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PGA Championship preview
August 6, 2007
By Alf Musketa VegasInsider.com
I firmly believe many of the top players that just participated in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational have a distinct advantage this week. The set-up at Firestone was very difficult, but very similar to what we will see at Southern Hills with tight fairways, four inches of rough with firm and fast conditions.
Southern Hills CC located just outside of Tulsa, OK., will also play to a par 70 but only 7,131 yards. A very demanding 7,100 yards no less, but some of the players that played Firestone -- the par 70 at 7,472 -- said Southern Hills would be an easier test.
Really, a major will be an easier test? Not buying it.
The famous 18th green is what we remember most about Southern Hills, where Retief Goosen three-putted from eight feet to fall into a playoff with Stewart Cink, who missed an 18-inch putt to get into that playoff. The greens are severely sloped, (although they did adjust the 18th green a bit) tricky fast and small in size, most of them measuring less than 5,000 square feet. This tells us that hitting the fairway is even more important, because hitting tiny greens is very difficult from the rough.
The 2001 U.S. Open the last major held at Southern Hills, only had four players finish under par. Last week at Firestone, only one player finished under par -- Tiger Woods. I look for a winning score to be around -7 under par.
It seemed many big name players used the WGC Bridgestone Invitational as a tune-up for the PGA. I agree, but did not like the format they had there where all the players made the cut. To me, watching the telecast and analyzing the scores, guys like Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson just mailed it in the final two rounds.
Tiger once again showed the world that certain tournaments are dominated by certain players. However, I for one think Tiger is not swinging the club very well. His short game has been exceptional lately to contend and he could win, if he finds the fairways on Sunday.
My "Go On" list includes....Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Allan, Brian Davis, Nathan Green, Tim Clark and Kenny Perry. Notice none of the former big names stick out at this time. I see Vijay, Mickelson, Goosen, Els, Adam Scott, Harrington and Geoff Ogilvy all struggling, because they are not on top of their game and they simply are not putting in the work needed to stay sharp and contend week after week or this late in the season.
Harrington partied an entire week after winning the British Open, he went from one Irish pub to another and everybody drank from the Claret Jug. (Good for him, he did play decent LW at Firestone) Els cannot find his rhythm. The Goose has not won in a long time. Furyk withdrew last week with back and ribs problems. Mike Weir withdrew after round one with neck pains. Cabrera will never win on one of these type of tracks (U.S. Opens or PGA's) ever again, he is just too erratic, Oakmont was a fluke. Ogilvy does not seem to care about his game and does not pound balls etc...
The PGA Championship is usually one of the best major fields of the year, producing an exciting finish and this year should be no different. We have had three new and different major winners in Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington this year. Don't be surprised if a Tim Clark or Steve Stricker breaks through this week.
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