To make room on the schedule, the PGA Championship agreed to move up to the final weekend of July ahead of the Rio Games.
Advertisement
The PGA Championship has the strongest field of all the majors, and it really stands out in an Olympic year.
He overlooked the obvious.
Day claimed his first and so far only major at last year’s tournament at Whistling Straits in record fashion and wants to repeat the effort.
However, the 46-year-old was denied a sixth major title by a stunning performance from playing partner Stenson, whose closing 63 equalled the lowest score recorded in any major – Mickelson having done so as well in the first round – and gave him a winning total of 264, the lowest in major history.
Rest and recover: Jason Day is looking to defend his PGA Championship title.
The 27-year-old Northern Irishman said doing so would turn a “B-” campaign into an “A+” one. So when a question was posed to him Tuesday that expecting 20 more years like that would probably be a tough benchmark, Spieth leaned toward the microphone and interrupted. “I still can. I’ve improved from categories from past year I wanted to improve and other categories have diminished slightly”.
Joe Summerhays, 44, from Wasatch High School, will be playing in his first major – almost 50 years after his father, Bruce, made his major debut in the 1967 U.S. Open at Baltusrol.
With one shot in a major, “I have such a different perspective now”, he said. “As with a lot of the great American golf courses, the center of the green is always going to be OK, but if you’re not” leading, “it kind of forces you if you fire at the flagsticks”. Lydia Ko has finished first, second and third in the three LPGA Tour majors this year.
McIlroy has finished third and fifth in his two events since missing the cut in the US Open and admits he was motivated by being left trailing an fantastic 16 shots behind Open champion Stenson at Royal Troon.
Baltusrol was soaked with almost 2 inches of rain overnight, though the Lower Course was in remarkably good shape for a full day of practice on Tuesday in sweltering conditions that only add to the pressure of players trying to break through.
McIlroy was especially optimistic given the length of Baltusrol, exceptionally long (7,462 yards) for a par 70 that doesn’t have a par 5 until the final two holes. He is among the top power players in the game, and his driving is aesthetically attractive because of his balance. He looks ready to go, and he will find out Thursday what kind of traction he has. I can’t attach myself to the thought of keeping it, I have to focus on trying to prepare the best I can and execute and play well.
“It was a good confidence-builder going into next week”.
“There’s no reason to think I can’t do that for the foreseeable future”.
After splashing out to 25 feet, Bjorn saw his birdie putt agonisingly lip out and added: “I hit a putt on 18 that couldn’t miss and I still don’t know how it missed”. “But I think you get a sense of how I’ve felt about the year and trying to get better and trying to get my name in the mix, and hopefully I can do that this week”.
The 37th-ranked Westood has nine top-three finishes in the majors, including three as runner-up. Baltusrol is big, and likely will be soft with the overnight rain, the steamy heat and the threat of thunderstorms.
Ditto for McIlroy, whose only victory was the Irish Open before a home crowd. That was a big deal. He still has the FedEx Cup playoffs, which he has never won, and the Race to Dubai to complete the European Tour season.
Advertisement
“I was just struggling with the lines”, he said. Justin Leonard, who worked in the Golf Channel booth as the analyst at the Barracuda Championship, is making his ninth start of the year.
