The 100th PGA Championship

It seems hard to believe that the final major golf championship of the year is upon us.  Seems like it was just a few weeks ago that Patrick Reed was dawning the green jacket.  But alas, the PGA Championship is here and with that, the last chance for the best golfers in the world to capture one of the biggest trophies in sports — no literally - The Wanamaker Trophy is HUGE!

The PGA Championship is the only major where the competitors are all professionals which allows the PGA to boast that the field contains the strongest field of the four major championships.  Although to be fair, there are also about 20 club professionals who play in the event.  It’s unlikely these professionals are more talented than the US Amateur or Mid-Am champs who play in The Masters and US Open fields.  In any event, the best players in the world are going to descend upon the Midwest this week.

The PGA probably flies under the radar as the “least prestigious” major golf championship.  It does not have the cashe that The Masters has nor does it have the history of the US Open or Open Championship.  But the PGA does a lot of things that other tournaments, especially the US Open, could learn from.  For starters, the players are allowed to wear shorts during the practice rounds (which mirrors the European Tour).  The PGA has brought back the long drive competition.

Perhaps most importantly, the PGA moves around their championship far more than the USGA does with the US Open.  Unless you live on the east or west coast, you likely aren’t going to see a national championship in your back yard more than once a decade.  This year’s PGA Championship will be contested at Bellerive Country Club outside of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the PGA’s flagship event moving to May next year, expect even more areas (such as Texas) to host the championship.

The Course

The centennial PGA Championship returns to Bellerive County Club for the first time since 1992.  Most casual golf fans probably are not familiar with the course.  Golf Digest did an outstanding job providing an overview of the venue.  The 7,542 yard course looks like many traditional golf courses fans are familiar with such as Baltustrol, Oak Hill, and Oakland Hills.

Players with strong bunker games will be well-served as virtually every hole is lined with a number of bunkers.   This is especially true on No. 18.  Finding the fairway will be critical.

The Favorites

Betting favorites have been released and the usual suspects are at the top of the list.

It is surprising to see Justin Thomas not at the top of the list.  Thomas has won 3x on Tour this year (9 times in his career).  Oh and remember what we said about stellar bunker play?  Yeah....

Justin Thomas had some INSANE hook on this bunker shot pic.twitter.com/c102YOwHIq

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 5, 2018

Dustin Johnson is also a 3x winner on the PGA Tour this year having recently won at the RBC Canadian Open.  Johnson also fired a 64 on Sunday at the WGC: Bridgestone Invitational to briefly get himself into contention on Sunday.

While Woods at 15-1 gives golf fans some *hope*, his weekend performance at Firestone - a course that he has thoroughly dominated in the past - doesn’t instill hope he’s going to lift The Wanamaker on Sunday.

As for us over here at B&B, we’re going with Dustin Johnson to capture his 2nd major championship of his career.