PGA Championship

[Cosmo]

Kind of neat to see a different venue thrown into the mix ... Island Course hosting its first major. I wasn't much into golf in '91 when the Ryder Cup was played at Kiawah.

Keegan Bradley comes in on a roll and is paired with Tiger (and Martin Kaymer) in the first round going off No. 10.

Since the PGA seems to always be in the running to produce an out-of-nowhere champ, who ya got? Dustin Johnson wouldn't be out of nowhere, but playing close to home, he'll be someone to keep an eye on.

 

[Chef2]

This is a total krapshoot:

If the wind is up, you're playing old man par.

If it's calm, you could see some Bob Hope numbers.

 

[Mark2010]

Yep It's a true links course.

 

[trifectarich]

Yep It's a true links course.

Kind of.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

If the wind is up in August, it brings up the possibility they'll be evacuating Kiawah Island in mid-tournament.

 

[Mark2010]

Wow, that would be interesting to watch. Has a PGA event ever been cancelled because of a hurricane?

 

[hondo]

I'm liking Matt Kuchar, if you're looking for a first-time major winner. Jason Dufner is due.
Are Luke Donald or Lee Westwood ever going to win a major? Not sure this course suits them.

 

[2underpar]

i played it a few years back in april and it was brutal. wind was blowing, intermittent rain. Holes that were down wind I was hitting a wedge from 140 (i usually max out at 110) and into the wind I was hitting 3-iron about 150. I think i shot 84 and was pretty happy.
Our forecaddie said he was out with a group of asians the week before and the wind was blowing so hard that after the round his sunglasses were pockmarked by the sand pebbles that were blowing out of the bunkers.
It's a neat course, but there are a ton others that i'd play before going back to Kiawah.

 

[2underpar]

i have absolutely no clue who is going to win this. if the wind blows, a euro could win. if it doesn't, anybody could win.

 

[MileHigh]

Love a new course in the mix. Vaguely remember the War by the Shore only because our paper in SoCal heavily covered it because it was the hometown paper for captain Dave Stockton.

 

[blacktitleist]

Zach Johnson and Graeme McDowell are my picks this week.

This course is an absolute beast when the wind blows.

 

[Pencil Dick]

40% to 50% chance of thunderstorms in the forecast the the first three days, then partly cloudy on Sunday. Wind forecast Thursday-Saturday is between 10-15 mph.

This is going to be fun to watch.

 

[Mark2010]

I'm liking Matt Kuchar, if you're looking for a first-time major winner. Jason Dufner is due.
Are Luke Donald or Lee Westwood ever going to win a major? Not sure this course suits them.

Donald is particularly hard to figure. Good player, to be sure, but seems to always have terrible Thursdays and Fridays in majors.

 

[Pencil Dick]

Dan Jenkins just tweeted that the PGA merchandise tent at Kiawah has already sold out of its allotment of umbrellas.

 

[qtlaw]

I'm hoping for the resurrection of Dustin Johnson, especially given the bad break he got at Whistling Straits. This is perfect for him, a fairly open, long, soft course.

I like how the PGA has made the choice to go to much different courses than the US Open.

 

[Mark2010]

I'm hoping for the resurrection of Dustin Johnson, especially given the bad break he got at Whistling Straits. This is perfect for him, a fairly open, long, soft course.

I like how the PGA has made the choice to go to much different courses than the US Open.

Agreed. There are so many good courses in the US that you could play a different course every year and not run out of good places to play.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

According to what I have been told, the PGA of America and the USGA have made their tournaments kind of an "it's us or them" proposition for America's most distinguished golf courses. This, and again, it's just pro shop scuttlebutt, is what led the Country Club in Brookline to declare a plague on both their houses.

 

[playthrough]

Dan Jenkins just tweeted that the PGA merchandise tent at Kiawah has already sold out of its allotment of umbrellas.

Then whoever does the purchasing for the tent is a moron. It's August in the Lowcountry. It's gonna rain every day at 4 p.m.

Speaking of golf media twitter, it's a two-topic week: bad weather, plus the media hotels are in Charleston, requiring shuttles of 1:15 or more. Boo-hoo. Won't be any fun for spectators either, and they won't have a media center to retreat to in the weather.

 

[lcjjdnh]

Any word on who the "marquee groups" are for online coverage?

 

[HookEm2014]

I think Jason Dufner gets it done this time at the PGA. If the winds are swirling he has a huge advantage with his ability to strike the ball pure and flight it low. Plus he's come so close over the last four majors, he'll figure out a way to finish one eventually. Well, that is if a the man formerly known as Tiger Woods shows up, but I don't know where that guy went.