Different Strokes: PGA Championship

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  • PGA contenders: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson.

    The final major championship of the year takes place in Wisconsin this week, as the great and the merely good of men’s golf thrash it out in the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

    The winning golfer might need a blend of brute strength and dexterity to successfully lift the notoriously unwieldy Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening, but the tournament itself promises to be an even sterner all-round test – long hitters may have an advantage off the tee, but it is around the greens where shots at the links-style course will be quickly frittered away. And if the wind blows … well, it could end up being merely survival of the fittest.

    Last time the US PGA came to Sheboygan, back in 2010, Martin Kaymer defeated Bubba Watson in a play-off. Both men will fancy their chances again, but here we evaluate the chances of six others who enter this week with plenty talking about them.

    The Returning Star: RORY MCILROY

    So after all the rumour, counter-rumour and debate, it turns out Rory McIlroy will tee it up in the US PGA Championship this week. It will be his first competitive outing since rupturing his left ankle ligaments at the start of July with a clumsy football tackle but the world No. 1 is clearly confident he will be able to give his very best this week.

    “If anything, my ankle feels even better when I swing hard at the ball,” the Northern Irishman said, after confirming his participation.

    The obvious concern with McIlroy is rustiness, although it is worth noting that he had seven weeks off at the end of last season (following last year’s US PGA win) and then came back and finished second in Abu Dhabi. Then again, as he himself noted: “It’s one thing coming back at a regular event in the Middle East but here it’s a major and I’m the defending champion.”

    By all accounts, McIlroy has been practicing for a long time now, while his record at Whistling Straits (he finished a shot out of the play-off in 2010) also inspires confidence. But golf is stacked with great young players these days, and all of them come into the week having enjoyed far more conventional build-ups than the world No. 1. 

    If McIlroy made the cut it would be no surprise, but winning might be just beyond him this week. A famously streaky player, you would think it will be another couple of tournaments before he finds his A-game.

    The Crown Prince: JORDAN SPIETH


    When McIlroy won four times at the end of 2014 (including successive majors) most assumed it would be years before he was usurped as world No. 1 – and the maths tended to back that up. So it is a measure of just how good Spieth has been in 2015 that he actually had the chance to move to the top of the rankings at Firestone last week.

    The reigning Masters and US Open champion will have another chance to rule the world at Whistling, but it is adding a third major to his collection that will be the preoccupation. Without the pressure of pursuing the grand slam (which, admittedly, hardly seemed to hold him back at St Andrews anyway) and with much of the attention on the returning McIlroy, Spieth may even find himself feeling slightly more relaxed than usual heading into this tournament.

    Given what we have seen in 2015, it seems almost a certainty that he will be somewhere near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday. Now accepted as one of the very best putters in the game – and perhaps the best short-range putter since Tiger Woods – Spieth remains the man to beat at the start of the tournament. But three majors in a year would be nothing short of greedy, and perhaps like St Andrews he is destined to come up just short.

    The Man In Focus: DUSTIN JOHNSON


    Few will quickly forget Johnson’s failure to win the US Open earlier this year, as a three-putt at the last seemed to cement the perception that the 31-year-old is either too stupid or mentally fragile to clinch a major under pressure. Now he returns to the place where that perception was first truly established, a course where his incomplete grasp of the rules cost him so dearly.

    Back in 2010, he famously failed to recognise he was in one of the 1,000 bunkers at Whistling Straits, a mistake that cost him two shots on the final hole and dropped him out of a play-off he was already starting to prepare for (he had already blown up at that year’s US Open, his first dramatic meltdown when in contention). It would be almost fitting if Johnson finally overcame his demons at the place they were first cemented, but that would take remarkable strength of character – something his many critics accuse him of lacking.

    After his 72nd hole drama at Chambers Bay, Johnson will be relieved to know that the greens at Whistling are of a different strain (bentgrass), something that should at least ensure the putting surfaces are truer at a course that is otherwise rather similar. But the Open Championship – where Johnson led after 36 holes but then fell apart dramatically – seemed to reveal a player now rendered afraid by his previous failing, and so perhaps it will not be until 2016 that he is mentally ready to face his demons.

    The Year’s Other Big Winner: ZACH JOHNSON

    It is interesting to note that last time the US PGA was at Whistling Straits the other Johnson (as no-one calls him) finished a shot behind eventual winner Kaymer. Returning to the venue as the current champion golfer of the year after his surprise victory at St Andrews, Zach could hardly arrive in Wisconsin feeling any more confident as he bids to become the most surprising two-time major winner in a calendar year since Mark O’Meara.

    Desire and fatigue are the obvious concerns – Johnson can be forgiven if he has eased off since lifting the Claret Jug – but Whistling is clearly a course that rewards precision as much as distance, and few golfers are more precise around the greens than Johnson. A man who has built a career on defying expectations, it would be very Johnson-esque if he did exactly that and was in the hunt once again this week.

    – PGA Championship: Interactive Infographic
    – PGA Championship: McIlroy insists he’s ‘100 per cent’ ready to play
    – Bridgestone Invitational: 
    Shane Lowry races into top five after triumph

    The Nearly Man: JASON DAY


    Another of those players who seems to be there or thereabouts every time we convene for another major. The Australian has six top-10s in his last 11 major appearances, and has three runner-up finishes already in his young career. That might lead some to suggest he is doomed to forever be a nearly man but, considering he is still just 27, Day still has plenty of time to make his breakthrough and, once he does, a few more may come along soon after.

    The Australian could hardly arrive this week in better form. After finishing a shot outside a play-off at the Open he bounced back at the Canadian Open with a big win, a success he seemed to take huge confidence from.

    Luck has not been kind to him this year: vertigo (which he now appears to have under control) hampered him horribly at the US Open, while at the Open he lost valuable shots when forced to play in the worst of the windy conditions that soon halted the second round. Tied for tenth last time the US PGA was at Whistling Straits, perhaps Day’s luck will finally turn this week as he makes that final step into the winner’s circle.

    The Man Close To A Breakthrough: BROOKS KOEPKA

    It seems odd to describe the current world No. 20 as the coming man of professional golf, but much of Brooks Koepka’s rise to date has happened beyond the vision of most casual fans. One of a new wave of Americans to begin his education on the European Tour, since transitioning back Stateside Koepka has reeled off a series of impressive results, showcasing his power, precision and putting touch in the process. The consensus on tour is already in: Koepka is a star just waiting for his big moment – and Whistling Straits may provide it.

    The 25-year-old has now made the cut in his last seven major championship appearances, finishing in the top-10 twice. Having claimed the Waste Management Open at the start of the year, the next challenge for Koepka is to be challenging for major titles on Sunday afternoon.

    But don’t just take our word for it. Take the word of caddie Steve Williams, who recently told Golf Digest: “Once in a great while, a player comes along who hits a golf ball the way it was meant to be hit. Powerful, piercing, the perfect trajectory. Of the young players out there, one I’ve seen has that special ball flight: Brooks Koepka. Adam and I were paired with him at the Open Championship last year, and from his first tee shot on, I thought, This kid is special. Obviously he’s searching to find the other parts of the puzzle, but I haven’t seen a ball flight like that since Tiger, and before that, Johnny Miller.”

    Compelling stuff.

    And a few outsiders…

    JUSTIN THOMAS – Last week’s Different Strokes highlighted Thomas, the 22-year-old who is eager to emerge from the shadow of his close friend Spieth and make his own name on the PGA Tour. A huge hitter (relative to his size), Thomas has flourished on the PGA Tour in his debut season, and a win is next on the agenda. Doing so in just his second ever major would be spectacular, but not impossible.

    MATT KUCHAR – ‘Does Matt Kuchar’s career warrant a major title?’ is a pub debate that could go on for hours (admittedly at only the most golf-mad of pubs). At 37, Kuchar is quickly reaching do-or-die in terms of his career ambitions and this week might be one of his best remaining chances – he led after 18 and 36 holes five years ago at Whistling Straits.

    DANIEL BERGER –Of all the majors in golf, the US PGA is the one that seems to produce the most first-time or left-field winners. Berger is at the very start of his career – he briefly made a name for himself during the Florida swing earlier in the year – but has the confidence of youth and sends the ball out there. Perhaps a name to keep an eye on.

    GARY WOODLAND – A bit further along in his development than Berger, Woodland is a player many have been tipping for major contention for a few years now. For various reasons it hasn’t quite happened (an injury derailed him just as he was gaining real momentum) but he hits the ball a long way and has already threatened to win once or twice this year.

    TIGER WOODS – At 50/1 he is the same odds in most places as Phil Mickelson, but a punt on either makes little sense. He has made progress since The Open, but that St Andrews experience underscored the fact that he clearly has a mental block at the majors that he will need much more time to work through.

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