The 2016 PGA Championship: Glory's Last Shot Returns To Baltusrol Near New York City
Well that was fast. Just blinked and wet my eyeballs for the first time since they were scotch-taped open by Henrik and Phil trading birdies in the final round of the British Open and boom, it’s PGA Champ week. The final major. Glory’s last shot. The “toughest” field. You know what all those slogans are? Replacements for “the least coolest of all the major championships.” But alas, it IS a major. They don’t say, “Nicklaus won 13 majors and 5 PGAs.” No sir. It’s a major. We’re excited. Let’s do this.
The Track
We’re returning to Baltusrol — a Jersey track about 20 miles west of NYC — where Phil grabbed his one and only PGA in 2005. You know what’s good about every time the Tour returns to within an Uber of New York? The potential for Sergio hecklers:
Baltusrol is no stranger to major championship golf. It’s hosted 7 US Opens, 4 US Amateurs, and this will be its second PGA. As mentioned, the last time the boys were here was at the peak of Phil Mickelson’s career; he birdied the 72nd hole to win his only PGA.
The only thing Phil left absent from that historic moment was, of course, his impressive ups.
Baltusrol’s Lower Course plays as a 7,428-yard par-70. It’s a beast. And it’s vintage PGA — narrow fairways, dense rough, firm greens. Typically. But this ain’t a typical week. Baltusrol was hammered with rain earlier this week, so conditions are softer than the PGA of America would like. The place drains well but still, not ideal.
Perhaps the most famed aspect of the course is its unique finish: it’s the only major championship venue that finishes with back-to-back par-5s. The 17th (a 649-yard monster) and the 18th (a 554-yard birdie op) provide plenty of drama coming home. We like drama.
There’s also two par-4s stretching out at over 500 yards: the 3rd and the 7th. And 3/4 par-3s play over 200. Like I said, it’s a beast. Take a look at the scorecard. Not a lot of “filler” holes.
Advertisement
The Field
I mean, it’s wide fucking open. There’s Henrik, coming off one of the most impressive majors of all time. The dude shot a record-tying final-round 63 to post 20-under. He beat 3rd place by 14 shots. There’s Phil, who played maybe the greatest major of his career, didn’t win, and beat 3rd place by 11 shots. There’s DJ, coming off a US Open win, a WGC at Firestone win, and who’s played his last 6 tourneys like this.
And who gets it in with this.
There’s the big 3: Jason, Jordan and Rory. They’ve still won 5 of the last 9 majors and still all rank inside the top 4 in the world. So yeah, any of those people could win. And we’re only at 6 of the 156-player field.
The Hateables
Bubba Watson — Bubba hypocritting his way around the PGA this week. Two years ago, he too-cool-for-school’ed the long drive competition. This year? “Lay up on a Wednesday? No way!”
Keep being a loser, Bubba.
“I’m here to win a championship. I’m not here to goof around”
-Bubba Watson, 2014 PGA Championship- https://t.co/4asGlQTDwt
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) July 27, 2016
#PGAChamp prep with @dannygolf72 and @JBHolmesgolf. Lay up on a Wednesday? No way! #driver pic.twitter.com/A2JsUiGtFK
— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) July 27, 2016
Ian Poulter — Injured. Boom.
Ryder Cuppers — Speaking of Poulter, it’s time to start hating all Euro Ryder Cuppers. We love Rory because he’s basically an American 103 out of 104 weeks, but fuck all the others. Fuck Willet, Stenson, Wood, Fitzpatrick, Westwood, Lowry. Fuck ‘em all. Use this image to fuel your hate, to harness the full power of the dark side.
The Loveables
Jason Dufner — Always pulling for Duf. Love that guy. His only major dubya was the 2013 PGA and he lost in a playoff to People’s Golfer 2.0 two years prior. If there’s ever a time to hop back on the radar, Duf Daddy, this is it.
Jim Renner — Jim’s got a 1:04 PM tee time at the Ellie Mae Classic in Cali tomorrow. He’s coming off 3 consecutive cuts made, including a 5th place finish in late June. Good luck out there, our golfer.
Ryder Cuppers — 2 months out. It’s go time. It’s root for the Americans time. Besides the big dogs, it’s time to watch the Snedekers, the Reeds, the Kuchars, the Holmeses, the Haases and pray to god they play good golf. They’re US Ryder Cup guys, which means they’re our guys now.
Predictions
Winning Score, (-10): No one has ever won a major at Baltusrol at double-digits under par. Phil won in ’05 at just 4-under. But the super wet conditions and the freak nature of how good these guys and their equipment are getting (and Stenson winning at -20 in Scotland) has me concerned. -10 = Wanamaker trophy.
Winner, (Rory McIlroy): Like I said, it’s wet. And not wet in the way we like it to be wet — wet in the way Rory likes it to be wet. The super-high-ball-hitting Northern Irishman took apart a wet Congressional in 2011 and he’ll take apart a wet Baltusrol this weekend. I picked him to win the British, but the wrong side of the draw landed him at T5. There is no wrong side of the draw for Rors this week. Book it.
DFL, (Steven Bowditch): There are a bunch of local club pros playing in this thing. I know that. Don’t care — those guys are all better than Steven Bowditch. Although he’s great on twitter, great with his personality, and reportedly great with his family, he stinks at golf. He’s like a 12-handi right now. I don’t even know if he’s playing but Bowditch comes in at DFL, somewhere around +12 thru 2 rounds.
Coverage
Here’s how to watch this thing. It’s a weird combination of TNT (?) and CBS. Nothing crazy. Some streaming. Some TV. Here’s what you need to know.
Thursday & Friday = TNT, 1-7PM TV coverage (+ some CBSSports.com streaming options).
Saturday & Sunday = CBS, 2-7PM TV coverage (TNT 11AM – 2PM + some CBSSports.com streaming options).
Onward
Should be a fun weekend, then we’ve got a couple weeks until golf returns to the Olympics. That’s obviously lost much of its mojo due to everyone pulling out (lol), but maybe we’ll get a Zika or two to spice up the competition. Then it’s FedEx Cup. Then it’s Ryder Cup.
Advertisement
Exciting times. Enjoy the golf. Go USA.
