And Phil Mickelson won the 2005 PGA, the last time it was played at Baltusrol, hitting a sublime pitch shot to within one foot of the hole for a closing birdie to beat Steve Elkington of Australia and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark by one shot.
Advertisement
“I’m kind of running on empty right now”, said Day. The more I’ve just had fun and be me, the better I’ve played. It is surely only a matter of time before the Southern African lands a major. Despite finding himself on the “right” side of the draw weather-wise – unlike McIlroy, Day and Spieth – the powerful 32-year-old from SC was unable to take full advantage.
Defending champion Day has struggled in the run-up to the year’s final major tournament with only a Wednesday practice round, an illness and a hospital trip after his wife Ellie suffered an allergic reaction after the Champions Dinner on Tuesday. At that stage many predicted Garcia would go on to win a plethora of majors.
And the trio teeing off ahead of that offers two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, another American in two-time major victor Jordan Spieth and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, trying to win his first major title in his 73rd try and 70th consecutive major start dating to the 1999 British Open.
Jason Day’s sleepless in Springfield, Dustin Johnson’s restless for another major, Jordan Spieth wants to snap his major-less streak, and we wonder if new tourney favorite Rory McIlroy will be 3-wood-less before the PGA Championship is over. Unfortunately for those tied to their TVs, Day and playing partners Phil Mickelson and Rory will likely be finishing up their opening rounds by the time the sparkling personality that is Ernie Johnson begins his broadcasting duties for TNT at 1 p.m. ET.
He’d like to leave the PGA Championship with a new ranking – No. 1.
He has finished out of the top 10 only five times in his 16 starts this year, including his last six tournaments. “I think there’s a really big window of opportunity to add to my resumé”.
“It won’t be on my mind”, he said. The rest of the stuff, I try not to worry about – or actually I don’t worry about.
“When I go back next week to work I’ll be a club pro again, but this week I’m out here playing these guys and that’s how you have to look at it”, Ryan Helminen, a club pro at Ridgeway Country Club in Neenah, Wisconsin said. He’s also one of only three (Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson) with multiple top-five finishes in the majors in 2015. It’s more of my type of golf, I guess.
“I’ve got to really try and manage my patience out there, because I have very little patience right now”.
The big lefty said the way he learned to play golf, quieting the body down and using the length of the arc and swinging motion of the club to develop speed, helped him stay healthy.
Stenson, US Open victor Dustin Johnson of the United States and Masters victor Danny Willett – this year’s major winners – tee off in the afternoon feature group off the first tee, with only three final trios behind them. “That’s probably the only thing I could have done and had a chance”.
Advertisement
Rather than one player triumphing over the field on a regular basis, the major championships have recently resembled a bakery line, with every elite-level player grabbing that little pink ticket from the machine at the counter, then waiting for his number to be called to pick up a trophy. The U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open have been contested on both its Upper and Lower courses. If it doesn’t happen, it’s not going to change my life.
