It’s time for major championship golf baby!
Welcome to PGA Championship week, the red-headed stepchild of golf’s major championships.
This year’s edition brings us to Valhalla Golf Club, located in Louisville, Kentucky.
Valhalla was founded as a Jack Nicklaus design in 1986 of all years.
This is the 4th PGA Championship held here, having also hosted in 1996, 2000, and 2014.
It also hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup, where the Americans rolled the Europeans 16.5 to 11.5.
Oh yeah, and Michael Block happened.
Last year’s and 2014’s leaderboards, along with recent winners of the PGA and at Valhalla.
It’s a massive facility that can easily support a major championship crowd.
Birdies galore with a cut line well under par.
That tune has changed a bit with 4 of the last 5 winners finishing at single digits under par.
I’d probably expect the winning score to come in around -15.
Short par 4 that forces a layup, but there’s nowhere to hide on the approach.
The Format
Stroke Play, 72 holes, 156 golfers.
Playoff is a 3-hole aggregate, as we saw in 2022.
The Weather
Friday could be a long day that forces the 2nd round into Saturday.
Friday: ESPN+ from 7 AM to 7 PM, Main coverage on ESPN from Noon to 7 PM.
The Trophy
If this is your first time to my preview blogs, welcome.
This is the section where I review the week’s hardware.
The Wanamaker is right up there with the best.
It’s just a classic design.
Many other trophies emulate this design and come up short.
Those aren’t major championship trophies and they shouldn’t have a go at be.
Stay in your fuckin lane, RSM Classic.
As far as narratives go, it seems to be those two guys and everybody else.
Maybe that’s exactly how this thing goes.
It’d be fucking sweet if it did.
Doesn’t hurt that he’s won here before either.
I continue to see value in betting LIV golfers in major championships.
I find that hard to believe.
Of everyone on the board…
Guy obviously hits it long and straight and is a sneaky good ball striker.
His T-6 at Augusta was a vast improvement over what he’s scored there historically.
Enjoy the PGA Championship.
