2006 PGA Championship Predictions

The season’s final major championship has arrived, and it’s time for predictions. The 2006 majors have all provided great memories, and we can all hope the PGA Championship does as well. The top golfers in the world have victory on their mind, but many others are gunning to make the Ryder Cup team.

Phil Mickelson won The Masters in April, Geoff Ogilvy won the U.S. Open in June, and Tiger Woods won the British Open in July. These three will be in the same pairing for the first two days at Medinah. The PGA Championship winner could very well be one of these three men. A win for any of these golfers would likely solidify their bid for PGA Tour Player of the Year.

What’s a major championship at The Sand Trap without predictions? I was way out in left field with my British Open predictions, but the PGA shall serve up my redemption. I hope you all enjoy the predictions, and if you have anything to add, please comment below or discuss it in the forum.

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Erik J. Barzeski

Thoughts on the Course
I like what they’ve done with the par threes, particularly the 17th. I’ve also always felt that the PGA sets up the courses the best: they don’t overly bastardize a single course like they’ve done at Augusta recently, they don’t trick up the joint like the USGA does at U.S. Opens, and they don’t mow the fairways at green height like they do at the Open Championship. Still, some fluke winners have walked away with PGA Championships in recent years, but I think Medinah is a course capable of determining a true winner, not a Shaun Micheel.

Note that playing in the 1999 PGA will offer very little benefit to players, as nearly every green has been modified, reshaped, and regraded. Putts that broke four inches left may break right this year!

Winner and Score
Tiger Woods will win his second consecutive major and his twelfth overall at 278 (-10). Winning this major will give Woods an even 0.300 batting average in majors as a professional. If you give me the field, I’ll take them every time against Tiger Woods, but if you ask me to pick one person in a major, it’s got to be Tiger Woods.

Dark-Horse Winner
Arron Oberholser, looking to make a charge to get onto the Ryder Cup team, will have a top-10 finish. He won at Pebble Beach earlier this year, has had some ups and downs, and is looking to finish the year on a high note.

Biggest Disappointment
Phil Mickelson will finish in the top 30, but well back of the winner and will never really be in contention. Geoff Ogilvy won’t fare much better, though I suspect he may edge Phil in the end. A photo from the first two rounds will resurface at the end of the tournament: it will fittingly show Woods leading the charge, with Ogilvy and Mickelson faded into the background and several steps behind Tiger.

Largest Surprise
One of the players in contention on Sunday will splash down short of the par-3 17th green for a disastrous double bogey that will drown their hopes for the Wanamaker Trophy.

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Dave Koster

Thoughts on the Course
Let’s hope it serves as kindling for more memorable moments as it did back in 1999. Medinah this time around might be remembered more for how it churned out a U.S. Ryder Cup team more than crowning its fifth major champion.

Winner and Score
Tiger Woods (-12). Tiger is playing way, way too good right now. I’m really hoping Chris DiMarco gets his first major win, but his off week at the International gives me pause.

Dark-Horse Winner
J.J. Henry has been a solid performer and will be a Ryder Cup rookie. He has the distance to conquer Medinah, but needs the putter to get hot.

Biggest Disappointment
Davis Love III. He’ll miss the cut and drop a couple places in the Ryder Cup standings making him a hard captain’s pick for Lehman. Davis just hasn’t found consistency this year at all. Including his strange outing at the TPC at Sawgrass, Davis never had four rounds under 70 this year and only once managed the feat last year.

Largest Surprise
Two players in the 11-20 ranking in Ryder Cup points will vault themselves into the top 10. I’m thinking Scott Verplank and Stewart Cink. Cink helped himself out immensely at the International and I think he’ll get another top 10 this week to keep from being a Captains pick. Verplank needs a seventh-place finish this week.

Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich are a bit nervous right now.

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Jeff Smith

Thoughts on the Course
While Medinah’s #3 course was originally short as it was designed for women golfers, its 1930s male makeover revealed a site for future majors. It’s 7,508 yards is insanely long and will require someone who can hit it a long way off the tee.

Winner and Score
The only PGA Championship winner at Medinah is Tiger Woods, and it’s going to stay that way for a while longer. Tiger Woods will win it with a score of 274 (-14).

Dark-Horse Winner
Lucas Glover’s 298.1 yard driving average puts him in position to grab his first-ever major championship. He’s about ready to win another event, so this could be his week.

Biggest Disappointment
John Daly is getting my accumulative biggest disappointment pick. This guy has too much talent to have not won more events and more majors in his career. I’m wishing he’d have spent more time on the golf course and less time bellied up to the bar.

Largest Surprise
Jerry Kelly has a Ryder Cup position on the line, and he’s going to play very well at the PGA. You’ll see him picking up some much-needed Ryder Cup points by finishing in the top ten.

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Cody Thrasher

Thoughts on the Course
Medinah is over 7,500 yards long, and those yards are legit. The world’s best will have to keep it in the fairway this week, or they will be trying to save a lot of pars. The par threes will definitely be the key this week. I’m very excited to see how things unfold at the 17th hole this week. It may not look as pretty as the island hole at Sawgrass, but it’s going to play a lot tougher.

Winner and Score
The winning score at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah was 277 (-11). Tiger won’t go that low this year, but he will win his 12th major championship with a final score of 281 (-7).

Dark-Horse Winner
Jeff Sluman is a former PGA Championship winner, and he has been playing excellent golf lately. Don’t be surprised if Sluman makes a run at his second Wanamaker trophy as well as a spot on the Ryder Cup team.

Biggest Disappointment
Retief Goosen has been far too inconsistent this year. The Goose shows signs of greatness followed by signs of struggle. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t seem to be focused as of late. It’s going to be a long week and a finish outside the top 40 for Goosen.

Largest Surprise
Davis Love III and Fred Couples will both miss the cut at Medinah, forcing Tom Lehman to bypass both when making his captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup team.

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Alan Olson

Thoughts on the Course
The PGA Championship returns to Medinah which has gone through some extensive renovations conducted by Rees Jones. It has been lengthened to a mind-numbing 7,561 yards. The course is heavily tree-lined, so accuracy is a premium. Par three holes #2, #13, and #17 require a tee shot over water and #13 plays at 244 yards.

Winner and Score
Tiger Woods, -16. Tiger has won the last two tournaments he has entered and he will make it three in a row.

Dark-Horse Winner
Jerry Kelly. If he gets his putting straightened out, he might pull off the upset over Woods. He will earn a spot on the Ryder Cup team as well.

Biggest Disappointment
Phil Mickelson hangs around for the weekend but finishes outside the Top 25. Since the U.S. Open meltdown, he has finished 65th at the Western Open, 22nd at the British Open and missed the cut at The International.

Largest Surprise
With the wind swirling at the par-three 17th hole, someone will dump a few shots into Lake Kadijah and card a 10.

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Jonathan Wall

Thoughts on the Course
I usually consider the PGA Championship to be the easiest of the four major championships to win. However, I think it’s safe to say that magic has been made at Medinah over the years. The course plays 7,561-yards, which is fairly common when you think about a major championship course. For that reason alone, I think the course will give way to some low scores. Tiger won the PGA in 1999 with a score of 11-under-par – I think this year’s winner takes the Championship by using new technology to humble the long layout.

Winner and Score
Phil Mickelson wins the PGA for the second straight year. Spending more than 24 hours on the course with Medinah’s head pro Mike Scully will pay divdends. Mickelson triumphs with a score of 13 under par (275).

Dark-Horse Winner
Brett Quigley. There is something to be said for the guy that shows no fear in the face of adversity – Quigley is that type of no-nonsense player. For that reason alone, I’m taking one of the streakiest players on tour. Quigley is long, one of the best putters on tour when he gets going, and has a knack for going really low. I expect he will be in the mix come Sunday.

Biggest Disappointment
Tiger Woods. I know this is a silly selection. However, if Tiger doesn’t win the PGA Championship by six shots, people will wonder what’s wrong with him. They will be wondering on Sunday when he falters down the back nine.

Largest Surprise
Ernie Els misses the cut at the PGA. I’m not really sold on the Els comeback just yet.

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Jack Waddell

Thoughts on the Course
Medinah is a tried-and-true major championship venue. That, coupled with the fact I think the PGA has done the best job in recent years in setting up its courses, should produce a great event where we see the best golfers not only being tested, but displaying the full array of their amazing talent. This should be a lot of fun to watch.

Winner and Score
Let’s see… I picked Tiger for the U.S. Open and he didn’t make the cut. I didn’t pick him for the British and he won big. So perhaps the best shot I have to right the ship would be to pick Tiger at 16-under par. He’s definitely back and playing some of his best golf ever. When he does that, nobody else can touch him. But picking Tiger to win is like rooting for the Yankees. I’m going with Furyk again at 17-under par (271).

Dark-Horse Winner
The PGA has had a couple recent dark-horse champions in Shaun Micheel and Rich Beem. But overall, it’s been the big boys dominating. So who has a long shot? Throwing a dart at the world rankings outside the top 40, I hit Johan Edfors of Sweden who’s played pretty well this year. He’s fourth on the European Tour Order of Merit with a win at the Barclays Scottish Open, and I like that funky Puma hat he wears.

Biggest Disappointment
I don’t think we’re going to see a reprise of the 1999 Woods/Garcia duel nor the much anticipated final round shootout between Woods and Mickelson. That’s too bad, but I don’t think either Sergio or Phil look that strong right now… despite Garcia’s good play at the International.

Largest Surprise
I don’t know, but I just have a hunch Geoff Ogilvy may steal the thunder from Woods and Mickelson when paired with them the first two rounds. Hey, it could happen!

Photo Credits: © Getty Images, © AP.