Tiger Woods withdrew from the PGA Championship, the first time he will go an entire year without playing a major. Yardage: 7,462. Par: 70. This is a very long courses and is home to one of the longest holes in any major event.
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Tournament officials, even though they had been warned about the coming storm, had not started the round earlier, and – predictably – golfers and fans were caught on the course as lightning flashed around them. “I much prefer being hot than cold, so I just get on with it”.
Baltusrol’s Lower Course is a tough test with deep bunkers, thick rough and tough-to-read greens – and its fourth hole is one of the most hard par threes ever designed. He’s in the Tiger stratosphere, where every shot he hits is going to be questioned, every move he makes is going to be questioned.
Last time at Baltusrol: Phil Mickelson got up-and-down for birdie on the 18th hole for a 2-over 72 and a one-shot victory over Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn. I expect a similar score this week with the victor around six strokes under par. Spieth contended at the Masters back in April with tie for second but didn’t at either the U.S. Open (T37) or British Open (T30).
Purse: $3 million (First prize: $450,000). For Phil Mickelson, the man who played his socks off at Troon and still finished three shots behind the majestic Stenson, it’s a chance to dust himself down and get back in the saddle after falling at the final fence in a mesmerising two horse race with the Swede. Snead is the oldest PGA Tour tournament victor, at 52, to go with a Tour-record 82 victories. So while the surroundings share lots of special memories, including Jack Nicklaus’ 1-iron in 1967, most of today’s top players have little or no history with Baltusrol. In fact, I’ve enjoyed playing more now than I did then just because you’re playing in bigger tournaments.
Remember, Grace was no bigger than 33/1 for The Open and a reasonably low-key week there shouldn’t see us overlook a player who has been frequently threatening to win a major. “I know I’ve got what it takes to get it done”. Spieth has finished T30 and T37 in the last two majors, and if this is going to be a ball-striker’s course, that may not bode well for him considering he’s still battling his swing a bit. Among those scheduled to play is former Masters champion Trevor Immelman.
Daly had won his PGA Tour card at Q-School in 1990, finishing 14th.
Let’s start with the good players. “But once you get past that, it’s all right”. Stenson has won two of his last three starts. “I’m spending the most money in there”, he joked. He will be playing the first two days with England’s Danny Willett, the reigning Masters champion, and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, the 2016 British Open victor.
The 37th-ranked Westood has nine top-three finishes in the majors, including three as runner-up. Obviously you want to win but it was a really good and important week for me. (18th in approach shots from 200 yards) Most DFS players are going to avoid Berger because they don’t know where his health is at. He is a great talent that was just starting to peak this season before his injury. Johnson has finished in the Top 10 in four of the six PGA Championships he’s played and six of the last seven major championships he has entered overall. He has contributed to many publications over the years and co-authored the book Golf’s Greatest Eighteen from Random House.
Tony Finau: (6,900) Fianu is a player who is at a very low cost for his talent and current form.
Stenson will play the opening two rounds in New Jersey with this year’s other two major champions, Danny Willett and Dustin Johnson.
This week feels as though golf is continuing a greedy raid on Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, with two majors to feast upon in the run-up to the sport’s return to the Olympics. Mickelson played his best stuff but was outgunned in a shoot-out for the ages.
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One of Finau’s weaknesses has always been his accuracy off the tee, as he 187th in driving accuracy percentage on the tour at 51.8%. The American now has six straight Top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, including a victory at the U.S. Open, his first major title.
