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As the sand slowly sprinkles from one end of the hourglass to the other in advance of Thursday's opening round tee times in Wisconsin, you'll read plenty of stories characterizing the PGA Championship as the most unpredictable of the majors.
And while "Glory's Last Shot" has produced it's share of random champions (see Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel, Mark Brooks, John Daly and most recenlty Y.E. Yang) in the past 20 years, the others haven't exactly been a study in the stars aligning of late.
Before Phil Mickelson marched to his third Masters victory, the most prestigious golf tournament known to man crowned champions named Johnson, Immelman and Cabrera. The U.S. Open trophy currently resides in Northern Ireland with Graeme McDowell, and before him it belonged to Lucas Glover.
A large percentage of golf enthusiasts and broadcasters are still struggling to properly pronounce the latter half of Louis Oosthuizen, who stunned everyone at St. Andrews.
Especially in the past two seasons, the major championships have come to resemble a lottery drawing. Five of the past seven major champions have been first timers.
As 97 of the top 100 players in the world arrive at Whistling Straits for the 92nd PGA Championship, everyone in the field has to be giddy about their chances to take home the Wanamaker Trophy considering the state of the game's elite.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson's respective golf games went kerplunk in the proverbial toilet last week in Akron. Woods posted his highest 72-hole total as a professional, and Mickelson once again wilted when the No. 1 ranking was there for the taking.
Lee Westwood, widely considered to be the best player to have never won a major, will miss the PGA Championship with a bothersome calf injury that's plagued him for nearly a month.
When Whistling Straits last hosted the PGA Championship in 2004, Vijay Singh emerged victorious after holding off Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard in a playoff. The combatants in the extra session emphasize that this course doesn't favor one type of player over another.
At more than 7,500 yards, the Pete Dye-designed Straits course is long, which points to players like Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton, Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes. The 967 bunkers will necessitate efficient play out of the sand, giving an advantage to good scramblers like Luke Donald and Matt Kuchar. The narrow fairways put an emphasis on accuracy, a category led by the likes of Brian Gay, Tim Clark and Zach Johnson.
If you're looking for the next first-time winner, Wisconsin's own Steve Stricker would be a solid choice. He's the highest-ranked player who's healthy and hasn't recently imploded.
"Obviously that would be a dream situation, if I could have an opportunity to win there and it being a major tournament," Stricker recently told Golf Digest. "Having all that come together in that one week would be pretty special. It's a long shot, but I'm excited. My game's in good shape. But I'd have to have a lot of things go my way."
One thing that is abundantly clear - the temporary bit of optimism afforded by Tiger Woods' journey to the abyss has given every major championship a different feel.
"With the way he played the past week, guys feel like this is wide open, and that's not a feeling that a lot of guys have had before," said Paul Casey.
The 92nd PGA Championship will be broadcast Thursday-Sunday on TNT. CBS Sports will have weekend coverage, and www.pga.com will feature live video, leaderboard, scorecards, chat and live updates.
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