2020 PGA Tour...

[Alsacs]

Holy chit the top of trophy fell off when Morikawa lifted it up:
That is so 2020.

 

[upperdeck]

I won money on morikawa but I was set to win much bigger if any of my other guys made a putt today. had a big ticket for my on Scheffler but he made nothing.

 

[CousCuse]

It's not playing any more difficult today, which is fine with me. Of the first 15 players that have finished their round only 2 are above par, and we have scores of 64.66 and 66.

Overall 21 players below par on the course (or done), and 16 above par.

EDIT - Another 64 coming in right now.

I think the winner will probably have to get to at least -11 today.

Yea, the greens were very receptive and and the stimp looked low for the final round of a major. Can't believe many putts ended up short or just tailed off at the whole. I think the players thought it was going to be like a brutal nerve racking day putting when they should have ramming the ball at the center of the cup. It was good golf to watch though and all the guys were compelling to root for.

 

[jncuse]

16 might decide the tournament. The drivable par 4

It did with Morikawa's eagle.

 

[Alsacs]

Not a fan of Jim Nantz as a golf announcer.

 

[rrlbees]

It did with Morikawa's eagle.

yep. Great drive. Kid played great all weekend.

 

[jncuse]

Jon Rahm's 66 moves him up to 13th, and gives him enough world ranking points to just move back ahead of Thomas for world #1.

But with both players out next week, it's possible it will just swing right back to Thomas as the margins are so close.

Top players this year per world rankings (see last column). Morikawa is the #1.

 

[Oakland]

Great tournament. Glad that Harding Park showed so well. It kills me that they said the 10th was the easiest hole, since that hole plays really, really tough for me. The rough looked thick and heavy and dangerous but it didn't seem to play like that; all the players seemed to get out of it easily, even on touchy green side lays.

My post tournament comments are in red below.

PGA Championship

Harding Park - I've played this course 8-10 times, never broke 80 there.

Here are ESPN's Tier 1 contenders with my comments:

ESPN: Here are the legitimate contenders to win the PGA Championship. They have the games, guts and nerves to handle four pressure-packed rounds filled with Pacific winds and juicy, thick rough.

Patrick Cantlay
The 28-year-old tied for third at last year's PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, 6 shots behind Koepka, after finishing tied for ninth at the Masters. The California native, regarded as one of the game's best ball strikers, is more than ready to break through at a major. Possible, but don't bet on it.

Jason Day
The 2015 PGA Championship winner broke up with his longtime swing coach and has looked good in three straight tournaments. His chronic back woes are always a concern. No, I don't see him getting back to where he was. He did much better than I expected, maybe he is back.

Bryson DeChambeau
Lions, tigers and ants, oh my! It would be almost criminal if the PGA doesn't pair DeChambeau with Koepka -- they have traded barbs the past few months -- in the first two rounds. Talk about must-see TV. Serious threat to win, sometime, but not this week - I like Bryson's unorthodoxy, but the scientist schtick is a turn off - not sure if that is his fault or the media's. Not surprised that he was in the hunt, not surprised that he didn't win.

Tony Finau
Clearly, Finau is no Mariano Rivera. He has 30 top-10s since his lone tour victory at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, tied for the fourth-highest total on tour since the start of the 2016-17 season. Lots of talent and ability to go low, but no - he doesn't seem to have IT - see R Fowler. He made those three 1-putts on the back nine and held up longer than I thought he would. He looks like he has a bad case of Sergio Garcia disease.

Tommy Fleetwood
After a three-month layoff and mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arriving in the U.S. from England, Fleetwood has looked a bit rusty in two starts. He is the highest-ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings (No. 13) not to have won a tournament on U.S. soil. Was one of my picks to win a major this 'year' but his game doesn't look in good shape. Did better than I expected, hope to see him win one soon.

Rickie Fowler
Since Fowler hired John Tillery as his new swing coach, there have been encouraging signs in his game. If you hadn't heard, he's trying to end an oh-for-39 drought in majors. He has made the cut in 14 straight majors, second to only Koepka's 22 among active players. No, an older version of Finau. I think he is older?

Tyrrell Hatton
The Englishman is controlling his temper and has complete control of his game. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and had two top-5s after the restart. He has finished in the top 10 in five majors in the previous four years. Possibly.

Dustin Johnson
After winning the Travelers Championship in June, DJ was a mess before a respectable showing in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational this past week. He nearly chased down Koepka in the final round at Bethpage Black last year before losing by 2. Looks like crap for months and then bombs a win. I would not bet on him this week. I wanted Paul Casey to win, but Dustin would have been my second choice - the golf gods owe him. Dustin might be developing a case of Greg Norman disease.

Brooks Koepka
Just when we thought Koepka was in trouble, he returned to form at TPC Southwind. Nobody plays better in majors -- just ask him. Koepka is 70 under in 12 majors since the start of 2017, 36 strokes better than everyone else. The guy that was helped the most by the COVID delay - time to recover from his injury, he looked like crap until last week. Still think that Brooks' super-major-mojo has run out, so no. As expected, he didn't win, but he looked damn good for 3 rounds - not sure his major-mojo is totally gone.

Rory McIlroy
The former world No. 1 doesn't have a top-10 in five starts after the long layoff and has looked out of sorts. He won the last tour event at TPC Harding Park -- the 2015 WGC-Match Play. If McIlroy gets his short game in order, he'll be a threat to win a third PGA Championship. My guy! The guy that was hurt the most by the COVID delay - his game was in great shape, he was winning, he was primed for a major win or two - now he is just another contender. Not bad, but not good - as expected, unfortunately.

Collin Morikawa
Winning a major in his first 14 months as a pro might be asking a little too much from Morikawa, but everything has come fast for the 23-year-old. He already has two wins and is ranked No. 12 in the world. I don't think it is asking too much - this kid is a legit threat. Great win. Everyone will remember his drive on 16, which is as good as it gets, but I think the chip in on 14 was more important.

Jon Rahm
With his dominant victory at the Memorial, Rahm joined Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to hold the No. 1 ranking in the world. He's also only the third golfer to reach No. 1 without a major championship win; Lee Westwood and Luke Donald were the others. Rahm finished tied for 11th or better in five of the previous eight majors. My pick. Probably a lot of others' pick. Good tournament - he will win sooner rather than later.

Xander Schauffele
Schauffele is still searching for his first major title and hasn't won in 19 months, but he's typically in the mix on golf's biggest stages. He tied for third at the 2019 U.S. Open and tied for runner-up at the 2019 Masters and 2018 Open Championship. It's only a matter of time until he finally closes one out. Definitely has the game, does he have the mind - not this week.

Adam Scott
The 40-year-old Australian hasn't played on American soil since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the tour in March. He spent the past two weeks working with his team in North Carolina. Scott finished in the top 10 at the past two PGA Championships, including a tie for eighth at Bethpage Black. No.

Webb Simpson
Simpson added a suddenly reliable putter to his world-class irons and has two tour victories to show for it this season. He isn't very long off the tee, but it doesn't matter much when the rest of his game is so good. Very possible - agree with ESPN's assessment.

Justin Thomas
He is coming off a win at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, his 13th victory. All of those have come in the past five seasons. Nobody on tour has more wins than he does over that stretch. Yes, hell yes. My second pick after Rahm. Can't win them all - but he will be one of my top 2 picks for the foreseeable future.

Brendon Todd
A year ago, Todd was ranked No. 797 in the world. He already has two tour wins, held the 54-hole lead in Memphis and is a legitimate contender for PGA Tour Player of the Year. It's his first PGA Championship start since a missed cut in 2015. Possible, but wouldn't bet on him.

Others:

Tiger - no, his luck ran out at the last masters.
Phil - no, even with his good showing last week, and he does well on soft wet CA courses, and it is fog season so the course will be comparatively soft and wet. But no. Was his stint in the announcers' booth a test run? Maybe he realizes that he will be done sooner than the fans do.
Hovland - would not surprise me a bit. This kid is going to be great.
Woodland - no.
Patrick Reed - please no! Thank you.

 

[CousCuse]

Great tournament. Glad that Harding Park showed so well. It kills me that they said the 10th was the easiest hole, since that hole plays really, really tough for me. The rough looked thick and heavy and dangerous but it didn't seem to play like that; all the players seemed to get out of it easily, even on touchy green side lays.

My post tournament comments are in red below.

The greens did need to be tougher. That's what makes a major a major.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[upperdeck]

you could hear some of the big names mention over and over that the lack of fans really helped some of the guys with the pressure.

 

[Newhouser]

you could hear some of the big names mention over and over that the lack of fans really helped some of the guys with the pressure.

Personally I hated that kind of comment. The big names need to start giving some credit to these younger guys who are bringing game. With no crowd some of the big names faltered on the back side when the heat got turned on.

 

[Dcuse]

Love that Rory called out obnoxious,arrogant comments made by Koepka after his Saturday round. I want to like Koepka but he keeps reversing to douche mode.

 

[Newhouser]

Love that Rory called out obnoxious,arrogant comments made by Koepka after his Saturday round. I want to like Koepka but he keeps reversing to douche mode.

Rory is a rational, leading voice in the sport. His game however is not holding up.

 

[upperdeck]

rory on his A game is as good as it gets.. However when he is on his B game he gives away too much where as Tiger on his B game stayed in the hunt until his A game came back. If Tiger cant knock down the putts for 4 rounds he is gonna have an issue winning another major except for the Masters.

 

[Guinness]

Rory is a rational, leading voice in the sport. His game however is not holding up.

Rory and Spieth both. They had awesome runs and then both fell off. Wonder if Morikawa will do the same thing? All these young guys get labeled the next Tiger but none of them so far has been able to string it together over the long haul.

 

[Guinness]

rory on his A game is as good as it gets.. However when he is on his B game he gives away too much where as Tiger on his B game stayed in the hunt until his A game came back. If Tiger cant knock down the putts for 4 rounds he is gonna have an issue winning another major except for the Masters.

Tiger is like Jack. His B game is better than 99% of the other guys A game. None of these young guys have proven to have that as of yet.

 

[Oakland]

He is the current POY.

Rory is a rational, leading voice in the sport. His game however is not holding up.

 

[kirbivore]

Great tournament. Glad that Harding Park showed so well. It kills me that they said the 10th was the easiest hole, since that hole plays really, really tough for me. The rough looked thick and heavy and dangerous but it didn't seem to play like that; all the players seemed to get out of it easily, even on touchy green side lays.

My post tournament comments are in red below.

Dustin Johnson
I wanted Paul Casey to win, but Dustin would have been my second choice - the golf gods owe him. Dustin might be developing a case of Greg Norman disease.

No joke I was thinking the same thing. Argument for the most talented guy since 2010, but can't get out of his own way. Norman was mental, DJ the demon is substance abuse.

 

[jncuse]

Rory is a rational, leading voice in the sport. His game however is not holding up.

Bryson Dechambeau - looking to create ant hills to help save a stroke.

Rory McIlroy - Self reports that he thinks a volunteer may have accidentally stepped on his ball improving his lie (while he was going to the green to figure out his chip, he noticed the lie was better on the way back).

 

[Oakland]

Substance abuse - I didn't hear about that.

No joke I was thinking the same thing. Argument for the most talented guy since 2010, but can't get out of his own way. Norman was mental, DJ the demon is substance abuse.

 

[jncuse]

Substance abuse - I didn't hear about that.

He has had one suspension in 2012 for failing a cocaine test, and one voluntary leave of absence in 2014 relating to failing a cocaine test. There was a press release in 2014 when he admitted to having to take a leave to battle "personal challenges"... which I can only assume is that he went to some sort of rehab which I commend him for.

Report: D. Johnson banned for cocaine use

The PGA Tour has suspended Dustin Johnson for six months after he tested positive for cocaine, according to a report on Golf.com.

www.espn.com

Have not heard of any issues since 2014.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[SU94]

rory on his A game is as good as it gets.. However when he is on his B game he gives away too much where as Tiger on his B game stayed in the hunt until his A game came back. If Tiger cant knock down the putts for 4 rounds he is gonna have an issue winning another major except for the Masters.

That PGA Championship was the best leaderboard I have ever seen after 54 holes and it got even better on the back 9. There were 7 premium talents tied for the lead until CM's chip-in on 14.

Rory was on his A+ game late in '19/early '20 (7 straight top 5s) ... until the COVID stoppage halted his momentum. Cruddy "break," but he'll round into form again. He's 31 and has plenty of time. He is anxious to get his 5th major, however.

Morikawa is going to win a lot of golf tournaments and snag another major within a year (there are 6 more majors in the next 11 months or so).

DJ will pocket that elusive second major. He got beat yesterday, ... this was not a choke or anything like that. The interesting race, to be, is between DJ and Rose for that second major.

Cameron Champ ... is wicked talented and poised. In fact, if you package him with Morikawa, Wolff and Scheffler, this Class of 2018/19 might have more juice than the Class of 2011 (Thomas, Spieth, Schauffele). And that's saying something.

Xander believes he will win on the toughest of tough golf courses, ... my money's on the Open Champ next year. Maybe/maybe at Winged Foot in September.

 

[Alsacs]

ANYBody just see that caddie who literally cost his golfer his QF match at the US Amateur.

Match was all square at 18. Golfer hit his shot into bunker in 3 on a par 5.
His caddie goes Into the bunker and touches the sand.
The golfer doesn’t notice but the opposing caddie does.
Goes to match official.
2 stroke penalty on 18 and he loses the match.

Unbelievable.