PGA Championship Finish and Other Things

There have been many stories written about the ending to the PGA Championship and how the PGA screwed up in having the tournament end on a Monday. I am one of those who was frustrated by the fact we (the fans) weren't able to see the ending of the tournament yesterday. After I found out what the forecast was for yesterday in New Jersey and that the PGA didn't even really consider moving the start times up, I was upset. Many of the fans of golf and enjoy watching the events (especially the majors) on television weren't able to watch the ending of what was an incredibly exciting golf tournament. Scores up and down all week, Tiger making a run on Sunday, Phil coming back to the field, '95 champion Steve Elkington taking a short lead, even Thomas Bjorn getting into the thick of it after tying a Major tournament record 63 on Saturday.

With the forecast calling for a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the late afternoon and hot and humid conditions all weekend, the PGA should have known the rain would come, and if not at least dark clouds would be rolling in to block out the sunlight. To learn they never even considered moving the times up was ridiculous. They took away from many fans the chance to watch Phil Mickelson (a fan favorite) win his second major after what read like a tremendous wedge shot on the 72nd hole. For those who were lucky enough to see what happened, I'm sure it was thrilling.

The fans were not the only ones who were punished by the suspended play. The final 6 groups did not have to finish in the same conditions the rest of the field did. I'm sure Tiger's fans and he himself were disappointed the leaders didn't have to play 17 and 18 (the longest holes on the course) into the howling wind. As a player who was only 2 behind the leaders, if they play the rest of the round, we may have had a Tiger/Phil playoff. Although the playoff would have ended up being played on Monday anyway, so I still would have missed it. The players returning to the course today had drastically different weather to contend with, soft greens which held the balls, no wind, 20 degree cooler temperatures, longer/thicker rough, and less roll in the fairways. No matter if the conditions were better or worse, it wasn't fair to the rest of the field. Obviously every tournament isn't always going to be able to finish on Sunday, but every effort should be made to ensure Sunday finishes for the Majors. The Masters almost always has a rain delay, they play rounds early, and it is of course "a tradition unlike any other", so there you go.

The PGA is here for the players as well as the fans, but also for money. Unfortunately the latter won in the battle at Baltusrol.



I commented on this in Justin's post earlier today, but my pick of Sergio Garcia was a little premature. He finished the tournament tied for 23rd place after an even par 70 netted him a plus 3, 283 at the PGA. I mentioned that he is hurt by immature golf in Majors, which basically means that he tries to do too much and makes wrong choices on clubs and shot selection occassionally. He is only 25 years old right now and is only going to get better. He will eventually learn how to manage courses, play the shots he is able to play and not try to do more than that, and shape his game for certain courses. Like reader Mark says:

"garcia has all the talent that will eventually push him to the the top tier of golf's elite. plus, most golfers experience the best golf of their career in their 30's. heck, nickalaus won the masters in 1986 when he was 46!"

Very good point. Add to that the fact Vijay Singh didn't win his first Major unitl age 35 and Phil Mickelson didn't win his until he learned how to play in Majors at age 33. Sergio has a bright future ahead of him and will win a Major with in the next 3 years.


I was quite disturbed by the announcers on Saturday and their undying love for Tiger Woods. I realize he is the number 1 golfer in the world, won both the Masters and British Open this season and made the cut on Friday in typical Tiger fashion (birdieing his last hole with no problem), but the way they were talking about him on Saturday was a little frightening. The guys on TNT were absolutely enamored with him, and it didn't seem like it was just with his play. This is going to be a sad comparison for Packers fans, but the way these announcers were talking about him was like how John Madden, the ESPN Sunday Night Football announcers, and Terry Bradshaw talk about Brett Favre. It gets quite disgusting after a while. Tiger was the only big name on the course at the time, but we didn't need to see replays of every one of his shots.


All-in-all, a good tournament, I can't wait for the next Major season to begin in April. There is a lot of golf to be played yet this year, but with Tiger seemingly back, Phil resembling the player who won the Masters last season and 3 tournament early this season, and Ernie, Retief, Vijay, and a slew of new comers playing well, next year should be excellent. And I really can't wait until 2010 when the PGA Championship returns to Wisconsin at Whistling Straits.


For the record, athletes who fall under the category of "guys announcers have man crushes on":

Tiger Woods
Brett Favre
Derek Jeter
Lebron James (yes, already)
Alex Rodriguez
Matt Leinert

That's it for now, I don't know if Leinert should be included, since he's still in college, but feel free to add to the list.


Oh yeah, happy belated birthday Vin, hope it was a good one. See you at the draft!

-Until next time...