Johnson Suspended, Tiger Injured, Rory Rolling, PGA Preview

Just like that, we've reached the final major of the golf season, this week's PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.

But in the days leading to Valhalla, there was plenty to talk about on and off the course.

AKRON, OH - AUGUST 02: A banner showing Dustin Johnson hangs during the third round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course on August 2, 2014 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

It all started with the surprise suspension of Dustin Johnson last week for alleged cocaine use.

In this installment of 'Off The Tee', I talked with 4 Deep Golf's Joel Harrington about the Johnson situation:

AKRON, OH - AUGUST 03: Tiger Woods hits off the second tee during the final round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course on August 3, 2014 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The next big story came during the final round of last weekend's World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational, when Tiger Woods withdrew after re-injuring his back.

I asked Joel about the most recent setback for Tiger, and what the chances are of Woods teeing it up in Kentucky this week, where he was getting in a last minute practice round Wednesday afternoon:

AKRON, OH - AUGUST 03: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland holds the Gary Player Cup trophy after winning the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational with a score of -15 during the final round at Firestone Country Club South Course on August 3, 2014 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

When things ended in Ohio last weekend, Rory McIlroy had won at Bridgestone, beating Sergio Garcia by two strokes to take over as the #1 player in the world:

LOUISVILLE, KY - AUGUST 06: A leaderboard is seen near the practice ground during a practice round prior to the start of the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on August 6, 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

As you can imagine, McIlroy is a prohibitive favorite this week, according to the latest PGA Championship odds, where he's 5-to-1 to win.

I asked Joel about the course at Valhalla, Rory's chances of making it back-to-back majors, as well as some of the other players to watch for, plus the opening round PGA Championship pairings:

South Dakota is also crowning a pair of winners this week at the South Dakota Stroke Play Championships, with the men's event at Bakker Crossing Golf Course in Sioux Falls, and thew women's event at Central Valley Golf Club in Hartford: