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 Oak Hill Country Club, just outside of Rochester, NY.
This is the 7th major tournament contested at Oak Hill, and the 4th PGA Championship.
Oak Hill has also hosted 3 US Opens, along with a Ryder Cup and 2 US Amateurs.
Needless to say, it’s a bona fide top notch major championship track.
Last year’s PGA was won by Justin Thomas in a playoff over Will Zalatoris.
In the scheme of par 70’s, that’s definitely on the longer side.
There’s a ton of bunkers out there too.
78 of them in fact, most of them deep and cavernous.
They look glorious tbh.
You may look at the leaderboard in 2013 and make the assumption that ball-striking is king here.
As it should be for a major.
There’s also a flagpole on the hill that will be plenty visible throughout play.
The green is protected by a variety of bunkers and featured a bowl shaped green.
Should feature some interesting pin positions and prove to be a tough test all week.
The Format
Stroke Play, 72 holes, 156 golfers.
Playoff is a 3-hole aggregate, as we saw last year.
Frost appears inevitable and delay the start of festivities.
Breezy weather should affect play throughout the weekend, and some showers on Saturday will play a factor too.
When you go this far north for a major championship in May, this is the risk you run.
Hopefully we don’t come out of the weekend clamoring for a move back to an August PGA Championship.
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 venture to be.
Stay in your fuckin lane, RSM Classic.
The Board
Scottie Scheffler is your slight betting favorite this week over Jon Rahm at +750 at theBarstool Sportsbook.
He’s +2000 and has had a strong 2023.
The length is his strength, but he doesn’t have a major hole in his game.
It’s time for Tony.
Other Plays
Xander Schauffele To Win +1600/Top 5 +335- Schauffele was a narrow miss to be my official pick.
He’s ready to break through just like Tony is, and is another all-around stud.
Data golf has him as the 3rd most likely to win here.
Dustin Johnson to win +2800/Top 10 +300- By all accounts seems to be close to his usual self.
I think there’s value on LIV guys across the board here, much like there was at Augusta.
Talor Gooch +7000 to win/Top 10 +700- Guy won back to back LIV events a few weeks back.
Say what you will about LIV golf events, but I think there’s good value here.
Having a strong year too.
Harold Varner Top 20 +350- Another LIV guy who has played well recently.
That’s the card for this week.
Lotta top heavy guys.
Should be an awesome major tournament.
Enjoy the PGA at Oak Hill.
