Monday, May 16, 2022
Tiger Woods is conspicuous by his presence; Phil Mickelson is equally conspicuous by his absence.
Those are the two biggest topics of conversation heading into Thursday's opening round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tiger makes an important tournament even more important; Phil's defection as the defending champ leads to all kinds of conclusions. In the wake of his recent foot-in-mouth disease concerning the PGA Tour hierarchy, one has to wonder if he will ever return to any PGA-sponsored Tour, or have we seen the last of him?
Aside from Tiger, there are no less than 13 other former PGA Championship winners on board for this one. The one who earned his crown the most years back is John Daly, who copped the title 31 years ago - in 1991. Next comes Tiger, who won it in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007, followed by two long shots, Rich Beem (2002) and Shaun Micheel (2003), who will probably have trouble making the cut.
The others are Collin Morikawa (2020), Brooks Koepka (2018, 2019), Justin Thomas (2017), Jason Day (2015), Rory McIlroy (2012, 2014), Jason Dufner (2013), Keegan Bradley (2011), Martin Kaymer (2010), Y. E. Yang (2009), and Padraig Harrington (2008). Obviously, several of the above have no chance, but it's much like the oldies returning for the Masters' Champions Dinner.
Aside from Koepka, there's one other Seminole, Daniel Berger, and there's one Gator, Billy Horschel.
Also in the mix is K. H. Lee, who won the AT&T Byron Nelson yesterday for the second straight year, and at 26 under par, with a final-round 63, he has to be considered a major player this week. He held on during a mad scramble day by one stroke over Jordan Spieth, two over Hideki Matsuyama and Sebastian Munoz, and three over Xander Schauffele, Ryan Palmer and Thomas.
Back in action is Ocala's Louis Oosthuizen, hopefully recovered from the physical problems that have caused him to withdraw from several events.
With a loaded field, and the return of Tiger, expect the TV ratings to go through the roof.
TEDDY IS BACK, TOO - It's been a while since we've seen Ted Potter's name in the entries for any event, and even longer since he's made a cut, but Ted returns this week in the $750,000 Advent Health Championship at the Blue Hills Country Club in Kansas City.
With the elite field set to play at the PGA Championship, there are a host of others in Kansas City besides Ted looking to get back on the big stage. Among them: Daniel Chopra, Eric Cole, Scott Gutschewski, Nick Lindheim, Jamie Lovemark, Sean O'Hair, Tag Ridings, Sam Saunders, D. J. Trahan, Rob Oppenheim and Shawn Stefani. Goes to show just how difficult it is to get to the PGA Tour and remaining there for any significant period of time. Ted did it from 2011 to 2021, and he can start on the road back with a good showing in Kansas City.
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