Major Obstacles
The PGA, the fourth and last major of this season, is going to be played this week at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Wisconsin, and I’m going to tell you all how difficult it is going to be to win this tournament.
Whoever is going to triumph in the PGA this year is going to have to win out over a field that has 97 out of the world’s top 100 rated players. They will include the best players on the American PGA tour and the best players from the rest of the world too. With the fields of the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open being limited in their qualifications (taking more who “qualified” and less who are top 100 rated), those tournaments will never have the overall field that the PGA seems to always get. The PGA may be the “fourth” major, but you’ve got to beat the best field in golf to win it.
Everybody WANTS to win a major. Everybody dreams that MAYBE they can have that miracle week and be the one that wins the PGA. Wins a major. Only one man is going to win. Whoever wins this week is going to probably come from the following group of names. They definitely will have to beat the following:
Jordan Spieth – The now 22-year old wunderkind is the hottest, best golfer on the planet this year. Having already won the U.S. Open and the Masters, and also finishing just one stroke out of the playoff at the British Open, Jordan Spieth has proved he knows exactly how to win major golf tournaments. He HAS to be considered the man to beat in EVERY major he competes in for the rest of this year, next year, the year after, and probably every tournament in the next 10 years. This is a man in the middle of his ascension to greatness and at the beginning of his window of major winning, competitive excellence that could last for the next decade and a half.
Rory McIlroy – It has been mentioned here before that we are now in the Age of Rory McIlroy. He is only 26 years old and has already won four majors in the last four years. He probably has the best all around power game in the business, and when he is playing his A game, it doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing, because he has so much talent, he can beat anybody. Rory doesn’t always have his best game going all the time, so he doesn’t always win, but he will be a major threat every time he tees it up for the next half dozen or so years.
Players with multiple majors – These are players that have won more than one major already. They KNOW how to win majors. If they get close to the lead on a Sunday afternoon, they have proven they have the right stuff at the right time. Bubba Watson, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson (who just was good enough to win this year’s British Open), Angel Cabrera and Martin Kaymer have won more than once and would be a threat to win again if given the chance on the back nine on Sunday.
Still relevant U.S. and world golfers with majors – Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Adam Scott, Charl Schwarzel, Louis Oosthuizen have all WON a major in recent years. They ALL could win another one. Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen (top two in two of this year’s majors) and Adam Scott are usually right there amongst the favorites every time they tee it up for a Grand Slam event.
American Ryder Cup players – These are contemporary U.S. touring stars who consistently make the Ryder Cup teams, who have each won multiple U.S. tour events, and who could just as easily have a great week during the PGA and win it too. Dustin Johnson has elite golfing talent right there next to Spieth and McIlroy and is one of the favorites in every major he enters. Ditto for Rickie Fowler. There are other U.S. players usually found at or near the top of Ryder Cup lists such as Hunter Mahan, Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Reed (to name a few) that a lot of experts would not be surprised at all if THEY won a major.
Aussies – There are a bunch of really good Aussies out there now. Put Jason Day in that category next to Rory, Jordan, and Dustin as players with such immense talent, it makes them amongst the odds on favorites in all of the majors they enter. Day has never won one, put many think he will win many more than just one. Adam Scott (with a Masters), Geoff Ogilvy (a U.S. Open), Marc Leishman (who tied for first in this year’s British Open and lost in a playoff) are all capable players that are “good enough to win a major.”
South Africans – Louis Oosthuizen has won a British Open, Charl Schwartzel has won a Masters, Brandon Grace almost won this year’s U.S. Open, staying in the hunt right up till the 71st hole, Ernie Els has won four majors, Retief Goosen has won two majors. While Els and Goosen are a bit old, they still all have the capability of winning this year’s PGA.
Tiger and Phil – While probably past their major winning primes, Tiger Woods has won 14 majors and Phil Mickelson has won 5. Phil won his last major as recently as the 2013 British Open. A little long in the tooth golf wise, Phil was competitive in this year’s Masters (top 5). Tiger is still fighting a mental slump/problem. He’s still only 39 years old and others have won majors in their 40 – 45 years, so why can’t he do it too? All I know is that if Tiger or Phil is tied for the lead with a couple of holes to play, I really would like their chances to reach back into that bag of tricks and have the juevos to nab themselves another major.
Best players to never win a major – Every major sees some super highly regarded players who have won many, many times and everyone is surprised to find out that they have yet to win a major. And in each major, the experts can wonder to themselves IF this is the year, this is the tournament that a Sergio, a Luke Donald, an Ian Poulter, a Jason Day, or a Dustin Johnson, etc. finally can win their first major. You can throw a bunch of other multi-winning guys Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker in that category too. No one would be surprised to see any of these guys win a major.
U.S. touring pros/journeymen – Never underestimate the power of the guy who is good enough to be on the PGA tour year after year, making a living playing against the very best, and also having that ability to win a tournament or two every now and then. These types of guys (Jeff Sluman, Al Geiberger, Bob Rosburg, Keegan Bradley, Mark Brooks, John Mahaffey, Jason Dufner, Paul Azinger, Rich Beem and others like them have ALL risen up and had the best week of their lives and have won the PGA major) have proven that a solid touring pro is close enough in ability to the stars that if the journeyman plays that A game tournament of their life, THEY can beat the best and win a tournament as big as the PGA.
Young guns – These guys are barely in their 20’s. They are just a year or two out of college. They are fearless. They have played golf every day of their life for the last ten or so years and know nothing but how to play golf tournaments. They have won big tournaments in college and in the big amateur tournaments, so they might play so well that they can get a huge lead and hold on to win a big tournament, even a major like the PGA. These guys are good enough to beat up on all the really good golfers in college, rookies every year win tournaments on the PGA tour, and it’s within the realm of possibility that they can win the PGA also.
Rest of the field – There are world players that nobody has ever heard of that are capable of winning the PGA. They are simply playing on the other tours. But they know how to win, they know how to play, and they know that it IS possible to have that great week of your life right there in front of all of those golfing fans. Look at Shane Lowry of Ireland, who had just such a week at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational (a World Golf Tournament) and picked up a win in a field with many of the top stars in golf watching him hoist the trophy.
The point is, there are fifty or more players that can win this week’s PGA that are not named Rory or Jordan. For one week, you have to have a lot of things go your way. You have to be lucky. And you have to be better than everybody else that week by at least one stroke.
Whoever wins the PGA this week is going to have to either be someone on this list, or more importantly, they will have to beat everyone else on this list. It may be someone who is mentioned amongst all of the names here. Or it might be someone not mentioned, but in one of the categories mentioned. There will be major obstacles to victory.
Whatever the case, whoever wins is going to have to be the best golfer amongst a really stellar field. And they are going to have to play a tough, scenic course too.
And that is why we golf fans like watching majors like the PGA.
