2017 PGA Championship Preview
The PGA Tour makes its annual trip to Quail Hollow this week, however, this week is a little different from the past. Quail Hollow usually plays host to the Wells Fargo Championship in May but this year it will play host to the final major of the season, the 99th PGA Championship.
Quail Hollow Club will play up to 7600 yards at the PGA Champsionship this week. The course is home to “The Green Mile”, one of the longest and most brutal closing stretches in golf. Two the final three holes are par-4’s that can play up to 500 yards and the 17th hole is a 223-yard par-3 that spans over water.
If you want to win, you need to go for it and the green mile will provide some dramatics. Some will go for it and fail, others, like Rickie Fowler at the 2012 Well Fargo Championship, will go for it and find glory.
Here’s a look at who to look out for this weekend at the PGA Championship:
The Big Guns
Hideki Matsuyama
The number three ranked golfer in the world is coming off a big victory at Firestone last weekend. Matsuyama closed on Sunday with a course record tying 9-under 61 and ran away with the Bridgestone Invitational. Hideki has won twice on tour this season and six times worldwide since last seasons PGA Championship. The 25-year-old has six top-10 finishes in majors throughout his career, including a T4 at the 2016 PGA. He has quickly risen to the top of the list of “best golfers without a major championship”, but with the way he has been playing, it doesn’t look like he’ll be at the top of that list very long.
Jordan Spieth
Spieth gets his first crack at winning the career grand slam this week. He finished T13 at the Bridgestone Invitational last week and had back to back victories prior to it, including his dramatic victory at The Open. Since turning pro, Spieth has played just once at Quail Hollow, where he picked up a T32 finish at the 2013 Wells Fargo Championship. A lack of course knowledge could hinder him a little bit, however, he is feeling good right now and we know that when Jordan is at the top of his game, not much can stop him.
Paul Casey
Casey is a guy that always gets himself in the mix at major championships. He had a bad weekend at Erin Hills, which dropped him to a 26th place finish at the U.S. Open, but outside of that, he has a T6 and a T11 at The Masters and The Open respectively. He is coming off a solid outing at the Bridgestone where he finished T5. He has been knocking at the door for so long in major championships. Maybe this is finally his time to break the door down and win.
Rickie Fowler
Fowler is due. He had excellent outings at The Masters and the U.S. Open and was respectable at The Open with a T22 finish. In his last seven starts he has five top-10 finishes. He is a regular at Quail Hollow, the course where he got his first PGA Tour victory in the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship. He also finished T4 at the 2016 Wells Fargo. He is hungry for that major championship because he wants to put the doubters to sleep. Course knowledge and success could be a key for Fowler this week. He knows he can do it here, now he needs to do it on the major stage.
Rory McIlroy
The four time major champion is the clear favorite heading into this weekend. He holds the course record at Quail Hollow as well as the Wells Fargo tournament scoring record. He has won twice at Quail and has multiple top ten finishes there. He knows the course well and he has proven himself on the biggest stage multiple times. In his first start since splitting with his longtime caddy he finished T5. The seamless transition from caddy to caddy, the success at Quail Hollow, and the overall career success points to McIlroy being the guy to beat this weekend.
Keep an Eye on
Dustin Johnson
Number one golfer in the world. Always a fixture at majors. Can’t forget about him.
Justin Rose
Much like Johnson, Rose always has his name in the mix at majors. He won the U.S. Open in 2013 and had a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia at this year’s Masters.
Brooks Koepka
Koepka has finished no lower than 11th in a major this season, including his first major victory at the U.S. Open. He has also finished in the top five at the last three PGA Championships.
Jon Rahm
Rahm is a tough book to read sometimes. When he is on, he’s on. When he’s off, it can get ugly. If he catches fire this week, look out.
The pick
Everybody is pegging McIlroy as the victor this week because of his success at Quail Hollow. To me, it’s another guy who has had success at Quail Hollow that takes the title. Look for Rickie Fowler to get over the hump and snag his first major championship at the same course he won his first PGA Tour event.
