The sun is out, Bellerive Country Club is drying out and the players set to compete for the Wanamaker Trophy at the 100th PGA Championship are scrambling to get in practice rounds and learn as much as they can about the course.
The 72-hole tournament will begin Thursday morning and run through Sunday.
Tommy Fleetwood, a 27-year-old from England, said that despite Tuesday's heavy rains, the experience at Bellerive has been exceptional.
"It's a big change (from playing in Europe) and that you _ it takes you by surprise straight away," he said during a Wednesday press conference. "If you look at yesterday, we came back out to play after finishing nine holes (and getting stopped by thunderstorms) and the atmosphere was almost like a Saturday of a tournament.
"All the majors are similar, but this one in particular seems to have a really, really good atmosphere and it's busy from Monday all the way through. It's something you have to sort of ease through and learn how to manage your time (because) you're basically playing a practice round like you're playing a in a final group on Sunday."
Defending PGA champion Justin Thomas agreed: "The amount of fans out here (Tuesday) was absurd. I've never seen anything like that on a Tuesday. So come tomorrow and the rest of the week, I'm sure it will be pretty cool."
Just the sixth golfer to shoot a 63 at a U.S. Open, Fleetwood finished a stroke behind winner Brooks Koepka earlier this year at Shinnecock Golf Club in Southhampton, N.Y. In 2017, he placed fourth at the U.S. Open.
"The U.S. Open just happens to be the event that I've done really well in," said Fleetwood, who has placed 61st at last year's PGA Championships after missing the cut in both 2014 and 2015. "It's hard to put your finger on why I would have performed better in one event and not so much this one. You know, hopefully this week I do better and can sort of break that run."
Justin Thomas, ranked No. 2 in the world, is the defending PGA champion and is also coming off a victory at last weekend's World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. He won by four strokes over Kyle Stanley.
"First and foremost, obviously, I'm excited to be back, but I need to try to get myself in contention," the 25-year-old from Louisville said. "That's the most important part when it comes to trying to defend a title. But being the deepest field in golf and a great golf course and (you have) a lot of players trying to knock off that Major here at the end of the year (who) haven't gotten one yet this year.
"Any tournament's a tough one to win, but this one especially is."
In 2013, Thomas was a member of the U.S. squad that defeated Great Britain/Ireland 17-9 in the Walker Cup at National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y.
The captain of that U.S. Team: St. Louis amateur golf legend Jim Holtgrieve.
"It was very fun playing for Captain," Thomas said. "We beat them up pretty good, so that made it very enjoyable at National Golf Links. He came out during my media day (at Bellerive) and was able to say hello. It was a pretty busy busy day for me, so we weren't able to catch up too much, but we'll stay in touch here or there. ... He was a fun person to play for and we really had a great week that week."
