May 09, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Rory McIlroy has a little work to do as he trails the leader by five strokes after two rounds.
We've got 36 holes in the books in the Philly suburbs, as the best in the world have battled the oldest country club in America, and a little rain, to position themselves to win as much of the PGA's $20 million signature event purse as they can this weekend.
With thousands of golf fans able to get up close and personal amid the tight confines of Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon course, it's natural to wonder which golfer fans are most pulling for to win on their home turf.
After wandering the golf course for two days, we've determined the following five (or so) PGA Tour pros are the city's favorites:
Philly sports fans are famously a knowledgable bunch, which is why Bradley and Rose had a few extra eyeballs on the grounds at Cricket Club this week. Bradley is the most recent PGA Tour winner in the Philly area, having won (ironically in a playoff against Justin Rose) in the BMW Championship, held at Aronimink in 2018.
Five years before that, Rose won his first and only major — at a memorable U.S. Open held at Merion, which will host the event again in 2030 – and also won the 2010 AT&T National, a regular tour event held at Aronimink.
Cantlay also has some Philly-area love, having won the BMW when it was at Wilmington Country Club back in 2022.
If you're one of his fans, you know him as "The Chef," "Dr. Chipinski," or "Woozy." The young social media star from Australia won his first PGA event in Texas last month and is known for having a creative and inventive short game. He has legions of dedicated fans.
He won't contend for a title this weekend unless he goes extremely low Saturday but will be a big attraction early in the morning before the leaders tee off in the afternoon.
The working-class, boisterous and lovable Lowry has a lot of Philly fans and is feeding off them, with scores of 65 and 64 to kick off his Truist. He's a lovable major title-winner who made the most of his Open Championship in 2019, partying with the best of them across the pond.
He also was Jason Kelce's playing partner in Wednesday's Pro-Am.
"I always say in golf we're very fortunate to meet the people we do, traveling the world and coming to different places," Lowry told Philly media members. "To be able to go out in the Pro-Am and play golf with someone like that, I enjoyed the experience. Great fella. Obviously I knew who he was before, but I'll be honest, I had to read up quite a bit the night before about what he'd achieved and all that.
"Look, everybody knows who the Kelce brothers are now, but yeah, he was a great guy. It seems like, wow, he's loved around here, isn't he? That's pretty cool about him. That's what I really liked about him is how much of a hometown hero he is here, and how much he embraces it all was pretty cool."
He has the potential to be a memorable winner in the City of Brotherly Love and will be in the final group teeing off Saturday morning, along with 36-hole leader Keith Mitchell.
Fowler has finished second or third in every one of the four major championships at one point during his career, but despite being one of the more popular golfers on the PGA Tour, he's been a bridesmaid a bevy of times — but never the bride.
While the Truist is not a major championship, that underdog spirit is felt by fans watching him play, as they were dazzled by his front nine 6-under 29 on Thursday. His hot start ran into a brick wall — or perhaps a wet, soggy and cold one in the second round — as he was unable to stay among the leaders in tough conditions.
Still walking around with that Masters champion glow, McIlroy is the closest thing the game currently has to Tiger Woods. And hailing from a working class town in Northern Ireland, he does give off some Philly vibes.
The most difficult thing to see over the first few days, with hoards of fans lining tee boxes in advance, was McIlroy hitting his driver. He hits absolute bombs, and fans were pretty enthused to get a chance to see it up close.
By far the longest lines for autographs were for Rory, who sat five shots back after two rounds, as he grinded to a 67 in Round 2. He is looking to win this event for a historic fifth time, and is the Truist's defending champ (the event was held in North Carolina last spring).
"I think any time we do come to Philly, it's a great sports town obviously, and people do get behind obviously their teams, but also the events that are brought here," McIlroy said Thursday afternoon. "I feel like any time that I have played around here, whether it be Merion or Aronimink or here, the energy has always been great."
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