By . Derek Lawrenson In Valhalla . A summer that has belonged to Europe can reach another benchmark at the US PGA Championship this week. Never before have European golfers won three majors in a row but who would bet against Rory McIlroy or one of his gifted cohorts seizing the Wanamaker Trophy and completing a glorious triumvirate in the space of just nine weeks? It’s all rather ironic, of course, that it could happen here at Valhalla, the place where so many bathed with smiles now had faces that were tripping them up when they left the venue of the Ryder Cup in 2008. Now the scene of Europe’s greatest disappointment this century is set to be the place where they complete their summer of supremacy. VIDEO Scroll down to watch WGC Bridgestone  highlights . History: Rory McIlroy and his European team-mates are looking to win a third straight major for the continent . Trio: Europe have never won three majors in a row but they will look to do so at Valhalla this weekend . Driven: McIlroy has won three different majors - the first European to do so in the modern era . Disappointing: Valhalla was the scnee of Europe's loss of the 2008 Ryder Cup to the USA . Just look at all they have achieved since the nights went brighter. In May, Martin Kaymer won the flagship event on the PGA Tour and McIlroy the equivalent in Europe. In June, Kaymer won the US Open and Justin Rose the first of two big tournament victories in a row on either side of the Atlantic. Then, last month, the McIlroy era began at Royal Liverpool and continued with his stunning success at the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday. The McIlroy era? Rory himself might be keen to play down such talk but not his mentor, Jack Nicklaus. Normally one to steer clear of hyperbole, even the great man couldn’t help himself. ‘Rory is so gifted he could win between 15 and 20 majors if that is what he decides he wants to do,’ he said. German efficiency: Martin Kaymer has won the Players Championship (left) and US Open (right) this year . Top of the world: McIlroy has won three tournaments already this year and is looking for a fourth . VIDEO WGC Bridgestone highlights . No wonder they say all the best things come in threes. McIlroy’s Open success meant he became the first European golfer in the modern era to win three different majors. Now he’s trying to win three events in a row to make it three European majors in succession. It’s an awesome task, of course, to win three successive tournaments, particularly when two of them are majors. Tiger Woods pulled it off in 2006 and Lee Trevino in 1971. But if anyone in this age can do it, it’s surely McIlroy, who has got his head down and is a man hell-bent on a mission. At a time when his driving, by common consent, is setting new standards, McIlroy finds himself on the longest par-71 course in major championship history. That’s going to have him licking his chops, isn’t it? The big thing for McIlroy is whether he can take advantage and hole the birdie putts, like he did at Hoylake and Firestone. If he can do that, then he’s certainly got the mental strength to complete this feat that comes around once in a generation. Joy: McIlroy clenches his first in celebration after winning the Open Championship last month . Yet so many Europeans are at the top of their games right now that the sternest opposition could well come from the men who will be standing by his side at Gleneagles next month. Rose and Sergio Garcia must have almost forgotten what it’s like not to be on a leaderboard. The former played well here in that Ryder Cup defeat six years ago, winning three points out of four including a singles success against Phil Mickelson. He’s also due a dose of fortune after getting the wrong end of the luck of the draw at The Open. Garcia played poorly at the 2008 Ryder Cup and is not a fan of the course. But let’s hope the man who has just finished runner-up for three events in a row can keep the negative thoughts at bay. Would anyone seriously begrudge him a major after the tumultuous journey he has been on; the countless near-misses against the likes of Padraig Harrington, and the despair he felt two years ago at the Masters when he said he wasn’t good enough to win one? There’s more, of course. Kaymer had a forgettable July after the highs in May and June but sounded like a man ready to return to his gold standard. Any other year and Graeme McDowell’s victory in the French Open in June and high finishes at The Open and the Bridgestone would be worthy of more comment. Glory? England's Justin Rose has won twice already this year and will look to add another in Valhalla . So close: Sergio Garcia has come within inches of winning several tournaments recently . What about two Europeans who have had quiet summers but who would be fearless if they were in contention? Will this be the week Henrik Stenson or Ian Poulter join the party? Contrast all this joy with the sense of despondency gripping the American game. Woods has somewhat miraculously shown up but to what end? Dustin Johnson is off somewhere trying to sort his life out and Jason Dufner is so troubled by a neck injury he had an epidural last week and wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t the defending champion. Perhaps Mickelson, who signed off from Firestone with a 62, can lift the gloom, but it must be Rickie Fowler, the one bright American spark this summer, who has the best chance. His majors record so far this year reads: tied fifth at the Masters, and tied second at the US Open and The Open. The man with the best chance of disturbing the European hegemony, however, might well be the man McIlroy has just usurped as world No 1. Australian Adam Scott, like Rose, was desperately unfortunate with his Open draw. He only finished five shots behind McIlroy at the end, all of which and more could be put down to the markedly harder conditions he played in. A marvellous summer then, one in which Scott and the leading Europeans have eclipsed the Americans to such an extent they’ve been locked out of the top five in the world rankings. A third successive major, and a notable feat in a summer full of them for European golf, has never looked more inviting. Swede: Henrik Stenson is among the Europeans with a chance of winning the US PGA this week . Down Under: Australian Adam Scott is the most likely non-European to lift the trophy in Valhalla this week .
European golfers have never before won three majors in a row .
US PGA is at Valhalla, the venue where Europe lost the 2008 Ryder Cup .
Martin Kaymer won the US Open in June and McIlroy the Open in July .
Kaymer and McIlroy both also won US and Europe's flagship event this year .
Justin Rose has also won during the last nine glorious weeks for Europe .
McIlroy is already first European in modern era to win three different majors .
Tiger Woods and Lee Trevino won three events, with two majors, in a row .
Northern Irishman McIlroy is looking to do that at the tender age of 25 .
By . Derek Lawrenson In Valhalla . A summer that has belonged to Europe can reach another benchmark at the US PGA Championship this week. Never before have European golfers won three majors in a row but who would bet against Rory McIlroy or one of his gifted cohorts seizing the Wanamaker Trophy and completing a glorious triumvirate in the space of just nine weeks? It’s all rather ironic, of course, that it could happen here at Valhalla, the place where so many bathed with smiles now had faces that were tripping them up when they left the venue of the Ryder Cup in 2008. Now the scene of Europe’s greatest disappointment this century is set to be the place where they complete their summer of supremacy. VIDEO Scroll down to watch WGC Bridgestone  highlights . History: Rory McIlroy and his European team-mates are looking to win a third straight major for the continent . Trio: Europe have never won three majors in a row but they will look to do so at Valhalla this weekend . Driven: McIlroy has won three different majors - the first European to do so in the modern era . Disappointing: Valhalla was the scnee of Europe's loss of the 2008 Ryder Cup to the USA . Just look at all they have achieved since the nights went brighter. In May, Martin Kaymer won the flagship event on the PGA Tour and McIlroy the equivalent in Europe. In June, Kaymer won the US Open and Justin Rose the first of two big tournament victories in a row on either side of the Atlantic. Then, last month, the McIlroy era began at Royal Liverpool and continued with his stunning success at the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday. The McIlroy era? Rory himself might be keen to play down such talk but not his mentor, Jack Nicklaus. Normally one to steer clear of hyperbole, even the great man couldn’t help himself. ‘Rory is so gifted he could win between 15 and 20 majors if that is what he decides he wants to do,’ he said. German efficiency: Martin Kaymer has won the Players Championship (left) and US Open (right) this year . Top of the world: McIlroy has won three tournaments already this year and is looking for a fourth . VIDEO WGC Bridgestone highlights . No wonder they say all the best things come in threes. McIlroy’s Open success meant he became the first European golfer in the modern era to win three different majors. Now he’s trying to win three events in a row to make it three European majors in succession. It’s an awesome task, of course, to win three successive tournaments, particularly when two of them are majors. Tiger Woods pulled it off in 2006 and Lee Trevino in 1971. But if anyone in this age can do it, it’s surely McIlroy, who has got his head down and is a man hell-bent on a mission. At a time when his driving, by common consent, is setting new standards, McIlroy finds himself on the longest par-71 course in major championship history. That’s going to have him licking his chops, isn’t it? The big thing for McIlroy is whether he can take advantage and hole the birdie putts, like he did at Hoylake and Firestone. If he can do that, then he’s certainly got the mental strength to complete this feat that comes around once in a generation. Joy: McIlroy clenches his first in celebration after winning the Open Championship last month . Yet so many Europeans are at the top of their games right now that the sternest opposition could well come from the men who will be standing by his side at Gleneagles next month. Rose and Sergio Garcia must have almost forgotten what it’s like not to be on a leaderboard. The former played well here in that Ryder Cup defeat six years ago, winning three points out of four including a singles success against Phil Mickelson. He’s also due a dose of fortune after getting the wrong end of the luck of the draw at The Open. Garcia played poorly at the 2008 Ryder Cup and is not a fan of the course. But let’s hope the man who has just finished runner-up for three events in a row can keep the negative thoughts at bay. Would anyone seriously begrudge him a major after the tumultuous journey he has been on; the countless near-misses against the likes of Padraig Harrington, and the despair he felt two years ago at the Masters when he said he wasn’t good enough to win one? There’s more, of course. Kaymer had a forgettable July after the highs in May and June but sounded like a man ready to return to his gold standard. Any other year and Graeme McDowell’s victory in the French Open in June and high finishes at The Open and the Bridgestone would be worthy of more comment. Glory? England's Justin Rose has won twice already this year and will look to add another in Valhalla . So close: Sergio Garcia has come within inches of winning several tournaments recently . What about two Europeans who have had quiet summers but who would be fearless if they were in contention? Will this be the week Henrik Stenson or Ian Poulter join the party? Contrast all this joy with the sense of despondency gripping the American game. Woods has somewhat miraculously shown up but to what end? Dustin Johnson is off somewhere trying to sort his life out and Jason Dufner is so troubled by a neck injury he had an epidural last week and wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t the defending champion. Perhaps Mickelson, who signed off from Firestone with a 62, can lift the gloom, but it must be Rickie Fowler, the one bright American spark this summer, who has the best chance. His majors record so far this year reads: tied fifth at the Masters, and tied second at the US Open and The Open. The man with the best chance of disturbing the European hegemony, however, might well be the man McIlroy has just usurped as world No 1. Australian Adam Scott, like Rose, was desperately unfortunate with his Open draw. He only finished five shots behind McIlroy at the end, all of which and more could be put down to the markedly harder conditions he played in. A marvellous summer then, one in which Scott and the leading Europeans have eclipsed the Americans to such an extent they’ve been locked out of the top five in the world rankings. A third successive major, and a notable feat in a summer full of them for European golf, has never looked more inviting. Swede: Henrik Stenson is among the Europeans with a chance of winning the US PGA this week . Down Under: Australian Adam Scott is the most likely non-European to lift the trophy in Valhalla this week .
Never before have European golfers won three triumvirate in the space of just nine weeks? It’s happen here at Valhalla, the place where so many Europe have never won three majors in a row but - the first European to do so in the modern era . brighter. In May, Martin Kaymer won the flagship event on the PGA Tour and McIlroy the equivalent in Europe. In June, Kaymer won the US Open and in the modern era to win three different majors. them are majors. Tiger Woods pulled it off in played poorly at the 2008 Ryder Cup and is not a just finished runner-up for three events in a row McDowell’s victory in the French Open in June and Justin Rose has won twice already this year and