PGA Championship Preview: Charlie's Top Five to Watch

Bryan and I decided to do things a little differently for the final major of the year, the PGA Championship. We are just picking five players we like not named Tiger because it is more fun that way and then doing our usual tee time draft tomorrow. Enjoy.  

Even though, the PGA Championship has a host of players like Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem and Mark Brooks, it is extremely difficult to predict those no-namers to win the actual tournament. I did pick four guys out of five whom have not won a major yet they are big names in the golf world.  

1.) Brandt Snedeker - It feels like it is his time to win a major. I realize that's a cliche thing to say, but sometimes, everything seems to come together.Brandt has a win under his belt in the last month at the RBC Canadian Open and did well in the Open Championship finishing tied for 11th.  For the year, Snedeker has eight top 10 finishes out of 17 appearances only missing four cuts. With Oak Hill being a par 70, Snedeker being third in Par 4 scoring could play a major factor.

2.) Hunter Mahan - This is the feel good story definitely. CBS wants Mahan near the top of the leaderboard on Saturday and Sunday with the story of his newborn baby; he is probably the only golfer other than Tiger and Phil who could drive rating. Mahan's season is not really impressive minus making 17 out of 20 cuts and his performance in majors this year. Hunter has some nice numbers when it comes to approach shots and will definitely need it this weekend.

3.) Charl Schwartzel - The South African golfer does not have a win this year on the PGA Tour, but Schwartzel is having a strong year. He made 13 of 14 cuts this season, he is fourth in overall scoring and fifth in birdie average. Schwartzel also seems to find a way to get birdies whether it be a Par 3, Par 4 or Par 5 meaning he could go low at Oak Hill. He already has a major and knows what it takes to win one. I would not be surprised if he does it again.

4.) Jason Dufner - Yes he is a SnoTap favorite. Bryan mentioned Dufner's name as a contender multiple times this season and I also have done the same this year and in years past. He would probably admit his 2013 has not been great, but he played well at Bridgestone and maybe that is what gets his ball rolling leading into the FedEx Cup. There are no real mind blowing statistics to point except for his ability to hit GIR's from under 200 yards out and the fact he does well at the PGA Championship as he finished 5th in 2010 and lost in a playoff to Keegan Bradley in 2011.

5.) Bill Haas - He would definitely not be coming out of nowhere to win this major, but at the same time, Haas struggles in majors missing the cut in both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship.  Haas did have his best major finish at the 2011 PGA Championship finishing 12th. The reason I keep Haas here is the statistic I cited with Snedeker, Par 4 scoring. There is a group of four players who are far and away better Par 4 scorers than the rest of the PGA and Haas is one of them. I know he does not do well in majors, but you truly cannot predict majors.

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PGA Championship Preview: Bryan's Five to Watch

Bryan and I decided to do things a little differently for the final major of the year, the PGA Championship. We are just picking five players we like not named Tiger because it is more fun that way and then doing our usual tee time draft tomorrow. Enjoy.  

Coming off an outstanding victory at Firestone, Tiger Woods will be the hands down favorite to win this year’s final major. Rochester, NY and Oak Hill CC will play host to the 2013 PGA Championship and I can guarantee they will not disappoint. It has been 10 years, but this is not the first rodeo for Oak Hill when it comes to this championship. Back in 2003, Shaun Micheel raised the trophy and marked himself one of the biggest underdogs to ever win this major or any other. There is always the chance that a ‘no-name’ with rise from the slums to win a major but let me take this chance to tell you who my ‘big-name’ favorites are to win the Tour’s final major

1) Adam Scott - This is not the first time Adam Scott will play the PGA at Oak Hill. When it was played here 10 years ago, Scott notched a top 25 finish at the young age of 23. Since the 2003 PGA, Scott has only been able to record one top five finish at the final major, coming back in 2006. We all know he is the defending Masters champion but that does not carry any value this week. He fared well in Scotland, with a third place finish but was less than impressive at Merion. With two out of three incredible runs in majors this year, I expect Mr. Scott to stay consistent and keep the putter hot to be near the top this week.

2) Matt Kuchar - If it were not for the incredible year Tiger is having this year, Kuchar would be the easy favorite for Player of the Year. Kuch has established himself this year by gathering two victories and two more second place finishes. Also, he is still the tour’s leader in made cuts going back to last year and it does not look to be letting up. Kuchar does not necessarily have a vast history at this championship, especially considering he has only made the cut once. That occurrence came in 2010 when he was able to finish in a tie for 10th overall. With a victory here, Kuchar would put himself in a prime spot to compete for the FedEx Championship.

3) Sergio Garcia - Really Bryan? Sergio? I know it’s a bit crazy but that is how golf works sometimes. What amazed me the most prepping for this tournament was the fact that Sergio is the exact same age as Adam Scott. Knowing this, it is about time Sergio turned that frown upside down and labeled himself a major champion. He has had three top five finishes at previous PGA’s but missed the cut last year. He ranks first on Tour in stokes gained putting, which was long held by his best buddy, Mr. Tiger Woods.

4) Henrik Stenson -  have to pick Henrik here to redeem myself for leaving him off the list last week. He has been incredibly consistent this year but is yet to break through this season. Stenson's best major finish of 2013 was second place at The Open Championship. He also took an impressive second last week considering he spend his Sunday playing alongside Tiger. While he ranks second in ball striking and GIR, his most important performance stat to keep up will be his scrambling from the rough; where he currently leads all players.

5) Rory McIlroy - If we look back to this time last year, it would be hard to believe picking Rory this week would be a surprise. He is the defending PGA Champion and with a victory here, he could be only the fifth player in history to get three majors before the age of 25. He placed in the top five in three of his four attempts at this major and has never missed a cut. Also, 2009 was the last year that we saw Rory go a season without a victory. I do not know if he has the confidence to pull through for a win this week but he really needs to put himself near the top to get back on track.

-Bryan

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Limit the Tiger Woods Expectations at Oak Hill

Tiger Woods has courses where he should have personal ownership of the course. There are a few that belong to Tiger like Torrey Pines, Bay Hill, Muirfield and Firestone. Hell, those four should build statues saying 'Personal ownership of one, Tiger Eldrick Woods.'  While golf is probably as loaded as it has ever been, Woods is the only one where there are courses he pulverizes and is always near the top of the leaderboard.  Tiger ran away with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday winning by seven strokes and completely dominating the field.

The highlight of the weekend was Friday afternoon. Woods came out on complete fire going four under in the first three holes and came in reach of getting golf's greatest round, 59. Tiger did absolutely everything right from driving the ball, approach shots and putts. The last one might be the biggest one moving forward. Tiger had mostly one-putts on Friday and ensure the mistakes he made throughout the weekend did not come back to haunt him on the scorecard.  After he finished the second round, the tournament became who is playing for second as Tiger ran away with the tournament.      

Woods is easily the Golfer of the Year if the PGA season ended today. Woods has five wins on the year and they are not minor ones either winning two World Golf Championships and a Players Championship.  No one comes close to those numbers for the full year, but Woods is missing the one elusive win, a major.  While the hype will be at an all-time high for Woods to win at Oak Hill at this weekend's PGA Championship, it should not be a big deal if he does not win.

People measure golfers like they do with quarterbacks in the National Football League and playoff wins. Both get judged if they fail to achieve milestone, the national media comes crashing down on him. People will always bring up Woods inability to win majors in the last couple of years. People make generalizations about Woods' failure to win a major without looking at a few bad breaks in different rounds of the major tournaments. Could Tiger win at Oak Hill?  Yes, but it should not come as a shock if he does not even though he golfed like the 2001 version of himself last weekend.

There are couple things going against Woods this week at Oak Hill.  He has never won a major on a Par 70. While he has done better in years past and Bridgestone is probably his favorite Par 70 course he plays regularly, he still has never won a major on a Par 70 course. When Tiger gets more Par 5's, he has more opportunities to not only take risks, but also atone for the mistakes he might make on a Par 3.  The other part is he struggled mightily in 2003 when Oak Hill last had the PGA Championship.  Woods went 12 over shooting over par in every round. For whatever it's worth, Tiger won four tournaments before the PGA Championship in 2003, but none of them were majors; he also won one more time following one of his worst majors of his career.

It is still hard not to root for a situation where Tiger is leading or tied for the lead heading into Sunday's round. Even if you are the biggest diehard golf fan, there is something special about seeing Woods in the lead heading down the back nine at a major in contention. In two of the three majors this year, Tiger found himself hanging around the leaderboard at some point of the weekend and this week will probably no different.

Charlie.

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