The PGA Championship has come and gone, but not without causing a stir in the golf world. The positive stories include Phil’s second major championship victory, Tiger’s weekend charge up the leaderboard, and Charles Howell III’s ace on the fourth hole Saturday. The latter story was my personal favorite, but the other two were pretty special as well. The good usually doesn’t come without the bad, however. Did anyone in the last few groups play anything that resembled good golf Sunday? The world’s best golfers were three-putting, duffing pitch shots, and hitting tee shots near the out-of-bounds markers.
All in all, it was still a great tournament. The PGA Championship has definitely had a lot of close finishes in recent years. I think the PGA has been the most exciting major championship, with the possible exception of The Masters. When the dust had settled at Baltusrol, on Monday morning might I add, “Lefty” had his second major championship. The media scrutinized Phil for never winning a major until he won The Masters in 2004. Then, the media scrutinized Phil for only winning one major and coming so close in many others. Now, Phil can do the talking because two majors is definitely worth talking about. The win at Augusta was definitely no fluke.
I was happy that Phil won another major, but I also noticed a few things about his weekend play. Was it just me, or did Phil do everything in his power to let as many contenders in the door as possible, including Tiger? Lefty was sitting at -8 after the second round, and Tiger was 12 strokes behind at the time. Phil finished the weekend with a pair of 72s and limped home to victory. However, a major championship is a major championship any way you slice it. Congrats Phil!
How about that Tiger Woods? I’m not sure if anyone else has thought about this like I have, but I think Tiger is just playing with us sometimes. I believe he woke up Thursday morning and decided to shoot a 75 in the first round. He wanted to see how far behind he could get before making a heroic comeback to make the cut and almost win the tournament outright. Of course I’m joking, but it has crossed my mind a time or two. I’m not a big fan of Tiger by any means, but anyone who fails to respect him is obviously not a fan of the same game of golf I am.
Tiger never gives up, no matter what the situation. He battles the entire round until the last putt on 18. There were times that Woods could have called it quits and headed to the house, but he sucked it up and finished in a tie for fourth. That is unbelievable, and he amazes me more every time he plays. Tiger is great even when he isn’t winning. For those who have kids learning how to play the game, just mute the television and let them watch Tiger. Besides the occasional swearing and club throwing, he is great in every way. And he proved that once again at Baltusrol.
As good as the PGA Championship was, it could have been a lot better if it would have finished on Sunday instead of Monday morning. I don’t have TiVo, so I had to miss the conclusion of the tournament. I was honestly pretty ticked off by this. The PGA officials knew the weather was looking shaky on Sunday, and they could have had the golfers tee off at 2pm local time or even 1:30. However, they chose to set the final pairing to tee off at 3pm local time. Even if the weather would have been great, this would have left very little time if a playoff would have been needed. I thought this was a bad decision, and it caused a lot of viewers to miss out, including one angry Oklahoman.
President’s Cup Captain’s Picks
Winning the PGA Championship was obviously the main goal for golfers this past weekend. But it wasn’t the only thing they were playing for. The sixth President’s Cup will be played September 20-25 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, VA. The PGA Championship at Baltusrol marked the last event golfers could earn points to make the team. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player both had difficult tasks in picking their two captain’s picks, and I don’t think either did a very good job to be honest.
On the American side of things, Nicklaus’ top ten includes Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Toms, Kenny Perry, Chris DiMarco, Jim Furyk, Fred Funk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, and Scott Verplank. The two captain’s picks were Justin Leonard and Fred Couples. It was pretty obvious to me that Jack would pick these two guys, but I didn’t really agree with the decision. I probably would have picked Leonard since he has won twice on the PGA Tour in 2005. He is very streaky, which can be a bad thing for team competition, but he has made the huge putts before in team competition (1999 at Brookline). I’ll give Nicklaus the benefit of the doubt on this one.
As for Couples, I love watching the guy swing the club. It is like poetry in motion, and I am a fan of his. That being said, Couples plays his best golf these days in warm weather. The exception was the British Open last month, but the weather was warmer than usual over there. It’s no secret Couples has a bad back, and it can give out on him at any given time. I’m not saying it will before the President’s Cup, but I’m not saying it won’t either. I hope Freddy plays awesome in the team competition, but he was just too risky of a pick as far as I’m concerned. I think his record in the President’s Cup is the reason he is on the team, but most of those victories came from a much healthier Fred Couples.
Since I don’t agree with the choice of Couples, I suppose I should pick someone to play in his place. I would have looked no farther than the #12 guy Zach Johnson. There is a reason he was ranked #12 and not #17. The guy can play good golf, and he has been on a roll the last few weeks. Johnson isn’t great in one statistical category, but he is solid in all of them. He would be a President’s Cup rookie, but this team needs some youth.
Tiger is the only golfer in his 20s on the American team, and he will be 30 in December. I think Zach Johnson would have been a better fit in the end. If Couples is healthy and feeling good when the President’s Cup begins, I’ll admit I was wrong. But if he tweaks his back and plays poorly, I’ll look like a genius. I would rather take the safe bet and go with Zach Johnson.
The International side is where it really gets nasty as far as I’m concerned. Ernie Els is out for the rest of 2005, and he will obviously have to miss the President’s Cup because of this. With Els being out, Mark Hensby moved up to the tenth spot behind Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Adam Scott, Angel Cabrera, Tim Clark, Michael Campbell, Stuart Appleby, Mike Weir, and Nick O’Hern. This is a very solid team from top-to-bottom, even stronger than the American side in my opinion.
The two captain’s picks were Peter Lonard and Trevor Immelman. What did I just type? I think it was Lonard and Immelman. With all due respect, Peter Lonard is ranked right behind Hensby and also picked up his first PGA Tour victory earlier this year. But was he the best guy available? I don’t think so. As for Immelman, he has played pretty good golf all year, but I would have picked a handful of guys over him.
If I was doing the picking, I would have gone with Geoff Ogilvy and Steve Elkington. Ogilvy could very well be the most underrated golfer in the world right now. Not only did he win the Chrysler Classic earlier in the year, he also finished in a tie for fifth at the British Open and tied for sixth at the PGA Championship this past weekend. Ogilvy has made 18 out of 21 cuts this year, and he is currently one of the hottest players in the world. Ogilvy should have been an obvious pick in my opinion.
Steve Elkington would have been a little bit riskier, sort of like Fred Couples for the Americans. But Elkington is definitely back and on a roll right now. He has finished in the top five in two of his last three starts, including a runner-up finish to Mickelson at Baltusrol. Elk is a proven player in the President’s Cup, and he is very solid from tee-to-green. I thought Elkington was going to be a captain’s pick for sure, but I was sadly mistaken.
Other golfers who should have gotten the nod over Lonard and Immelman include KJ Choi, Shigeki Maruyama, and Rory Sabbatini. I don’t want to downgrade how great Lonard and Immelman are because they are both tremendous athletes to even be considered for the President’s Cup. But they certainly aren’t as worthy as a few other golfers I mentioned.
Final Thoughts
I mentioned this last week, and I still feel strongly that the PGA Championship gets overshadowed by the other major championships. Despite the Monday finish, this year’s PGA at Baltusrol was very entertaining. It was wide-open until the very last hole, and that’s all I ask for as a fan. I get tired of people hounding Phil Mickelson for only having one major, and now he can do the hounding. The win at Augusta was no fluke, and don’t be surprised if Mickelson wins about three or four more majors before he is done on the PGA Tour.
As for the President’s Cup, I also think it is very underrated. It gets overshadowed by the Ryder Cup, which is understandable. The Ryder Cup is great for golf, and it’s been around a lot longer than its international counterpart. That being said, the President’s Cup was great two years ago in South Africa, and I hope for much of the same this time around. I would, however, like to see a clear-cut winner this year. I ragged on the captain’s picks, but honestly they are all deserving. I just think a couple of them were pretty shady. All in all, I hope the President’s Cup continues to grow and earn the status of the Ryder Cup someday. It’s a bummer that Ernie Els won’t be teeing it up though. I would love to see another Tiger vs. Ernie battle on Sunday.
What was your best memory from the PGA Championship at Baltusrol? Do you think Phil Mickelson is a clear-cut hall-of-famer now? Also, who would you have picked for the President’s Cup if you would have been captain? And finally, does the President’s Cup deserve a little more respect? If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below or discuss it in our forum. That’s it for Thrash Talk this week, and I appreciate you reading. This is truly one of the best two-week periods in golf in my opinion. The WGC-NEC Invitational is always fun to watch and a great tournament to follow the PGA Championship. Have a great golf week, and be sure to check out the action from the beautiful Firestone Country Club this weekend.
Photo Credit: © Fred Couples Homepage, AP Photo/Julie Jacobson.
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