The PGA Championship: This Year’s Final Major Test

"I don’t think people appreciate how hard we work and mentally how hard it is to win a Major.” -- Nick Faldo, who won six Majors, but never the PGA

The bad news is that this week’s PGA Championship is the last Major of the year.  The good news for all golf fans is that the Ryder Cup is coming up in September at Le Golf National, which is just outside of Paris.  In other words, there are TWO more MAJOR opportunities to put a few dollars on golf this year.  Let’s take a look at the PGA Championship that starts today.    

100th PGA Championship Facts and Notes

• Dates:Aug. 9-12.
• Site: Bellerive Country Club, Town & Country, MO.
• The original club, The Field Club, opened in 1897 with a nine-hole course. The club was incorporated in 1910 as Bellerive and moved to Normandy, where it remained for 50 years.  Scotsman Robert Foulis was the designer. 
• In 1955, the membership voted to move to a bigger piece of land.  It hired Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to be the architect.  The course opened in 1960. In 2006, Jones’s son Rees, oversaw a year-long renovation.
• Bellerive has hosted two other Majors: The 1965 U.S. Open, which was won by Gary Player, and 1992 PGA Championship, which Nick Price won.
• Field: 156 players (136 tour pros, 20 club pros).
• Length: 7,316 yards. Par: 35-35 -- 70.  Zoysia grass fairways and bentgrass greens. (The photo: Bellerive’s 18^th.)
• Prize money: $10.5 million in 2017.  Winner's share: $1.89 million in 2017).
• Defending champion: Justin Thomas. 

The Top 5 finishers at 2018 Masters: 1) Patrick Reed, U.S., Score: −15 (273). 2) Rickie Fowler, U.S., Score: −14. 3) Jordan Spieth, U.S., Score: −13. 4) Jon Rahm, Spain −11. T5) Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Cameron Smith, Australia; Henrik Stenson, Sweden, and Bubba Watson, U.S., -9.

The Top 5 finishers at 2018 U.S. Open: 1) Brooks Koepka, U.S., Score: +1. 2) Tommy Fleetwood, England, Score: +2. 3) Dustin Johnson, U.S., Score: +3. 4) Patrick Reed, U.S., Score: +4. 5) Tony Finau, U.S., Score: +5.

The Top 5 finishers at The 2018 (British) Open Championship: 1) Francesco Molinari, Italy, Score: −8. T2) Kevin Kisner, U.S.; Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Justin Rose, England, and Xander Schauffele, U.S., Score: -6.

Below are the PGA Championship winners since 2000:

Listed below are the latest odds (8-7-18) for the 2018 PGA Championship per Sportsbook.ag.

 A FEW OTHER NOTABLES: 80/1 -- Bryson Dechambeau, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia. 100/1 – Adam Scott and Zach Johnson.

Here is what some of the experts are thinking:

Steve Bamford – golfbettingsystem.co.uk
His Top 3 are: Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jason Day. 

Chip Patterson, golf writer
Winner – American Patrick Cantlay. Like Francesco Molinari and Patrick Reed.  I've got Cantlay breaking through with his first Major championship win in 2018. It's going to take a much stronger performance on the greens than what he's shown so far this season to win, but Cantlay has been among the best on the PGA Tour off the tee and had his best-ever WGC finish last week at Firestone.

Kyle Porter, CBS Sports
Winner – (Rory McIlroy) is finishing in the Top 10 on leaderboards without even really playing terrific golf.  Every time I watch him, it feels as if he's trying to bend his body to pull a wedge or long iron back in the direction he wants and yet, he has six Top-8 finishes in his last 12 events worldwide. (Jason Day) is coming off a Top 10 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and has finished in the Top 10 at this tournament in four of his last five appearances.  And just like almost everyone, he also likes Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler.

Daniel Rapaport – Sports Illustrated
If he (Jason Day) is able to hit fairways, he's the man to beat this week.  He hits it a country mile and has one of the best short games in the world, if not the best -- that's generally a good recipe for winning golf tournaments.  He had a really brutal back-nine on Sunday at Firestone, but for 63 holes his game looked like the 2015 version of Jason Day, a player that was the world's best by a comfortable margin.  His game is a perfect fit for the PGA, and that's reflected in his record at the season's final major -- he's got three-straight Top-10 finishes, including a win in 2015 and a solo second in 2016.  His two other top picks were Dustin Johnson and defending champion Justin Thomas, primarily because both are long hitters.

Geoff Shackelford – geoffshackelford.com
I am not going out of the limb with any of my picks: 1) Justin Thomas. 2) Rory McIlroy. 3) Dustin Johnson. 4) Tommy Fleetwood. 5) Jason Day.  I also like Justin Rose who gears his whole season around the Majors.  (His predictions were made on the Golf Channel.)

Jack White – gamblerspalace.com
Rory McIlroy is my pick. The course sets up for players who like to hit a draw -- guess what -- McIlroy loves hitting the high draw.  World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and No. 2 Justin Thomas hit the cut shot, which will not bode well this week.  Of the favorites, Rory has the best shot to win. Tiger Woods, not a chance!

Tom Wilkinson – Vegasinsider.com
I like DJ (Dustin Johnson) as my top pick, but I also like two longshots.  I think (Tommy) Fleetwood has a good chance to contend. He has proven he can win on the PGA Tour and he won’t be overwhelmed by the moment. He finished second in the U.S. Open and I think he can do even better this week and win the PGA.  I also like Swede Alex Noren at big odds.  He was excellent with his putting last week at the Bridgestone, so if he hits fairways this week he could be right in the mix. 

My Top 3 picks for The Open Championship weren’t bad – Jordan Spieth, T28 (Sunday was bloody for him); Rickie Fowler, T9, and Justin Rose, 2^nd.  After reviewing and then refining my selection process for the Majors, I give you the Top 3 Finishers at the 2018 PGA Championship.  Drum roll, please: The winner will be Rory McIlroy.  Jason Day comes in second and Justin Rose third.  Don’t delay, call your friends who love having a little action while watching the tournament.

(Photo credit: www.tourprogolfclubs.com)

 Play Away!

Allan (Currently I am a 13 at home, but trending to a 12.)