Broke100Once

Sweet, the new season is underway! Boy, I've missed watching PGA Tour golf! .....

Interesting, apparently the current logo isn't actually modeled after anyone --- there is no 'Jerry West' for the PGA Tour.

Westwood and Kaymer have been terrible, there's no way Europe can make the big comeback in the singles matches with those two playing so poorly... ....is what everyone said in 2012, and then Westwood and Kaymer won the clutch matches at the end of the day. Don't count them out.

US team has combined for 11 major wins, Europe has combined for nine.

This is an actual debate? Dustin Johnson is the player of the year. He and Day were the only ones to win three tournaments this year, and one of DJ's wins was a major. Case closed.

I may need glasses after all the eye-rolling I did at that piece. You can cite all the stats you want, but I look at the fact that Spieth won two events in 2016 and was one terrible hole away from winning the Masters. True, Spieth hasn't really looked himself in recent months, but I haven't seen anything that would convince he that his game has somehow severely dropped off. If there's anything psychological to it, I bet he just needs to get back to Augusta and put in another good showing to really put his 2016 choke behind him, and he'll be fine. Wouldn't shock me at all if Spieth wins the 2017 Masters, either. Was 2015 a 'fluke' in the sense that Spieth probably isn't going to win two majors in a year again? Sure. Of the very short list of guys who have ever had two-major years, it's a much shorter list of guys with multiple two-major years in their careers. It's ridiculous that we're suddenly writing golfers off for not stringing together huge year after huge year; we're spoiled by Tiger, who was a once-in-a-generation type of icon and maybe the best ever. Why penalize Spieth or others for not being Tiger? That's an absurd standard to live up to. Spieth has eight wins and two majors under his belt and he's still just 23 years old. Hell, even if Spieth did suffer some Duval-esque collapse of his game, he's already had a massively successful career that almost any PGA golfer would kill to emulate.

All this time faithfully chronicling Luiten every week and then he wins the week you're on vacation?? Harsh.

I'm no business expert, but it seems to me like the Tour shouldn't opt out. Imagine if one or more of Day/McIlroy/Spieth/DJ/Fowler/someone else breaks out as a mainstream sports star, or (perhaps even bigger) what if Tiger actually recovers and has one or two Jack-in-86 runs left in him over the next couple of years? The Tour would be in a much better negotiating position in 2019-2020 looking ahead to 2021 that they would opting out in 2018 when none of those things have happened.

I like the idea of having the Players in March fitting in with the rest of the Florida swing, then having an actual major in every month from April-July (with the PGA being moved to May). That leaves August as a bit of a dead month....unless you move the Ryder/President's Cup into August.

Rich Beem should be a captain's pick, he's an experienced winner at Hazeltine.

Truth. Look at how the Euros reacted to the 2008 loss. It seemed like they recognized the problem was just an off-year or maybe Faldo as a bad captain, so they didn't panic in the leadup to 2010. Compare this to the USA, who seems to reshuffle the entire Ryder Cup process every two years and point fingers at everyone involved.

Like most golfers, the difference between winning or losing for Rory is the putter. With even half-decent putting, he's certainly the world #1. If he's turned a corner on the greens, watch out for McIlroy to make a big run in the majors in 2017. Nobody cares about golf after the majors are done, unless it's a Ryder Cup year (and even then, nobody cares UNTIL the Ryder Cup). The logical solution would be to move the PGA Championship to the last weekend before Labor Day as the 'season finale,' but for money and visibility reasons, the Tour won't do it.

http://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/2016/03/01/west-coast-could-host-pga-championship/81177080/

Sahalee is also too small and compact, in terms of corporate tents/crowds. It seems like a great venue for the LPGA/Sr. PGA championships, but not the men's PGA Championship. Wonderful course, though.

The PGA of America would dearly love to get more PGA Championships onto the west coast, but most of the top venues (Pebble Beach, Olympic Club, Torrey Pines, now apparently LA Country Club and Chambers Bay) are all being claimed by the USGA for Opens, or the courses will simply hold out for Opens before 'settling' for a PGA as a second choice. This leaves the PGA with consolation prizes like Harding Park in 2020. There's obviously no shortage of great courses on the west coast, but which ones are the most practical to fit the PGA's desire for a big course that can accommodate their corporate setups? For instance, Bandon Dunes (middle of nowhere) or Riviera (not enough space for sponsor tents) don't seem to fit unless the PGA is willing to take a financial hit. Personally, I'd love to see the PGA return to Riviera in 2026 to celebrate the course's 100th anniversary. I'd also be interested in seeing the PGA adopt Chambers Bay if the USGA had too many issues with the 2015 US Open. Since the PGA's course setups aren't as scorched-earth as the USGA, it might allow Chambers Bay' natural challenges to really capture players' imaginations.

The PGA's "a regular golf tournament, except moreso" vibe really appeals to me. I have to roll my eyes a bit at Augusta's self-importance and the USGA's apparent desire to make golf as unpleasant as possible for both players and viewers, so I would actually rank the PGA second only to the British on my list of favourite major. Someone wiser than me can go through the numbers to see if the PGA actually does produce on average the 'weakest' winners, though it wouldn't be surprising given that it's the most democratic of the four. Some golfers just don't mesh with Augusta National, some golfers don't play well under the USGA's draconian course setups and some golfers can't handle links golf. The PGA's lack of a signature style gives everyone a chance. The PGA also suffered a bit for various other reasons... * matchplay until 1958, so you tended to get somewhat random winners some years akin to how the World Match Play produces some good but less-than-elite champions today * poor scheduling, as it was pretty much up against the Open Championship for several years. While most top players chose the PGA for convenience's sake, losing even a few to the Open didn't help. * even today, the scheduling as the year's last major takes away some of the luster. Flipping the PGA and US Open on the schedule would make a world of difference, I feel. * A minor lack of starpower. Bobby Jones never played in a PGA, obviously. Hogan stopped playing the PGA after his car accident since the six-day matchplay format was too grueling on his body (he played the tournament a couple of times after it switched to strokeplay). Watson never won it. * Palmer never won it, which is probably an underrated huge factor and the biggest 'lack of star power' there is. The Masters only truly gained its top-dog status thanks to the game's most popular figure winning it multiple times. Dufner totally blew the 2011 PGA, DJ's sand trap fiasco in 2010, Kenny Perry playing commentator rather than warming up for a playoff in 1996, Tiger finally losing a 54-hole lead in 2009, Mike Reid allowing Payne Stewart to come back in 1989.....there have been lots of memorable collapses in recent PGA history alone. Justin Leonard blowing the 2004 PGA is one that flies under the radar.

Haha, well, at least I got my bonus prediction correct! (And Spieth should've won the Masters had he not lost his mind for two holes.) Lots of missed picks here, as you might expect since almost everyone had Spieth, Day, McIlroy grabbing at least a couple of the four. But, kudos to... Thrash13 for predicting Johnson at the US Open Partial credit to... * Pendragon for picking WIllett to win a major, though it was the British and not the Masters * Saevel25 picked DJ to win the British, not the US Open. * TheBogeyMan and Wally Fairway each picked Johnson and Stenson to win 'a' major, not specifying which.

This could actually be great for Kisner or other players who haven't won majors or even had much experience winning on Tour. Post a low score early to avoid any "omg, I'm leading a major on Sunday" jitters and then sit back and wait. Then again, this could be all be for naught if the rain ruins things today as well.

I'll pick Day to win this one

Five majors (more than, like, a dozen guys ever) ALREADY doesn't stand out?? Forget that, I'm hoping for Stenson to get his first. Let's really give the "best player without a major" list a beating this year.

Bold prediction: Lee Westwood finally takes a major. He has a good track record in prior Troon Opens, he's done well this year at the Masters and USO, and I kinda like the storyline of "none of the Big Three (or four if you count Fowler) win a major in 2016."

Kind of surprised to see Shinnecock getting another Open so quickly after 2018, and obviously not surprised at all that Oakmont is back. My guess is that another west coast venue (probably Olympic Club or Chambers Bay) hosts the 2027 Open and Pebble Beach gets it in either 2029 or 2030 if they go back on the 'Pebble at every new decade' routine.

Underperform? When it comes to winning majors, Rory has already outperformed everyone in the history of the sport, save for about 20 guys.

Yeah, I think we're picking at nits here about McIlroy. Sure, his major wins have come on "easier" courses --- but there are still FOUR of them. The weather created such havoc with the course and tee-time reshuffling that we can probably just write this US Open off for everyone (except DJ, of course). Can't blame Rory for being frustrated, having to deal with both Oakmont and all the added nonsense.

Agreed. While the course may play a bit "easier" due to softer greens, it's still Oakmont. 36 holes in one day is an absolute grind on a course like this, under pressure like this.