On Thursday we see the start of the final major of the season, but also the final event on the qualifying list for the USA's Ryder Cup team, meaning that by Monday morning we will know 9 of the 12 players in the US team that will travel to Gleneagles in September. The defending US PGA champion is of course Jason Dufner after his 2 shot victory last year over Jim Furyk. This time around we head to the Valhalla golf club which last played host to the PGA Championship in 2000 with Tiger Woods running out victorious but it also hosted the USA's Ryder Cup victory in 2008. With some rather long par 4's and some short par 4's along with 4 par 5's and 4 par 3's the par for the course is 71, but with the monstrous drivers that are currently in the game i'll say that the scoring will be good again this week as it was at the Open Championship and last weeks Bridgestone Invitational, both of which were won by Rory McIlroy who will be a huge contender this week too. There is some big news on the course this week and that is that shoe-in for Septembers Ryder Cup Dustin Johnson announced last week that he would be "taking a break from Golf" to focus on "personal issues" of his which will see him miss this event and the trip to Gleneagles, although there was also talk that he'd been banned for 6 months by the PGA for a failed drug test so it's tough to know what to believe with him. Also, Tiger Woods presence on the course this week is in some doubt after he withdrew during the final round at Bridgestone last week looking to be in some pain and he cancelled his Tuesday press conference neither being able to confirm or deny that he would be playing this week, and it will be a real shame if his back is causing him yet more problems but with age it is an injury that can come and go at any time, even more than ever.
As always the majors bring out some magnificent 3 balls for all of the fans watching at home and on the course, so it's time for me to pick some of those out and see how they'll go:
Pick of the Groupings for Thursday and Friday: (Picks in bold)
Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed and Angel Cabrera - This one was a tough call for me with Matsuyama and Reed playing great golf at the moment and both showing a lot of future potential. Patrick Reed finished in a tie for 4th at the WGC Bridgestone invitational and you know by comments he's made in the past that he has a lot of belief in his ability, but we're yet to see that really shine through in a major which could hold him back again this week. Matsuyama though is a real talent and has done reasonably well in the majors last season but this season his form hasn't quite been as good in them although he did have a strong week at the Bridgestone last week. However, I am confident that we are soon to see the very best of Patrick Reed on the global stage, and it could well be this week.
Rickie Fowler, Victor Dubuisson and Ernie Els - Again you have to say that the winner of this 3 ball has to be between Fowler and Dubuisson. Rickie Fowler has been absolutely sublime in the majors this year with strong finishes in all of the 3 majors so far and his place in the Ryder Cup is as safe as houses because of his performances. Victor performed very well at the Open Championship last month and he's broken through very well this season but he's obviously not yet to the standard that Fowler is now reaching and for me he has to win this 3 ball.
Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Lee Westwood - Adam Scott is one of golfs most consistent performers in golf right now. Without properly challenging for a major this season he has been around the top 20 in these majors along with winning another PGA Tour event this season and challenging for more events as always. Lee Westwood is certainly one man that in my opinion has lost this consistency to his game and is now really struggling in the majors missing the cut at the Open and having really not challenged for any major this season maybe Lee has had his time and is starting to slowly fade away. One man who certainly hasn't had his time yet is Jordan Spieth who started the season off brilliantly challenging at the Masters and the Players Championship but hasn't really challenged for a major title since then but has been around the top 20 in a lot of tournaments and this wouldn't be a bad week for him to challenge for a title once again, but for me Adam is the most consistent performer out of this group.
Jimmy Walker, Ian Poulter and Jason Day - Jason Day has struggled this season for any consistency since that early season hand injury and it seems that his game hasn't been in the shape that it was before the injury where he was playing well and not far from winning a major, but that injury has set him back a few steps and there are no signs to me that he'll properly challenge this week either. Ian Poulter meanwhile is one guy that you'd love to see win a major but his performances right now don't suggest that he will such are the struggles he seems to be having and the fact is his form right now is nowhere. Jimmy Walker is one man though that has risen very well, is a shoe in for this years Ryder Cup and is playing the golf of his life as he is showing on a regular basis including last month at Hoylake and for me he's playing the best and most consistent golf out of this trio but quite some decent.
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington - This 3 ball is an odd one to have to talk about with Tiger Woods not yet confirming his place in the event having been given until about 10 minutes before his tee time to confirm his place. If he does play with his injuries the way they are at the moment there is no chance that he will do anything impressive because back injuries won't just go away overnight and are one of the worst injuries you can have as any kind of sportsman. Padraig Harrington's form is absolutely nowhere at the moment and he is absolutely miles off of guys like Phil Mickelson in this 3 ball. Phil though seemed to re find some form in his final round at the Bridgestone invitational and hasn't been totally horrific despite struggling with a lot of aspects of his game but hopefully he can take this form with him now and push for the title this week.
Jim Furyk, Charl Schwartzel and Miguel Angel Jimenez - This should be a really good 3 ball with Miguel who has been in good form on the champions tour and still winning events on the European Tour whilst also finishing right up there at the Masters which is a really good feat at his age, and he seems like a really fun guy to play with so it should be nice for Furyk and Schwartzel. Charl is in good form at the moment with strong performances at the Open Championship and last weeks Bridgestone Invitational, although this is a really recent return to form for Schwartzel it would seem and with form its always tough to know when it's going to come and go and it could just as easily go this week if you're a player that experiences good form in short bursts. However, players like Jim Furyk are very steady and always seem to play consistently which sets him apart from a long list of players and means that he could play well and even possibly challenge at any given event. Jim has played very well in the last few weeks leading up to the Open Championship, at the Open Championship and at the Canadian Open and the WGC since then in the lead up to this. That all puts Jim in a very good position for this event.
Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose and Louis Oosthuizen - Without being unkind to Oosthuizen, he has struggled to compete in the majors this season unlike Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar who are in good form, have been performing consistently and I'm sure this 3 ball will see them on the same side of the coin. Matt Kuchar competed well at the US Open and the Masters making the top 10 at the Masters and top 20 at Pinehurst playing particularly well in April where he lost one PGA Tour event play-off and then won the RBC Heritage the week after the Masters. A large break and his general ability to struggle at the Open meant that he finished poorly at Hoylake but a top 10 at the Canadian Open and a top 20 at the WGC last week should help him return to form. Justin though has been on fire lately winning the Scottish Open and the quicken loans in the lead up to the Open where he also performed well without really challenging for the title as he has done in the majors this season. However, I really think that Justin Rose will be right up there in the hunt for this one and I'd be surprised if both him and Kuchar don't finish in the top 20.
Ryan Moore, Henrik Stenson and Kenny Perry - This 3 ball is of course about Stenson and Moore. Henrik performed really well in the majors last year and carried that on during this years Masters but has fallen away slightly since which of course does not bode well for his title winning chances this week, but I think he is still the type of player that could perform below his best and still finish in the top 20 and have some good early rounds before perhaps falling back on Saturday and Sunday. Ryan Moore though has been performing well recently with one bad round at the Open costing him a very good finish there, and that is a slight worry for him if he is ever going to win a major you can't have that one bad round. At the end of the day you need to be more consistent and that could be the difference between players like him and players like Henrik Stenson.
Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy - This 3 ball is made up of the 3 major winners but there is a subtle difference between each one of them. For Bubba Watson he may have won the Masters quite handsomely but apart from that his form has been poor, especially in the majors and there's no sign of that turning around. Kaymer however, played well for the period around the US Open and the Players Championship which he won both of, but his form hasn't been to the same standard since the break he took after the US Open which will worry him. Rory McIlroy though has been sublime for a long period now and is really hot right now after a victory early in the season at the BMW PGA Championship before then winning the Open Championship as I predicted before then going on to win the WGC Bridgestone Invitational last week to become the new World No.1 and deservedly so as he's the best player in the world right now and probably will be for some time in my opinion.
Now onto the main event of things, and the players I think will be in contention for the title this weekend:
8 players to watch for the US PGA Championship:
Rory McIlroy - As I mentioned earlier, new world number 1 McIlroy is the hottest player in the game now and could quite easily turn up and win any tournament he enters as he has done in the last month taking home the Open Championship to win 3 of the 4 majors by the age of 25 and then win the WGC Bridgestone invitational coming from behind on the final day. The fact is Rory now has the game to win anywhere on any given week and his full concentration is on winning as many golf tournaments as he can which makes him an incredibly dangerous player for the future now and could be the reason that he could possibly dominate the game for a generation. The most dangerous aspect of his game is monster driving and coupled with good putting form he really is someone who can run away with a title.
Justin Rose - I have no doubt that before his career is over Justin Rose will be a multiple major champion. He's quite simply too good not to be. His form over the last few months makes it a heavy possibility that this could be the week he wins his 2nd major as he always seems to be around at the majors but with confidence high after those victories that led him into the Open and some good performances since then he has every chance this week. One of Justin's great strengths is that he knows exactly what he is capable of and goes out believing in himself and he'll know that he is right up there to win this title and I'd be amazed if he doesn't make at least the top 20 this week.
Rickie Fowler - Rickie Fowler has been absolutely superb this season and really seems to have come of age under the coaching of Butch Harmon which was a brilliant decision of Rickie's. He's competed brilliantly at all 3 of the majors so far this season and he's always near the top of the leaderboard in the big competitions. He's clearly been working very hard and a major championship that would fulfil at least part of his potential shouldn't be too far around the corner. He's shown that he has the game to tackle all sorts of courses so he shouldn't have a problem again this week after a season that will give him full confidence and he's going to be an absolutely vital player for USA in the Ryder Cup next month if you ask me. I was particularly impressed by Fowlers temperament in the majors so far as he doesn't seem to let too much get on top of him and that will make him a champion in the near future.
Graeme McDowell - The GMac will be a long shot for this weeks title at Valhalla in many peoples eyes but looking at his form and his potential as a man that has already got major championships under his belt points to him as a real contender. That form I refer to is that he's had 3 consecutive top 10 finishes to build up for this event including a tied 9th finish that he secured at Hoylake which he then followed up with a tied 9th finish at the Canadian Open where he played nicely and another good performance at last weeks WGC where he came tied for 8th and he only had one bad round at the US Open championship even if he did finish tied for 28th after starting the event very well, so if he does have another strong finish this week and make a top 10 or top 20 no-one would be surprised and if he were to take the title and his 2nd major you could've easily seen it coming. The message here: don't rule out McDowell.
Sergio Garcia - Sergio has had an incredibly solid season on tour and in the big competitions without walking away with a title, despite being in the running for around 5 titles since April finishing in the top 5 on every occasion including in each of the last 3 events he's entered. Sergio did fall away on the final day of last weeks WGC which you could say he should've won but in the end he finished 2nd to Rory. He also finished 2nd with Rickie Fowler to Rory at the Open last month also finishing tied for 2nd at the Travellers Championship a month earlier. It was 3rd place that he managed at the Players Championship and again at April's Houston Open so you can clearly see that he's been putting himself in the position to win titles on an array of courses in an array of conditions so nothing that this week throws up should be a problem with the confidence he has. The problem for Sergio has not been how he's started tournaments but how he's finished them buckling under pressure at times of last weeks WGC and in the end at the Open as well so to have any chance of winning this week he needs to get any nerves he has under control when he thinks he has a real chance of winning if that is what's been happening.
Matt Kuchar - Matt Kuchar has been one of my contenders for each major this year simply because I think he can't be far from winning one. He definetly performs at his best in the US which shows from the fact that he made the top 10 at the Masters, top 20 at the US Open but struggling for the top 50 at Hoylake. He has been consistent over the season making lots of top 10's and top 20's as he has done since the Open with a top 10 in Canada and a top 20 at the WGC last week. With such consistency you know he's likely to challenge a lot, and the more you challenge the more chance you have of winning an event, which is exactly what he did in April when he won the RBC Heritage and exactly what he could do here at Valhalla. He just needs to be more consistent throughout a round to make it happen.
Adam Scott - It's been a really good few months for Adam Scott without anything exciting really happening. His results in the majors of tied 13th at the Masters, tied 9th at the US Open and tied 5th at the Open would suggest that Scott has challenged well for at least one major this season, but despite those 3 good results he never looked at any stage like he would win any of those titles. His form has also been brilliant on the PGA tour and really does explain why he has only just been knocked back down to world no.2. In May Scott he won the Crowne Plaza, before finishing tied for 4th at the Memorial Tournament and then tied for 8th at least weeks WGC to add to those. The only area of weakness you can easily spot in Adam's game is the putting with him having to use a belly putter which is suppose is unusual for someone of such a high class and ranking because the use of a belly putter would usually suggest quite great problems with putting but he clearly gets on with it nicely, but it will be interesting to see how he goes once those type of putters are outlawed. Still none of that will effect his performance this week and once again he is right up there to win this championship.
Jim Furyk - Old Jim Furyk is an incredibly steady golfer, who seems to perform well at most of the majors on the calendar and seems to be player that is in form a lot more than he isn't. My reason for picking him as a contender for this tournament is simple. As an incredibly steady golfer, his only problem is getting over the line and, but if he can get far enough in front you'd expect him to eventually close out a tournament as he really should've done in Canada 2 weeks ago. He has been playing well and striking the ball well though since the lead up to the Open championship a couple of weeks ago and if Jim is striking the ball well there is no reason why he can't go on a strong run this week and possibly walk off with the title.
Michael's 3 picks for the US PGA Championship:
Rory McIlroy
Rickie Fowler
Jim Furyk
What it means is that we have a brilliant weekend of Golf ahead of us and it should be an entertaining major as well as tense and thrilling as always not just because of the feat of winning a major championship but as Ryder Cup places will become a lot closer for some and a lot further away for others if they have good or bad weekends at Valhalla.
No comments:
Post a Comment