With the 99th PGA Championship coming up, it's time to take a look at some of the ins and outs of this year's version at Quail Hollow. The PGA Championship is often the forgotten major, but this year's is particularly rich with storylines as Jordan Spieth goes for the career Grand Slam and Rory McIlroy tries to grab his fifth overall.

They will do so at a track we are quite familiar with and in one of the deepest fields in golf. We have gotten five straight years of nearly unassailable major champions. Here's to one more until 2018.

1. Shorts are allowed: Not during the event, mind you, but pros have been rocking shorts during practice rounds all week. I'm a fan. There has been much angst and silly rhetoric around this topic, but there is no reason golfers should not be allowed to wear shorts for practice rounds. In 15 years, we'll look back and be aghast that this was even a debate. 

2. The most consistent at PGA Championships: My data goes back six years, and only five golfers have made the cut at every PGA Championship. All five are in the field this week, and Mickelson has the best chance to win given his track record at Quail Hollow. 

  • Jim Furyk
  • Steve Stricker
  • Phil Mickelson
  • Francesco Molinari
  • Bill Haas

3. The best at PGA Championships: Again, from the last six years, only 15 golfers have multiple top 10s at this tournament. The most impressive has probably been either Jason Day, who has defeated 309 of 310 contenders in the last two years.

  • Rory McIlroy: 3
  • Henrik Stenson: 3
  • Jason Day: 3
  • Jim Fury: 2
  • Adam Scott: 2
  • Steve Stricker: 2
  • Jason Dufner: 2
  • Justin Rose: 2
  • Keegan Bradley: 2
  • Brooks Koepka: 2
  • Branden Grace: 2
  • David Toms: 2
  • Dustin Johnson: 2
  • Jimmy Walker: 2
  • Robert Streb: 2

4. Par 72 or par 71? Quail Hollow traditionally plays as a par 72, but this week it will play as a par 71 because of some of the changes to various holes. Out in 35 (formerly 36) and in in 36. "I still feel like the golf course gives you plenty of chances," said McIlroy. "It's going to play long this week with the weather. Obviously there's been a lot of rain over the last couple of days. But, you know, it will probably play a couple of strokes harder than it used to play, especially with the par going from a 72 to a 71."

5. A 2014 PGA Championship remix? Remember when McIlroy out-dueled Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson at Valhalla for the 2014 crown? Yeah, that could very well happen again given how those three play on this course.

6. The Slam: Jordan Spieth has a chance to become the youngest golfer to ever complete the career Grand Slam with a win this week. He just turned 24, which means this is his only chance to slide in past Tiger Woods as he'll be 25 at next year's PGA Championship. Here are the five golfers who have done it and their ages when they achieved the feat.

  • Tiger Woods: 24
  • Jack Nicklaus: 26
  • Gary Player: 29
  • Gene Sarazen: 33
  • Ben Hogan: 40

7. Quail Hollow crowns ... princes: If Royal Birkdale crowns kings (and my gosh, it does), then Quail Hollow is a lesser version of that. The PGA Tour started coming to this course for the first time since the 1980s back in 2003, and its list of winners is just immaculate. Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Anthony Kim, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are among the champs here (and yes, I'm ignoring that Derek Ernst win). I'd expect more of the same this week at the PGA Championship.

8. Weather is coming: We'll talk more about this on Wednesday, but it's supposed to rain for most of the rest of this week at Quail Hollow. That favors the big swingers like Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy as you can see by this strokes gained in the rain chart. 

Two unintended consequences here, though, might be that it mucks up the already-high rough and slows down the super speedy greens. That both helps McIlroy and Johnson (slowed greens) and hurts them (they miss fairways because they roll so deep). I'd still stay on the side of a bomber winning, but there is a lot to think about this week because of the precipitation.

9. No. 100: Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els are celebrating their 100th majors played this week, which is just incredible. Nearly two years of their lives have been spent playing major championships.