to his major tally of two this week is DeChambeau.
The 31-year-old is enjoying a good run in the majors, having finished runner-up to Schauffele in last year's US PGA before pipping McIlroy to the following month's US Open title.
The pair were in the final Masters group at Augusta last month, and although DeChambeau faded out of contention, he is keen to "have another go at it" with McIlroy.
"It's a golf course that sets up for his shot shapes pretty well, and it sets up well for mine, too.
"Maybe I do well, maybe I don't. But I'm certainly going to give it my all, and I know Rory is too."
And the statistics suggest that if you finish above McIlroy, you will likely be heading home with the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening.
