Seven things to watch as PGA Championship returns to Whistling Straits
The PGA Championship is always such a bittersweet moment for golf fans, a chance to watch a final major and the conclusion of an insane nine-week stretch that includes three of the four majors but also says goodbye to the major season.
The Masters is the most anticipated week of the year in golf, the U.S. Open gets the summer going, and the British Open means morning golf for those on this side of the pond. But every round of the PGA Championship brings us one day closer to a long winter without the tournaments great golf is truly measured by.
Though that preamble was depressing -- if that makes you sad, do not click on this 2016 Masters countdown -- we still have a final major to watch, one on a golf course that is now two-for-two in PGA Championships ending in a playoff (free golf!).
This should be a fun week at Whistling Straits, and here are a few things to watch for as we get set for Thursday’s start.
Do not ground your club under any circumstance! We all know the story of Dustin Johnson in 2010, so why don’t we focus on the good news: Bunkers won’t be an issue this week. No player, not even a guy who was barely a teenager the last time the PGA of America set up camp at Whistling Straits, will be confused if a sandy lie is or isn’t a bunker, and all will simply just assume it is and play it as such. This issue was dead the moment Johnson was handed a two-shot penalty five years ago.
Whistling Straits is not the place to find your game. Plenty of places allow players to “find their games” throughout the week. Whistling Straits is not one of them. In 2010, the eventual champion, Martin Kaymer, had finished finished T-8 at the U.S. Open and T-7 at the British Open. The 54-hole leader in 2010, Nick Watney, had finished T-7 at the AT&T National and T-7 at the Open before his T-16 at the Bridgestone the week prior to the PGA. Even Vijay Singh, at the 2004 PGA, won his last event before getting to Whistling Straits, eventually going on to take home the Wanamaker Trophy in his playoff win.
This is a golf course that not only demands players be on top of their games but that they are confident in the way they’re playing. That’s why names like Bubba Watson, Jason Day and Zach Johnson are getting so much support as we get set for Thursday. Have your game where you want it, and Whistling Straits will be kind. Don’t, and . . .
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will not have good weeks. The two best players of their respective generations won’t contend this week, for totally different reasons.
Woods has shown signs at times, but, again, you aren’t finding your game at this golf course. A bad shot can turn out a lot worse than you think, and Woods isn’t in control of his swing to the point where a tough golf course is manageable.
For Rory, it’s simply the time off because of that freak ankle injury. You can’t expect to show up at a course like this when tournament time gets going and be 100-percent ready to roll. Rory can say all he wants about feeling great, but it won’t be nearly as easy when the ropes are up and all the shots count. If it takes him a round or two to get back on track, it will be one or two rounds too late.
Is Whistling Straits the PGA equivalent of Augusta for Bubba? For all of Watson’s impressive finishes, and wins, on the PGA Tour -- he has eight wins since 2010 -- it’s the struggles in the non-Masters majors that might be the most surprising. Aside from a random T-5 at the 2007 U.S. Open (he was three years away from his first career win at that point), Bubba has three top-10s in majors, two being his wins at Augusta National. That second-place finish was in 2010 at Whistling Straits, a golf course he dominated for most of the week with his length and then scored a birdie on his opening playoff hole against Martin Kaymer. (If this had happened in the 1990s, Bubba would own three majors because the PGA used to be sudden death.)
If Bubba has another great week at Whistling Straits, it will be fair to say he’s found his second “horse for course” major spot, but if not it will be just another surprising low finish for a man who seems to finish high in just about every non-major start he has these days.
Has distance become obsolete? Our 2015 major winners this season, by driving distance average on the PGA Tour:
Of course, it’s not that I don’t see the benefit of distance, but has every golf fan become so obsessed with bombing the ball that we’re forgetting of all golfers, pros are the ones who need distance the least?
Look at the driving distance leaders: Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Jason Day are the top three. That’s an impressive group of guys, all with wins on the PGA Tour this season and all viable threats to take home this PGA Championship. (Two made my list of five guys to watch.)
But look at the leaders in top-10s this year on the PGA Tour. Jordan Spieth has 13 (he’s T-76 in distance off the tee). Zach Johnson (T-160), Hideki Matsuyama (53rd), Brandt Snedeker (110th) and Robert Streb (40th) all have eight top-10s. Then behind those guys, you see Day, Bubba, Dustin and some others who either bomb it or hit it average length with seven top-10s.
My point: Is distance that big of a deal or has it become something we overrate so much that it clouds our collective judgment on whom to pick as favorites week in and week out?
All these guys can place the ball where they want it when they’re on, and if they’re hitting a 6-iron or a 9-iron into a green, it’s probably easier for us to comprehend that the 9-iron guy can probably get it closer. But the thing we all miss is that 6-iron guy has been hitting 6-iron from that type of distance his entire career.
Henrik Stenson is leading the PGA Tour in greens in regulation this season, but behind him is Jim Herman (!), Stewart Cink (!!!!!) and Will Wilcox (!!!!!). What?!
The point is, none of these types of stats really matters to year-long success or to predicting winners. Hit fairways, hit greens, makes putts and you’re due to have a great week. But Zach Johnson on and Dustin Johnson on are pretty much the same player, just from different numbers, and it’s ridiculous to sit here and think that distance has become some sort of hurdle the short guys can’t jump.
Would Zach give anything to hit it like Dustin? Probably. But at the same time, Dustin would give anything to hit a wedge like Zach (think about the 72nd hole at Chambers Bay; Zach isn’t pulling 5-iron from 230, not with a jet engine blowing at his back, but he’s also not three-putting to lose that championship from 18 feet . . . it’s all relative).
This all goes back to my simple point: Don’t love a player just because he bombs it and the golf course plays long. It comes down to the other club in the bag with minimal loft.
Red, white and blue sweep? If an American walks away with the Wanamaker this week, it’ll be the first time since 1982 that all four majors were captured by U.S. players.
So let me ask this again: WHY ISN’T THE RYDER CUP THIS YEAR?!
Wind will blow, especially on Thursday. We saw rough conditions during the final round in 2010, but it looks as though the opening round could be the most brutal this week. When the wind blows 15 to 20 mph at Whistling Straits, your draw is just as important as it is at a British Open. Hope you get out when the winds are calm and let it unfold umbrellas when you’re off the course.
Shane Bacon is a regular contributor to FOXSports.com's golf coverage. Follow him on Twitter at @shanebacon.
