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Five Players to Watch at the 100th PGA Championship
ST. LOUIS, Aug 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Five Players to Watch at the 100th PGA
Championship:
– Spieth seeks Career Slam –
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth can complete a career Grand Slam by
winning the PGA Championship at Bellerive. He would join a select list of
golf legends that have achieved the feat, including Tiger Woods, Jack
Nicklaus, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan. Spieth won the 2015
Masters and US Open and 2017 Open Championship. He finished second at the
2015 PGA, losing to Australian Jason Day but still climbing to world number
one for the first time with the result. After taking third at this year’s
Masters and sharing ninth at the Open Championship last month at Carnoustie,
the 25-year-old American has shown flashes of his once-formidable putting
skills. But he hasn’t won since last year’s Open championship even as the
chance for a historic victory in the Centennial PGA — the last before it
moves to May in 2019 — beckons.
– Can Tiger win a major? –
Tiger Woods delivered his best major finish in five years by sharing sixth
at the Open Championship at Carnoustie last month. The 14-time major winner
shared second in March at the PGA Valspar Championship, his first top-five
finish in five years, and enjoyed his best final round in six years to share
fourth at the National. Battling back from back surgery that left the former
world number one wondering if his career was over, Woods led at Carnoustie on
the back nine on Sunday and has climbed to 50th in the world rankings. At age
42, time could be running out. And Woods hasn’t had a top-10 at the PGA
Championship since losing to South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun in 2009. He hasn’t
played the weekend at one since 2013. But Woods has defied the odds before.
– No. 1 Johnson fancied –
World number one Dustin Johnson won his only major title at the 2016 US
Open, but with a third-place showing at this year’s US Open at Shinnecock and
three PGA triumphs for a third consecutive season, there’s little doubt the
long-driving 34-year-old American deserves to be favored at the 100th PGA. He
won the Tournament of Champions in January, added the St. Jude Classic in
June and took the Canadian Open a week after missing the cut at the Open
Championship. His best showing in eight PGA Championship starts has been a
share of fifth in 2010, where a two-shot penalty for grounding his club in a
bunker doomed what appeared to be a major triumph. He has the skill to win.
Holding it together for 72 holes will be the challenge for Johnson.
– McIlroy’s major drought –
Rory McIlroy has not won a major title since outracing the darkness at
Valhalla in the 2014 PGA Championship to edge Phil Mickelson by a stroke. But
the 29-year-old from Northern Ireland has been playing well lately. He ended
an 18-month US PGA win drought in March by winning the Arnold Palmer
Invitational. He shared fifth at the Masters and second in July’s Open
Championship at Carnoustie, giving him eight top-10 finishes in 14 major
starts since his 2014 PGA win. None of them came at a PGA but with his game
rounding into form, he could be a solid candidate for his fifth major and
third PGA title.
– Will Rose bloom at PGA? –
Britain’s Justin Rose won his only major title at the 2013 US Open but last
year’s Masters runner-up was also in the second-place pack behind Italy’s
Francesco Molinari at last month’s Open Championship. And he has PGA Tour
titles this season at the WGC event in Shanghai as well the Fort Worth
Invitational in May. He hasn’t finished a US event outside the top 10 since
the Players in May. But the 27-year-old Englishman’s best PGA Championship
result was a share of third in 2012 at Kiawah Island. He has missed the cut
six times, including last year at Quail Hollow. But the world number two is
on a solid run and another major would cap a strong year.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0815 hrs