Brooks Koepka lists Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson among biggest competition at PGA Championship

Defending PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka has his eye on several of his peers heading into the 2019 tournament, which begins on May 16.

A crowded and talented field at the Masters in April saw Koepka finish tied for second place with Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele, just one stroke behind Tiger Woods, who emerged victorious for his first major win in 11 years.

Koepka listed all three of those golfers as his main competition as he heads to Bethpage Black in New York to defend his PGA Championship title.

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"Tiger's playing well, Xander's playing well, Dustin's playing well," he told AOL.com on behalf of Michelob ULTRA. "There's a lot of guys who are right in that mix. Those guys played well at Augusta and they've been playing well for a while."

The golfers' success at the Masters, Koepka said, is crucial now that the PGA Championship has been moved from August up to May, just over a month after the stars competed at Augusta.

"The move to May makes it so if you get hot, you can rattle off a couple of good events in the majors and have a good chance to win," he said.

Getting hot and staying hot is something Koepka is trying to do himself. He's spending the last weekend before the PGA Championship in Dallas, Texas, competing in the AT&T Byron Nelson. Koepka says he actually prefers to play the week before a major so he's able to get into his rhythm and build on his routine.

Look back at Koepka's 2018 PGA Championship win: