Tag: PGA of America

2022 PGA Championship: Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and Mito Pereira

Justin Thomas: Two Time PGA Champion

The 2022 PGA Championship was one of the most exciting final rounds at a major we’ve seen in a long time. Justin Thomas, looking for his second major championship, roared up the leader board with 3 birdies on the closing nine holes to shoot a brilliant 67, tying Will Zalatoris at 5 under par to force a 3-hole playoff. The first playoff hole was the par 5 thirteenth, and after Zalatoris narrowly missed an eagle putt, Thomas calmly knocked in a six-footer for birdie to stay even. The second was the 302 yard seventeenth, and Thomas drove the green, making another birdie to take a one-shot lead going to final hole. With a beautiful tee shot and solid approach, he two-putted for par and the Wanamaker trophy as Zalatoris’ birdie effort failed to fall. With 5 birdies on the final 12 holes of a grueling test at Southern Hills, Justin Thomas earned his second major championship in classic style. And while Will Zalatoris came up just short, he maintained his composure and executed magnificently under stifling pressure down the stretch—so you can expect this 25-year-old to be a force at major championships for many years to come.

Another big story to emerge from the 2022 PGA Championship is Mito Pereira, the talented young South American player who led the championship through the first 3 rounds. A costly double bogie on the final hole denied him a chance to win, but the ball striking and putting stroke he demonstrated throughout the week opened everyone’s eyes—and you can be sure he’ll be lifting a championship trophy in the not very distant future.

Focus and Intensity

Justin Thomas

Justin’s victory at the PGA Championship comes on the heels of a solid performance at the Masters, where he finished in a tie for 8th. He has not missed a cut in any of the 13 events he’s played this season, while recording 8 Top-10 finishes. While everyone’s attention was drawn to the fabulous year Scottie Scheffler’s had, capped off by his win at The Masters, Thomas was quietly putting together one heck of a year as well—and then he brought out the megaphone at Southern Hills. With 15 wins including two major championships, Thomas is headed for the World Golf Hall of Fame—the only question is how far he can climb in the record books toward the all-time greats of the game. He is certainly poised for a monster year, particularly with his powerful showing at the first two majors. There is an abundance of young talent currently on tour who will stand in his way, so Thomas will need to maintain the Tiger-like drive and focus he displayed at the PGA Championship to muscle them aside. Justin only just turned 29, and the book won’t be closing any time soon—but his path for posting career numbers to rival Tiger and Jack will not get any easier. He delivered a powerful message to the young guns on Tour though—and it will be a lot of fun to see how they take it.

Will Zalatoris: Consummate Ball Striker

Will Zalatoris  

Will Zalatoris has not recorded a win on the PGA Tour yet, but it won’t be long—and once the dam breaks, watch out for the flood. Just a few months beyond his 25th birthday, this Dallas Texas native can flat out play. After making the cut in all 16 events he entered on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, with 10 Top-10’s including a win, Will earned his PGA Tour card and recorded a T6 in his first event—the 2020 U.S. Open played at Winged Foot in the Fall. In his first season on tour, Zalatoris made the cut in 21 of the events he played, including 8 Top-10’s. The big eye opener is his performance in major championships, where he has recoded 4 Top-10’s in the 9 majors he has played. Will has always been long off the tee, and one of the best ball strikers you’ll ever see (currently 14th in driving distance and 5th in greens in regulation), but the putter has always held him back (in 2020 he ranked 170th on tour in putting)—so he went to work on the practice green where the effort paid immediate dividends as he rolled his ball beautifully at Southern Hills. If Will’s putting continues to come around with the game he plays tee-to-green, it will be an explosive combination, and it should come as no surprised if he blows away the U.S Open field at The Country Club in June.

Mito Pereira: Big Things To Come

Mito Pereira

Virtually unknown in the U.S. prior to bursting onto the scene at Southern Hills, Pereira’s outstanding play came as no surprise to golf fans in his native Chile. After winning multiple junior titles, including a victory on the Chilean Professional Tour in 2013 as an Amateur, Mito climbed to number 5 in the official World Amateur Golf Rankings in 2015 at twenty years old. After some time on the Latinoamerica Tour, Pereira joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021, and recorded 9 Top-10’s, including 3 wins, earning his Tour card for the 2022 season. Thus far Mito has made the cut in 14 of the 19 events he has played, but showed signs that his game was heating up prior to the PGA with a T13 at the Valero Texas Open and a T17 at the Byron Nelson, where he opened with a 64 in the first round. Pareira currently ranks 4th on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation, but 143rd in putting—a pretty clear indicator of why he hadn’t had more success coming into the PGA. He certainly putted well at Southern Hills, particularly under pressure. With his ball striking ability and the experience gained by contending at a major championship on Sunday, look for Mito to begin appearing among the leaders at PGA events on a regular basis (along with his countryman, Joaquin Niemann, who is due to brake out at a major championship in the near future).

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2022 PGA Championship: Rory Puts the Pedal Down at Southern Hills

Rory looks for 5th Major

Rory kicked into gear at the opening round of the PGA Championship on Thursday, and threatened to run away from the field when he moved to 6 under par through the first 14 holes. At that point he held a 3 shot lead over his closest competitor, Will Zilitoris, and it brought to mind the famous Bobby Jones quote about Jack Nicklaus “playing an entirely different game, and one which I’m not even familiar with.” At the end of the day Rory finished with a brilliant 5 under round of 65, one shot ahead of Zilatoris and Tom Hoge. In recent years we’ve seen only flashes of what Rory can do when firing on all cylinders, most notably the final round at the Masters in April when he tied the course record with a sizzling 64 and finished runner up to Scottie Scheffler.

The dry spell Rory’s had at the majors has been marked by extremely slow starts, breaking 70 in the first round only 5 times in the 24 major championships played since 2016—his best being 67 at Winged Foot in the 2020 U.S., where he finished in a tie for 8th. The difference yesterday was the putter, which came to life on the silky-smooth greens of Southern Hills with 7 birdies—the most in the field. The last time Rory shot 65 in the opening round at a major was the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, where he went on to a thumping 8 shot victory over runner-up Jason Day.

Rory: Hitting the Gas

Friday’s Challenge

The players who tee off early in the day have a considerable advantage, with relative calm and greens that are at least somewhat receptive. In Oklahoma the wind generally kicks up pretty good in the afternoon, and the greens start to dry out and firm up, making the already challenging approach shots at Southern Hills that much more difficult. Thursday’s round was true to form, as only five players broke par in the afternoon, in contrast to those teeing off in the morning where 17 players finished under par. Rory will be teeing it up in the afternoon on Friday, and he will need to pay close attention to his ball flight while maintaining the crisp ball striking that has been his trademark. Having grown up in Ireland however, and with an Open Championship under his belt, Rory is no stranger to the wind—so we will likely see another magnificent performance tee to green. The key will be the putter, and if Rory continues to roll it the way he did yesterday, chances are pretty good that he’ll put some additional distance between himself and the rest of the field going to the weekend.

Southern Hills: Bearing its Teeth

The Guy’s to Beat

Justin Thomas fired an opening round 67 in the tough conditions on Thursday afternoon, and followed that up with another solid 67 on Friday morning to finish at 6 under going to the weekend. Going for his second major championship, and one of the top ball strikers on Tour, Justin is the guy that will give Rory his biggest test. A few talented young stars hoping to notch their first major championship are also among the leaders, most notably Will Zilatoris (a shot behind after the first round), and Juaquin Niemann who fired a 68 in the tough conditions on Thursday afternoon. Brooks Koepka, lurking at 2 over par after a solid 67 on Friday morning, is poised to make a run as well (and like Rory, bag his 5th major championship).

Justin Thomas: Applying the Pressure

The Weekend

The great thing about major championships is that they really don’t start until Saturday. The conditions will be as difficult as they can get, and the pressure will continue to mount until reaching a peak on the back 9 Sunday afternoon. And the 2022 PGA is shaping up to be one of the great ones.

Video Highlights: Rory Round 1
Image by BBC (https://www.bbc.com/)

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Rory McIlroy: Primed and Ready for Southern Hills

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa Oklahoma

With all of the attention on Tiger’s second comeback start, speculation about what Phil has up his sleeve with LIV, and Scottie Scheffler adding a green jacket to his already fantastic 2022 season, Rory McIlroy is once again keeping a low profile as we head toward the PGA Championship. It’s been an eight-year draught for Rory in the major championships, but his game is primed and ready for an assault on Southern Hills—and it really should come as no surprise if he is raising the Wanamaker trophy on Sunday afternoon.

Rory: Primed and Ready

The Early Years (2006-2010)

Rory exploded onto the golf scene all the way back in 2006, when at 17 years old he won the European Amateur Championship and rose to No. 1 in the Amateur World Golf Rankings, earning a place in the field for the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie. Unknown in American circles, he immediately turned heads with a first round 68 (a shot ahead of Tiger), made the cut and took home the Silver Medal as low amateur. Aaron Oberholser, one of the best players on the PGA Tour at the time, was paired with McIlroy on Saturday. When asked what he thought after the round, Oberholser said “I watched him hit his opening tee shot and thought: ‘Man, who is this kid?’ He went on to describe Rory’s approach shot in the cold wind on the 4th hole: “He took the nine, put the ball back in his stance and the shot made a sound I’ll never forget. At that point I’d only ever heard one player make that sound with their irons: Tiger Woods. He just hit it so clean, so crisp and there was so much effortless speed at the bottom of the swing. The way he compressed the ball was unlike anything I’d ever seen apart from Tiger.”

Young Phenom
Image by Irish Golf Desk (https://www.irishgolfdesk.com/)

After competing as a member of the European Walker Cup team at Royal County Down, Rory turned pro and made the cut in 6 of the 8 tournaments he entered on the European Tour that year including two Top-10’s. In 2009 he recorded his first professional win at the Dubai Desert Classic while still a teenager (Rory turned 20 in May of 2009), and showed his pedigree by making the cut in all four major championships, including a T20 at The Masters, a T10 at the U.S. Open and a T3 at the PGA Championship. In 2010 Rory won his first PGA Tour Event at Quail Hollow, and continued his strong play at the majors with a T3 at the Open Championship and another T3 at the PGA.

Domination (2011-2015)

In 2011 Rory began to flex his muscle, adding another European Tour win at the UBS Hong Kong Open, and then followed up with an eight-shot victory in the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, dominating the field. From 2011 through 2015, McIlroy won 4 major championships (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA, 2014 PGA, 2014 Open Championship), 2 World Golf Championships, 5 European Tour events, and 4 regular PGA tournaments. He also recorded 41 additional worldwide Top 10’s, led the European Tour in scoring average three times (‘11, ‘14, ‘15) and ranked first in scoring on the PGA Tour in scoring average twice (‘12, ‘14). At 26 years old, with 15 worldwide wins including 4 major championships, Rory entered the prime of his career on a pace that would put him with Jack and Tiger—if he could maintain it.

Dominating the Field

Cruise Control (2016-2021)

McIlroy has not won a major since his victory at the 2014 PGA Championship and given his monumental talent, that is almost impossible to believe. Rory is one of the nicest young men you will ever meet, and perhaps that is a contributing factor. Jack and Tiger were both cut from the same cloth, with a singular drive where winning (particularly major championships) was their central focus to the exclusion of just about everything else—and opponents were given no quarter should they foolishly try to stand in the way. Rory is different, he seems to view golf as a friendly game that he loves to play, and his fellow competitors as a bunch of guys that he would like to beat—but if not, well that’s OK too.

While Rory hasn’t recorded any major titles since 2014, his over-all record through the past six years is second only to Dustin Johnson. Since 2016 he has recorded 12 wins (9 PGA Tour and 3 European Tour), 12 Major Top-10’s, 32 PGA Tour Top 10’s, won the FedEx Cup, and made the cut in 87% of the tournaments he entered. For comparison, while Brooks Koepka won 4 majors, he recorded only 3 regular tour wins with 26 Top-10’s, and made the cut in 79% of the tournaments he entered over the same period.

Keep in mind that while Rory has been on tour for a long time, he only just turned 33 this month, and his talent and ability have not diminished in the least—so if he decides to turn off the cruise control and put the pedal to the metal, the field will be scrambling for cover.

Enjoying the Game

The Possibilities

Rory is coming off a runner-up at The Masters, where he closed with a spectacular 64 on Sunday and followed up with a 5th place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship. He currently stands 2nd on tour in scoring average, and 8th in driving distance. The only thing holding Rory back is the putter, where he currently ranks 81st on tour—but that can change in a heartbeat (he ranked 20th in 2021). The level of talent on the PGA may well be the highest it has ever been, with young stars like Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, John Rahm, and Justin Thomas—but if Rory decides to kick it he can tap a gear that only Jack and Tiger ever possessed. And if that happens this week at Southern Hills, the field is in big trouble. Rory looks like he’s ready to go, and it is high time he add a fifth major championship to his resume. It’s also great when nice guys finish first every now and again—and let’s hope it is at the 2022 PGA.

Check out Rory’s swing on the GolfDay YouTube Channel
Image by BBC (https://www.bbc.com/)

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The 2022 PGA Championship: Tiger and Phil Update

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa Oklahoma

Tiger still plans to make his tee time on Thursday at the PGA Championship, while Phil has cancelled—opting instead to remain behind his curtain of silence. This is only the fifth time in the last sixty years that a major champion has failed to defend his title. Three of the previous four were due to injury (Art Wall-1960, Tiger-2008, Rory-2015) and the fourth was the 2000 U.S. Open, when Payne Stewart was tragically killed in a plane crash. While the reason Phil has abruptly pulled out of the PGA is shrouded in mystery, the unfortunate result will be further damage to his image and legacy.

Tiger, on the other hand, has once again done the seemingly impossible, playing the Masters last month—and making the cut in his first start in more than year while favorites like Koepka, Spieth and Xander Schauffele were packing up and heading home on Friday. The odds makers will no doubt make Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm the favorites to win, but the overwhelming majority of fans will tune in to see the old guy—so let’s take a look at his chances.

Tiger and Phil

Tiger

Southern Hills will put far less stress on Tiger’s leg than the constant climbing at Augusta National, and 5 weeks of recovery between starts will undoubtedly help. Completing four rounds at a major championship, and the certainty that his body can still perform at the highest level of tournament competition, is also a tremendous step forward. The big question is—how much did Augusta take out of him? It was impossible to miss the pain he was playing through, particularly on Saturday and Sunday. Pushing through pain, however, is nothing new to Tiger (winning the 2008 U.S. Open on a broken leg comes immediately to mind). He also gave up a lot of distance off the tee at Augusta (Tiger averaged 285 yards, in comparison to McIlroy who led the field at 318). On the other hand, Scottie Scheffler was twenty yards behind Rory at 298 yards—and he’s wearing a green jacket (he did pump it up to 311 on Sunday, however). Power has always been synonymous with Tiger, but what set him apart from the moment he came out on Tour was mental toughness and an unmatched ability to focus, most notably on the greens where it matters the most. The number of clutch putts Tiger has drained over the course of his career is impossible to count. On Thursday and Friday at the Masters, he putted like the Tiger we are accustomed to seeing with 24 putts on Thursday and 28 on Friday. The weekend was a different story though, with 36 putts on Saturday and 34 on Sunday—where it appeared that the pain and discomfort finally impacted Tiger’s ability to maintain focus.

Southern Hills is a long course at 7,481 yards from the tips, but while length off the tee will certainly provide an advantage, the challenge will be taming extremely firm and fast greens with diabolical fall-offs to very tight lies. And that is where Tiger is always at his best. Keep in mind as well that Tiger won the PGA at Southern Hills in 2007, so he will have pretty good karma when he tees it up on Thursday. And something tells me Tiger will have a bit more juice on his tee ball in his second comeback start. The key will be the putting though, and how he feels physically heading into the weekend. Everyone has seen Tiger literally “will” the ball into the hole—particularly when a major championship is on the line. While winning may seem like a long shot, remember that this is Tiger—where everything is possible.

A Will to Win

Phil

The absence of a public statement from Phil leaves only speculation with regard to his sudden withdrawal from the PGA. The Alan Shipnuck “tell-all” book on Phil is scheduled for release two days prior to the start of the championship, so perhaps Phil believes that his absence will result in less public attention to the book. This doesn’t seem to be a likely reason, however, since the release date has been set for some time now. Some are saying that Phil may feel his game simply isn’t sharp enough after such a long lay-off from tournament competition. This wouldn’t appear to be a factor either, since he’s had plenty of time to practice over the past few months, and he could have pulled out weeks ago. The prevailing conjecture is that Phil is annoyed because the Tour denied his application for a waiver to compete in the LIV event this summer in London, and he is trying to exact some retribution. Unfortunately, if that is the case this will only add to the damage Phil’s image has sustained over the past few months. One thing is certain, the media frenzy and pressure on Phil as defending Champion has been building for some time, and would have reached a boiling point by the time the first round of the tournament got under way.

It’s possible that the confluence of events created an atmosphere where Phil just felt he could not perform to the standard he expects from himself, and he felt it was best for the other players as well to avoid a media circus. Still, it is a blow to his faithful fans who have stood behind him all these years, and were no doubt ready to cheer him on—win or lose.

Will Not Defend

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The PGA Championship-Phil Mickelson

PGA Championship, Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort SC

Congrats, Phil!

Watching Phil Mickelson stroll up the 18th hole at Kiawah Island with a two-shot lead over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen was almost surreal. I think many of us “Phil fanatics” kept pinching ourselves during those final moments thinking it was a dream. The idea of Phil, at fifty plus, holding off the imposing figure of Brooks Koepka to win the PGA Championship, seemed like an impossibility. Like Ali when he fought George Forman—there would be flashes of brilliance and plenty of determination, but sooner or later the big one would land. I kept thinking about the 2014 PGA Championship, 2015 Masters, and 2016 Open Championships where Phil fought his heart out, put up strong performances with great thrills, but ultimately came up just short. Not this time though, as Phil found an even deeper level of resolve to deliver a historic win for the ages, just as Mohamed Ali did back in 1974. It was a remarkable day, and most certainly the high point of Phil’s fantastic career. And do we dare get our hopes up for that elusive U.S. Open title? You bet we do!

Phil’s Fanatics 

Early in his career, Phil Mickelson garnered the nickname “Phil the Thrill” because he had a seemingly endless number of shots in his arsenal, and was willing pull them out of his bag at any time, regardless of risk, almost always with unlikely and eye-popping success. Since he broke out on tour in 1991, and won the Northern Telecom Open as an Amateur, everyone knew that this young lefty was going to provide us with a ton of excitement. Phil immediately captured the hearts of golf fans with his fan friendly, warm persona, along with his aggressive style of play. That style of play cost Phil quite a few tournaments, including a number of major championships, but that just endeared him to the golfing public even more. Eventually Phil’s following of loyalists became known as the “Phil fanatics.” No matter how poorly Phil might be playing, these fans never left his side. Well, the Phil fanatics were out in full force for Lefty last week at the PGA Championship. They cheered and hollered for him all week, and assembled around the 18th green to share the moment with their hero. Not since Arnie’s Army has a player generated that kind of love and excitement from golf fans—and richly deserved.

The Thrills Keep Coming

Phil’s last major victory came all the way back at the 2013 Open Championship, and there have been a number of highs and lows since then. A dry spell in 2014 and 2015 saw Mickelson drop his longtime swing coach, Butch Harman, and hire Andrew Getson. Getson revitalized Phil’s game, and their partnership resulted in 6 top 5 finishes in the 2016 season, including 3 runner-up’s—but unfortunately no victories. 2017 proved to be another winless season for Phil, now 47 years old with many believing that his days of winning on tour were behind him. But lo and behold, Phil reached into his bag of magic and surprised us all by winning the WGC Mexico Championship in 2018. It was an unbelievable victory, as he took down Justin Thomas in a thrilling playoff and proved that Lefty was not done quite yet. And then in 2019, Phil won again, capturing his fifth AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, only to struggle for the remainder of the year, failing to record a single top ten. The 2020 season proved to be another disappointment for Lefty, with only two top 5 finishes in the shortened season. And going into the PGA Championship this year, Phil hadn’t placed among the top 20 in a single event, most recently a disastrous finish at the Wells Fargo where he opened with a 64, only to follow that up with a 75 and a pair of 76’s. While most of the golf world viewed it as yet another sign that Phil was done, his fanatics (and most importantly Phil himself), saw only the brilliant 64, and continued to believe. Well, he’s done it again—shocking the world when everybody counted him out. Congratulations Phil, this was truly an epic performance. You can bet that Phil’s faithful flock will have swelled to record numbers for the Open at Torrey Pines next month, and win or lose, you know he will be giving it everything he’s got. A seventh major? Don’t count him out.  

2020 PGA Championship and The Wyndham Preview

Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro NC (Donald Ross)
Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro NC (Donald Ross)

PGA Championship Wrap-Up

Last week saw a riveting finish to the PGA Tour’s first major of the year. Collin Morikawa fired off a blistering final round 64 to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in winning the PGA Championship at the tender age of 23. Morikawa was calm and collected throughout with a sold round tee to green, while displaying a silky-smooth putting stroke–but two magnificent shots carried the day. On the difficult 14th hole, facing a delicate uphill chip from a tight lie with little green to work with, where getting it up and down to save par under major championship pressure was no easy task—he chipped in for birdie. And then on the reachable par four sixteenth hole, where many in the field were laying back with irons or hitting 3 wood to leave a short chip, he pulled out his driver and drove the green, shaping a gorgeous fade to about eight feet—and then drilled the putt for eagle. With his two-shot victory over Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson, Morikawa moved all the way up to number 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, closing in on Justin Thomas, who retained his number 1 spot (for now). And with all of the excitement surrounding Morikawa’s huge win, John Rahm’s move to number 1 in the world rankings went almost unnoticed.  Brooks Koepka, the pre-tournament favorite and reigning PGA Champion, faded early on Sunday and finished well back with a final round 74. Koepka stirred up a bit of controversy on Saturday with a comment he made about 3rd round leader Dustin Johnson. When asked if he thought he could catch him and make it three in a row, Koepka pointed out that Johnson only had one major title under his belt, and said “I like my chances.” The comment raised more than a few eyebrows, and brought on a response from Rory McIlroy who said “…sort of hard to knock a guy that’s got 21 wins on the PGA tour, which is three times what Brooks has.” Tiger’s performance was largely uninspiring, and his trusted putter seemed to let him down on every hole, finishing well back at 1 under par (T37). With the level of talent on the PGA Tour right now, Woods will have to raise his game a couple of notches to compete as we head into the FedEx playoffs. And Morikawa wasn’t the only youngster opening eyes at the PGA either, as Scottie Scheffler (Age 24, T4 at -10), Matthew Wolff (Age 21, T4 at -10) and long hitting Cameron Champ (Age 25, T10 at -8) all made a strong run at the championship. When you add so many fresh young faces to an already star-studded field, the next few months is guaranteed to be exciting.

The Wyndham Championship

The Field

The week following a major often doesn’t include a particularly deep field, but with so much talent on the tour right now, in a truncated season, the Wyndham will include plenty of big names, with Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and PGA runner-up Paul Casey all teeing it up. It will be interesting to see how Koepka rebounds from his disappointing finish at the PGA, particularly in light of the remarks he made about Dustin Johnson. Don’t be surprised if Brooks puts the hammer down with big a week at the Wyndham; and keep in mind that Paul Casey went out of his way to say that his wonderful play on Sunday at the PGA was helped by the class Koepka displayed while struggling with his own game in that final round.

The Event

First played in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, The Wyndham Championship is one of the oldest events on the PGA tour. Currently held at the venerable Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC, Sam Snead won the championship an astounding eight times. In addition to Snead, champions include legendary players such as Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd, Julius Boros, and Seve Ballesteros. J. T. Poston is the reigning champion, and he will be in the field this week to defend his title.

The Course

Sedgefield Country Club, founded in 1925, is an original Donald Ross design that was updated over the years by notable architects including Gene Hamm and Willard Byrd. In 2007 the course was lengthened to accommodate current equipment, and restored to the original Ross layout by Kris Spence, acclaimed for classic course restorations including Memphis Country Club (Donald Ross), Forsyth Country Club (Tillinghast/Ross), and Mimosa Hills Golf Club (Donald Ross).

Find detailed course information here.

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2020 Tour Update-PGA Championship Preview

TPC Harding Park, San Francisco CA
TPC Harding Park, San Francisco CA

3M Open

The 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, closed out July with tour journeyman Michael Thompson winning at 19 under par, two shots ahead of runner up, Andrew Long. The win was Thomson’s second tour victory, the first one at the Honda all the way back in 2013. The 2020 season has been difficult for Thomson, making the cut in only 8 of 17 events, but a top 10 at the Heritage in June was a sign that his game was starting to come around. Proving that hard work and fortitude can pay off, Thomson secured a two-year tour exemption along with entry into this week’s PGA Championship at Harding Park and the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September. In an emotional interview following the final round, Thomson credited his wife, Rachel, for keeping his confidence up and believing in him when things got tough, saying “My wife has been a rock for me.”

WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational

August opened up with the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and saw Justin Thomas mount a dramatic come from behind charge to victory with the legendary ‘Bones’ Mackey on his bag. Everyone expected the hard as nails Brooks Koepka to come away with the win, but the pressure Thomas applied seemed to shake a normally unflappable Koepka and he ended with a double bogey six on the last hole, finishing runner-up. This victory gave Thomas a 713-point lead in the FedEx Cup standings over Webb Simpson, currently in the second spot.

Tiger Woods

After a rocky showing at the Memorial Tournament, questions have again started to bubble up with regard to Tiger’s back. Before starting the Memorial, Tiger put the kibosh on speculation about the condition of his back when he said that his delayed return to tournament play was strictly due to an abundance of caution concerning COVID-19. While Tiger didn’t appear to be in obvious pain at any point in the tournament, his swing didn’t have the fluid freedom we saw at the end of 2019, and a pair of 76’s only add fuel to the rumor mill. Tiger says that he just needed to knock off some rust, and we’ll get to see for sure when he continues his pursuit of Jack’s major championship record this week at Harding Park. Stay tuned.

2020 PGA Championship

The Field

As with all major championships, The PGA Championship will include a tremendous field of top-ranked players, each hoping to bring home the Wannamaker Trophy, awarded to the winner by the PGA of America. In addition to Tiger, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, and Phil Mickelson will all be teeing it up this week. The player to watch is most certainly the reigning two-time PGA Champion, Brooks Koepka. Koepka gained momentum at the FedEx, in spite of the hiccup on the final hole. After poor finishes at the Workday, Memorial, and 3M, Koepka turned up his game with a blistering 62 in the opening round, and recorded solid rounds of 68 and 69 over the weekend. With his explosive display at the FedEx, Justin Thomas (also a former PGA Champion) is another player to watch closely this week. Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantley, Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, and Patrick Reed have all been playing well of late, and each would dearly love to add the Wannamaker to his trophy case. And don’t be surprised if Dustin Johnson suddenly jumps in the mix and walks away with his second major victory. Of course, The PGA has been known to deliver the unexpected, suddenly launching an unknown name into the spotlight (John Daly, Rich Beem, Y.E. Yang, Shaun Micheel, Jeff Sluman, and Wayne Grady come to mind). One thing is for sure, this is going to be a great week for watching golf.

The Course

TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California will be hosting a professional major championship for the first time in its venerated history. Harding Park was originally designed by Willie Watson and Sam Whiting, opening in 1925. A municipal course, owned by the San Francisco Department of Parks & Recreation, Harding Park hosted the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in 1937 and in 1956, and the Lucky International Open on the PGA Tour until 1969. Due to budget cuts, Harding Park’s condition had begun to decline and the tour was ultimately forced to end their relationship. For the next thirty years, Harding Park was largely forgotten, with the most humiliating moment coming when it was used as a parking lot for the 1998 U.S. Open that was played at The Olympic Club. 2002 brought about a revival, however, when Arnold Palmer Golf Management was brought in to operate the park. Former USGA President Sandy Tatum played a key role by enlisting the assistance of Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour, with PGA Tour course architect Chris Gray tasked with returning Harding Park to Watson’s vision—and he did a masterful job. 2005 proved to be another groundbreaking year for Harding Park, as it hosted its first World Golf Championship event (The American Express Championship). Ten years later, the course hosted the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship. Both World Golf events at Harding were thrilling nail-bitters, with Tiger Woods narrowly defeating fan-favorite John Daly in a playoff at the American Express, and Rory McIlroy defeating the hard-charging Gary Woodland at the Cadillac Matchplay. Harding Park also hosted the 2009 Presidents Cup, and is scheduled to host the 2025 Presidents Cup. In 2010, Harding Park became a member of the TPC network, and is now operated by PGA Tour Golf Course Properties. Joining Bethpage, Torrey Pines and Chambers Bay among municipal courses that have hosted a major championship is yet another fitting tribute to Harding Park, and a testament to how far the game has come in making great courses available to everyone.

Get detailed course information at GolfDay.

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5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing Golf Clubs for Beginners

5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing Golf Clubs
When you are just starting out, the first thing you’ll need is a set of clubs

The game of golf is over 600 years old , and continues to be among the most popular sports in America.

A third of Americans hit the links every year, and of those over two million are beginners.

When you are just starting out, the first thing you’ll need is a set of clubs–so here are a few things to consider that will save some time and money.

1. What Length Do I Need?

Standard length clubs are fine for almost everybody (5’6″-5’ll” for men and 5’3″-5’7″ for women). Even if you don’t fall into that range, it’s not worth the expense of being fitted for custom length shafts until you have a few rounds under your belt and talked to the PGA professional at your course or local driving range.

2. What Shaft Weight and Flex is Best?

Optimal shaft flex and weight is generally determined by your swing speed. Lighter and more flexible shafts are better for Juniors and Seniors, while accomplished golfers will want stiffer shafts. The best bet when you are first starting out is to stick with “Regular” shafts for all of your clubs. As you get better and your swing speed increases, you may want to consider stiffer shafts, but that is another decision best made with some guidance from your local PGA professional.

3. Do I need to spend a lot of money?

Clubs can be expensive, and you do not need to spend a lot of money when you are just starting out. Irons, woods, wedges and putter are sold separately so pick up an inexpensive set of irons; 8 clubs, 3-iron through 9 nine iron and pitching wedge (regular shafts, standard head–not “blades”), a 3 wood (15 degrees of loft), a 4 hybrid (22 degrees of loft) a 60 degree wedge with medium “bounce” for the sand and a putter (standard length, medium weight). The Driver is the most important club in the bag, and also the hardest to hit, so it’s best to use your 3 wood until you have played for a while (and it will give you close to the same distance when you hit it well). Long irons are also difficult to master, so your hybrid will be the best bet for longer shots from the fairway. And there is no rule that says you have to carry the full complement of 14 clubs, so a 3 wood, hybrid, mid-iron (5 iron), short iron (8 iron), pitching wedge, 60 degree wedge and putter are all you really need to get the hang of the game and start having fun. As you get better and develop a feel for how far your clubs are going, you can add more clubs to build your arsenal.

4. What about Juniors?

It is not a good idea to give a youngster an old set of standard clubs when they are first starting out. Junior beginner sets with 4 or 5 clubs are pretty inexpensive, and they are shorter in length, much more flexible and a lot easier to hit. Most important is that the they build confidence and have fun. As they grow and get better at the game, more complete Junior golf sets are available that are tailored to each age group.

5. Do I Need Custom Clubs?

Club fitting can take your game to a new level, but first you need to develop a consistent swing. Far better to invest in lessons with a pro and time on the range before spending money on custom clubs. If you take first things first and build a fundamentally sound golf swing, your game will improve rapidly. A seasoned pro will know when it’s time for you to move on to better clubs, and can advise on club specifications that will maximize your performance. You will hear terms like “lie angle” and “kick point,” which are important, but remember that to get the most from your clubs, you need consistency. See your pro–you’ll be glad you did.

Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Golf Clubs

Choosing golf clubs doesn’t have to be difficult, expensive, or complicated. The fun part is working on your game and improving every day.

Remember that golf is a journey, so don’t get frustrated. Just play and have fun!

Ready to tee up? Find a golf course near you today!

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