The PGA Championship is the final major championship of the year on the PGA Tour, and it will be played at Baltusrol Golf Club this week. As usual, there are numerous storylines heading into the week, and it will be exciting to see how everything unfolds. Tiger Woods is at the top of the list of stories once again. Woods will be looking to win his third major of 2005 and the 11th of his career.
A win this week will put Tiger in a tie with Walter Hagen on the all-time list of major championship victories. So far in 2005, Woods has finished first at The Masters, second at the U.S. Open, and first at last month’s British Open. Tiger is arguably playing the best golf of his career, and he will be the unanimous favorite at Baltusrol this week. Out of Woods’ 10 major championship victories, two have come at the PGA Championship.
The PGA Championship often gets overshadowed by the other three major championships on the PGA Tour. However, it has been the site of some great finishes in recent memory. In 1997, Davis Love III won his first major at the PGA Championship. Who can forget the rainbow in the background on the 18th hole? That was great stuff. Then, Tiger battled it out with Sergio in 1999 and Bob May in 2000. Those duels were about as good as any in recent memory. How will the 2005 version stack up against this great list? That is one question that will soon be answered.
One of the big stories of 2005 has been the “Big Five” on the PGA Tour. Ernie Els had season-ending knee surgery last week, so the “Big Five” is now the “Big Four.” Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, and Retief Goosen are the other members of this group, along with Tiger of course. It’s no surprise that Tiger is the favorite this week, but these three golfers can easily walk away with the Wanamaker trophy when the dust has cleared.
Vijay Singh has won four times on the PGA Tour in 2005 and currently sits second on the money list behind Tiger. Singh is coming off a dominating performance at the Buick Open two weeks ago, where he outlasted a final-round charge from Mr. Woods to earn the win. Singh has been striking the ball beautifully all year long, but his putter has let him down on numerous occasions. The most notable occasions have been in major championships. Singh has really been a non-factor in the previous three majors in 2005.
Vijay comes to the PGA Championship as the defending champion. Last year at Whistling Straits, Singh held off Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco in a playoff to win his third career major championship and second PGA Championship. He also won the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee.
Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen have seen a lot of each other as of late. They teamed together in the Battle at the Bridges to defeat Tiger Woods and John Daly a couple weeks back. Last week, “Lefty” and “Goose” headlined the field at The International in their final tune-up for the PGA Championship. Mickelson had most of his success early in 2005, winning three times within a three-month period. Since then, he has struggled mightily with his driving accuracy. There is no doubting Phil’s short-game touch, but he will be behind the eight-ball at Baltusrol if he is playing out of the rough all week.
Retief Goosen may be remembered mostly in 2005 for his shocking final-round collapse at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in June. Goosen seemed to be in control of things, but he fell apart on Sunday. He also had an awful final-round at St. Andrews last month at the British Open. That being said, Goosen bounced back nicely as he is accustomed to doing. He won The International this past weekend for his first PGA Tour victory of 2005. Goosen always seems to be a contender at major championships, and it probably won’t be any different this week at Baltusrol.
That is just the top four golfers in the field this week. There are many more capable guys teeing it up on Thursday at Baltusrol. The remaining members of the top ten are Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk, and Kenny Perry. Many people are picking these guys to have success this week, and they are all very worthy of the recognition. Out of this group, Furyk is the only golfer with a major on his resume’. The PGA Championship has been the site of many first-time major winners, and this year could be the same story for any of these great golfers.
Some others to keep an eye on this week are Chris DiMarco, Luke Donald, Fred Couples, and Michael Campbell. DiMarco has come so close to winning a major on a couple different occasions, and he tied for second last year at the PGA Championship. Donald has had one of the most consistent years in major championships and should always be looked at as a favorite. Couples seems to be feeling great again, and he played great at the British Open last month (T3). Finally, keep an eye on Michael Campbell. He won the U.S. Open at Pinehurst and followed it up with a nice finish at St. Andrews.
There have also been some shockers in recent years at the PGA Championship. Rich Beem battled with Tiger Woods in 2002 and went home with the Wanamaker trophy. The next year, Shaun Micheel outlasted Chad Campbell and Tim Clark to win his first and only PGA Tour event. There have been numerous names thrown around that could possibly shock everyone this year. Some of those names include Steve Flesch, Ian Poulter, Sean O’Hair, and many more. It’s nearly a guarantee that the first page of the leaderboard will have a few names on it that aren’t necessarily as recognizable as Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh.
Baltusrol Golf Club will be hosting the PGA Championship this week. The last time a major championship was played at Baltusrol was the 1993 U.S. Open. Lee Janzen outlasted Payne Stewart that week to win his first major championship. Since then, the course has been lengthened, and the rough has been thickened. The Kentucky Blue Grass will prove to be costly this week for golfers, and it will cost them at least a stroke or two if they find it off the tee. The course measures 7,376 yards and par is 70.
The course itself is very unique. The two finishing holes are both par-5s, and the 17th hole is 650 yards! There are two par-4s on the front-side that are over 500 yards, and the par-3s are all very lengthy. The course will have its fair share of success this week, that is certain. There will be a lot of golfers shooting for par while playing their rounds. With the finishing hole being a par-5, anything can and probably will happen on Sunday afternoon. The possibility of eagles, pars, bogeys, and worse loom all the way down the 18th hole, and it should provide for an exciting finish.
In Thrash Talk earlier this week, I picked Sergio Garcia to leave Baltusrol with the Wanamaker trophy, and I’m sticking to that prediction. I think Garcia is one of the best ball-strikers on the PGA Tour, and that is going to be very crucial this week. The long hitters will have the advantage, and Sergio’s putting won’t let him down like it has so many times in the past. For my “sleeper” pick, I’m going with Ben Crane. He isn’t a huge hitter off the tee, but he can hit it far enough to contend this week. Also, if it comes down to putting, remember that Ben Crane is first in putting average on the PGA Tour this season.
The only worry coming into the week is the weather forecast for Baltusrol. There is a chance for thunderstorms just about every day, even more so for Thursday and Friday. This could definitely throw a kink into everything, but hopefully the inclement weather will stay away this week. The highs should be in the low-to-mid 90s for the tournament. The golfers will be playing for an overall purse of $6.25 million, with about $1.1 million and the Wanamaker trophy going to the winner.
I have been looking forward to this week ever since the British Open ended last month. The professionals around the world play golf with the hopes of winning a major championship sometime in their career. And the PGA Championship has often been referred to as “Glory’s Last Shot.” It will be no different this week. The big guns will be the favorites as always, but the PGA Championship has proven to be very unpredictable. Here is a look at some of the key pairings and their respective tee times (EST):
Time Competitors 7:45 J. Furky C. Montgomerie A. Cabrera 8:05 C. DiMarco J. Olazabal J. Leonard 8:15(1) M. Weir D. Duval B. Curtis 8:15(10) F. Couples D. Clarke S. Katayama 8:25 T. Woods M. Campbell G. Norman 8:35 S. Cink L. Donald R. Allenby 8:45 P. Azinger J. Sluman D. Toms 12:50 K.Perry C. Franco F. Funk 1:10 S. Garcia A. Scott P. Mickelson 1:30 J. Daly V. Singh D. Love III 1:40 P. McGinley M. Hensby S. Verplank 1:50 L. Westwood R. Goosen T. Hamilton
The 87th PGA Championship can be seen on TNT and CBS this week at the following times:
Thu 1:00pm-7:00pm ET TNT Fri 1:00pm-7:00pm ET TNT Sat 11:00am-1:30pm ET TNT Sat 2:00pm-7:00pm ET CBS Sun 11:00am-1:30pm ET TNT Sun 2:00pm-7:00pm ET CBS
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