Justin Thomas is the defending champion ©Getty Images

American Justin Thomas will begin his Professional Golf Association (PGA) Championship defence alongside Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at the Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis tomorrow.

Thomas will enter in good form after victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last week.

Northern Ireland's McIlroy has not won a major since the 2014 US PGA Championships title, which marked his second win in the event following a 2012 success.

But he also enters playing well after a joint runner-up finish at the recent British Open.

Woods, meanwhile, is a four-time US PGA winner in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007.

The American will return to the Bellerive course for the first time since he was practicising in the Missouri city before the 2001 WGC-AMEX Championship on September 11, when he heard of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C.

Rory McIlroy is also seeking a third US PGA Championship title ©Getty Images
Rory McIlroy is also seeking a third US PGA Championship title ©Getty Images

Jordan Spieth is also bidding to become only the sixth golfer to win all four majors with a PGA Championship success.

World number one Dustin Johnson will also spearhead a strong home challenge.

England's world number three and Olympic champion Justin Rose and Italy's British Open winner Francesco Molinari are other contenders. 

Action will start tomorrow and continue until Sunday (August 17).