While many players bemoan the short turnaround between the British Open and PGA Championship, jammed closer together to accommodate the Rio Olympics golf tournament, the implacable Dustin Johnson just rolls on. The first round is today.
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He planned a much-needed day off for Monday and felt “under the weather” on Tuesday, electing to skip a practice round.
That means the tournament officials have deemed only 70 golf strokes necessary to complete the 18 hole course. “I was with Doug Steffen, the head pro, (Tuesday) night at the champions’ dinner”.
“Baltusrol, it’s more of my type of golf I guess, and I feel like I can really do well this week”. Obviously the prep’s been a little on the lighter side. The rest of the stuff, I try not to worry about, or actually I don’t worry about.
“I really have to go out there and try and find a game plan that works for me and making sure that on the tough holes”. Like, I’m okay. I’m fine. So I guess it comes across as a bit different, yeah. Day left an accident and emergency ward in New Jersey at 2am on Wednesday, his wife Ellie having suffered a violent allergic reaction – the cause of which is unknown – resulting in a full body rash.
“We were there until two o’clock or something like that”, Day said. “I feel like everything is going really well”.
Johnston introduced himself to the golfing world in April when the 27-year-old won the Spanish Open, then took center stage at Royal Troon, where he finished eighth at the British Open.
He shot 72 to start the Masters and was able to finish tied for 10th.
“If I’m on top of the leaderboard and I get to number one, obviously that would be great and be a big accomplishment”, Johnson said.
“The guys are just younger and stronger and fitter and faster, and they are just long out there”, Day said. “I’ve been getting a bit too frustrated at times but recently I’ve gotten back to kind of the gunslinger, the way that I grew up playing, which is just step up and hit it”, the Texan said on the eve of his 23rd birthday. “I think that’s what I did in the first two majors”.
The PGA Championship has been played in August since 1971; that year, it moved to a February date in Florida.
8-1 Jordan Spieth Colonial champ is the game’s most consistent major performer since 2014, has the ball-striking skills to shine at Baltusrol. “The golf course setup isn’t ridiculously penal like a U.S. Open”.
“I’m really excited for the Ryder Cup”, he said of the global event that will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska – a course he’s played several times.
“Probably the biggest difference this year than years past is my wedge game”. Here are 5 other things to know about this hard four days of professional golf.
Louis Oosthuizen (20-1): He missed the cut at the British Open (a tournament he’s won) and that will be enough to fuel him to play well here.
The PGA Championship makes its next somewhat local stop in 2019 when the 101st edition will be played at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
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With the deepest field of any of the majors, predicting a PGA victor is always a challenge, made more so by the difficulties of the schedule and the various obstacles it has presented up to this point. PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua reiterated his organization’s opposition to the law, but said: “We can’t control the policies, the rules and the regulations around the country and municipalities and states”. We can only do what we can do.
