We suggest you strap yourself in for a jam-packed four days of sports, because just as the NBA and NHL playoffs shift into high gear, golf’s second major, the PGA Championship, has arrived.
The battle for the coveted Wanamaker Trophy tees off at the renowned Ocean Course at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina on Thursday, marking the second time the brainchild of Pete and Alice Dye has hosted the event.
Gone are the days where, even months before, everyone knew Tiger Woods was going to be the clear-cut favourite at a major. Nowadays, overwhelming favourites are much harder to come by, if they even exist at all. But there are no complaints here, because a wide-open field usually leads to chaos. And from chaos to exciting golf.
So get yourself somewhere with multiple TVs, and enjoy the madness.
Here are some of the biggest storylines to watch out for this week as the best golfers in the world tee it up at the PGA Championship.
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You better be long, and you better be right
We hope you like to watch golfers pull out the big stick because they’re going to need their drivers this week as they battle the monster that is Kiawah Island.
The course played long back when it hosted the championship in 2012, and this year it will play even longer. In fact, measuring out at a mammoth 7,876 yards, this week’s tournament will become the longest major championship venue in history (Erin Hills at the 2017 U.S. Open held the previous mark at 7,741 yards).
When you add in the prevailing winds off the Atlantic Ocean, the course is set to be a truly formidable challenge. In 2012, when the winds picked up to over 25 m.p.h. during the second round, the scoring average ballooned to 78.09.
Kiawah will become the longest course in major championship history this week.
(: Gary Kellner) pic.twitter.com/MlyZvvrcgR— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 18, 2021
If the 156-player field wasn’t already losing sleep in the days leading up to the tournament, then they should probably avoid picking up Golf Digest’s review of the course.
“This manufactured linksland-meets-lagoons layout might well be Pete Dye’s most diabolical creation,” the magazine wrote. “Strung along nearly three miles of ocean coast, Dye took his wife’s advice and perched fairways and greens so golfers can actually view the Atlantic surf. That also exposes shots and putts to ever-present and sometimes fierce coastal winds.”
At the very least, we might get to see a few big scores this weekend, allowing the average golfer to relate to the best in the world – even for just a moment.
Rory’s Return
Typically, Rory McIlroy is talked about before a major just because he’s Rory McIlroy, and it would be almost sacrilegious not to mention him at least once. This, however, is not one of those times.
Not only was McIlroy victorious just two weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship, but the last time the PGA Championship was played at Kiawah Island he won in convincing fashion, to put it mildly. The four-time major winner dominated the field in 2012, finishing a commanding eight strokes ahead of runner-up David Lynn and setting the PGA Championship record for largest margin of victory.
Rory’s 72nd hole at Kiawah.
The finishing touches on a major masterpiece. pic.twitter.com/XRfloYfkW0
— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) May 17, 2021
It was the Irishman’s second major and the start of what many experts predicted would be the next great golf career. Not that his career has been disappointing by any standards – 19 PGA victories and four major titles – but McIlroy is major-less since 2014, something that almost no one would have predicted. You can bet he is itching, and due, for another.
Moreover, a victory in South Carolina would make him just the 13th golfer with 20 career PGA victories.
McIlroy may be rounding into form just in time to go a perfect two-for-two in PGA Championships at the Ocean Course.
Spieth Slam
If the Masters is the aforementioned McIlroy’s white whale, then the PGA Championship would be Jordan Spieth’s – the one major separating the 27-year-old from the coveted career grand slam.
Spieth is looking to become just the sixth golfer to win all four majors, and the good news for the Texan is he seems to have re-captured some of the magic he had early on his career.
After winning his first tournament since 2017 at the Valero Texas Open in early April, Spieth has found himself near the top of the leaderboard at nearly every subsequent competition. He has finished in the top 15 in seven of his last eight stroke-play events and was in the mix last weekend at the Byron Nelson, finishing tied for ninth.
Monday grind at the PGA Championship. pic.twitter.com/owttDKDdUV
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 17, 2021
Unfortunately for Spieth, he’s not one of the longer hitters on tour, sitting T-85 in terms of average driving distance this season, which may be a problem at the 7,876-yard Ocean Course.
But if we know one thing about Spieth, backing down from a challenge is not in his nature. Given his recent form, there’s a good chance he’s in one of the final pairings come Sunday.
DeChambeau confident once again
If there was a course that was built for Bryson DeChambeau to win a major, this might be it. As the longest driver on tour this season, the extreme length of this week’s venue should play right into 27-year-old’s plans.
And he knows it. At the Byron Nelson last week, DeChambeau mentioned he was “ramping up” for his shot to win his second major.
“Kiawah, I’ve never played it, but I’ve seen it on TV, obviously, watching Rory do what he did,” DeChambeau said. “I think it’s one of the longest championships we’ve ever played. And I’m excited for that, because any time it’s a super-long golf course I think it fits into my hand quite nicely.”
DeChambeau has made bold proclamations before majors in the past that did not come to fruition. Maybe this week he can buck that trend and hoist the Wanamaker Trophy, collecting his second career major.
What can Morikawa do for an encore?
Collin Morikawa is going to have his work cut out for him this week if he is going to upstage what he did at the PGA Championship last year.
The defending champ not only won his first major but did it thanks in large part to one of the best shots in major championship history – a drive on the par-4 17th at TPC Harding Park in San Fransisco that he stuck to seven feet, promptly draining the putt for eagle.
Making par 4s look like par 3s.@Collin_Morikawa is so smooth. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/3gpJWkicAs
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 10, 2020
It was a career-defining victory for the 24-year-old, cementing his position in golf history with the win as he joined Woods as the only golfers to win both a World Golf Championship and a major before turning 25.
This week, Morikawa will look to accomplish another one of Woods’ many feats as he tries to join Tiger and Brooks Koepka as the only golfers to win the PGA Championship in back-to-back years since it became a stroke-play event back in 1958.
Canadian Trio
Three Canadians will be teeing it up in South Carolina as Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Hadwin are among the 156-man field.
Conners is the favourite of the group, especially with how he has been playing of late. One of the elite ball-strikers on tour, the Listowel, Ont., native has four top-10 finishes in his past eight starts, including an eighth-place finish at the Masters.
On the other hand, Hughes and Hadwin will be looking for a spark as both have had their struggles recently. Hughes has missed the cut in his past two starts, while Hadwin just recently fell out of the top 100 in the world.
The good news for Hughes? During Tuesday’s practice round he played with a guy who knows a thing or two about the Ocean Course, heading out with McIlroy.
Not a bad little practice round for @MacHughesGolf today at the PGA Championship: he’s on the Ocean Course with Rory McIlroy.
— Adam Stanley (@adam_stanley) May 18, 2021
