Conventional wisdom has Tiger Woods winning the 91st
PGA Championship going away. The man who transcends his sport is firing on all
cylinders as the world's best golfers descend upon Hazeltine National Golf Club
for golf's fourth and final major, and two convincing victories in two weeks
have made Woods the overwhelming favorite and swept his dismal performance at
Turnberry under the proverbial rug.
The story of the major championships in 2009 is simple. In his final performance before the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, Woods has won, effectively leading everyone to believe that finding his name alone on top of the leader board as each major concluded was inevitable.
But lesser known players dominated the headlines on the Mondays following the majors. Angel Cabrera emerged from a wild Sunday at Augusta National, Lucas Glover anticlimactically hung on at Bethpage and Stewart Cink ripped out our hearts as he snuck up on 59-year-old Tom Watson to capture the Claret Jug. Woods hasn't really factored into the outcome.
Woods now has his final shot to inch closer to Jack Nicklaus, and salvage a season that will be branded as a failure if he can't win one of the four major championships despite it being his first campaign after reconstructive knee surgery; regardless of five PGA Tour wins and counting; forgetting about his impending FedEx Cup victory.
The question this week is do you take Tiger or the field, and which Woods will show up? The conquering hero who vanquished Paddy Harrington with one mighty swing of his 8-iron at Firestone Country Club, or the brazen sorry sport who slammed his clubs when he didn't get his way in Scotland.
But what if the real Tiger Woods does decide to show up this week at Hazeltine, and his best still isn't good enough to guide him to victory. It's happened before; remember the 2002 PGA Championship, also played at Hazeltine, when Woods strung together an impressive streak of birdies to close out his final round, but was held off by relative unknown Rich Beem.
"Things might have been a little different if Tiger and I had been playing together," Beem recently said in an interview with Golf Magazine. "We'll never know. The hardest thing about playing with him is that he's do damn good you just get caught up watching what he's doing."
Beem didn't play in the final group with Woods that Sunday at Hazeltine. The two-shot advantage he held after 54 holes somehow held up despite a furious back-nine rally by the destroyer in red.
If a golfer just released from the witness protection program holds a slim two-shot lead this coming Sunday and is being pursued by Woods, he'll be given no shot to maintain the advantage.
The PGA Championship is the least sexy of golf's four major championships; it's what the National Hockey League is to our four most celebrated national sports. And lookout, the UFC (Players Championship) is nipping on your heels PGA.
"It cannot claim to have the azaleas, green jackets and Amen Corner of the Masters, the tradition and the barren links of the Open, or the sheer brutality of the U.S. Open," write Mark Orlovac of the BBC.
True, true and true, but the PGA does have a history of one-hit wonders.
The least revered of golf's major championships has become a breeding groud for obscure champions. Since 1990, the likes of Woods, Harrington and Phil Mickelson have enjoyed tremendous success, but players such as Beem, Mark Brooks, Shaun Micheel, John Daly and Wayne Grady (I'm Wayne Grady b^&$%) have risen from relative anonymity to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy.
So you have to ask yourself, who fits into the end of this series: Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink.....
I know Tiger has looked "paranormal" over the past two weeks, but he also looked phenomenal at The Memorial prior to the U.S. Open and failed to seriously contend. He was in such a jovial mood after his own AT&T national that he decided to interview himself, but two weeks later the laughter turned to tears at the Open Championship. Woods winning at Hazeltine is anything but a given.
Five Players to Watch for the 2009 PGA Championship:
Tiger Woods
Golf's all-time greatest clutch putter has turned the four major championships into such pressurized situations that even he can't suppress the stress. As it is in every major championship, accuracy off the tee will be paramount.
"It won't be the type of championship that's won by somebody hitting 5-wood or a 3-iron off the tees all the time just to get it in play," said analyst Ian Baker-Finch of the tournament at Hazeltine. "They're going to have to use driver."
Tiger scrambles, saves and finishes better than anyone in the game, but until he manages to find the fairway more often in majors, he'll leave the door open to the rest of the field. He'll contend just as he did in 2002, but won't win.
Hunter Mahan
While he did miss the cut at the Open Championship, there isn't another player beside Tiger who's played better this summer.
Mahan tied for sixth at Bethpage, tied for fourth at the Travelers Championship, was runner-up to Woods at Congressional and finished tied for fourth again last week in Akron. Averaging 4.25 birdies per round, he can make up ground rather quickly. He's hitting more than 68 percent of greens in regulation and is 8th in total driving. This could be his breakout moment.
Retief Goosen
Goosen is enjoying his best season in years and hasn't missed a cut since The Masters. He looked solid at the U.S. Open and Open Championship, and is coming off a playoff loss in Canada.
Woody Austin
This week's PGA Championship will be Austin's one and only major championship start this season, and he'll be looking to make the most out of it. His best finish ever in a major came in 2007 at Southern Hills when he finished second to Woods.
Coming off two consecutive top 15s and four of eight competitive rounds in the 60s, Austin makes sense as a darkhorse this week.
Nick Watney
Watney has cooled considerably after his fast start; he won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines and pushed Mickelson to the limit at the WGC - CA Championship. Watney has only nine career major championship appearances, and has never even made the cut at a PGA Championship. Just call this one a hunch. He'd fit nicely in the group of unexpected winners in this event.
2009 PGA Champion - Kenny Perry
While much of the press has gone to Phil Mickelson, Perry has had to deal with a similar family situation that's forced him away from the golf course. As much as Tom Watson's loss at Turnberry tugged at the heart strings, Perry's loss at The Masters was just as difficult to watch. A major championship would really cement his legacy as an outstanding PGA Tour player.
Ranking No. 4 in Total Driving, Perry should have no problem keeping his ball in play and should he find himself with a chance to win down the stretch, he'll have the memories of what might have been at Augusta fresh in his mind.
Perry turned 49 on Monday, but we've witnessed that age doesn't disqualify you from contending in a major championship.