Stenson’s the star attraction
PGA Championship showdown at Baltusrol may not be as explosive as the Open but it should still have some fireworks
COMING hard on the heels of the epic at the British Open last weekend, the spotlight of world golf turns its attention to the US PGA Championship that gets underway at Baltusrol Golf Club near New York City on Thursday.
It is quite unlikely that the heroics of Open champion golfer Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon, will be replicated this week. Of course, if for some reason they are, then they will be met most joyously by those who love this sport.
It was a truly fascinating duel – unlike anything we had seen since Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus’ Duel in the Sun in 1977.
For their roles in what will go down as one for the ages (yes it was memorable), Stenson and Mickelson have been thrust to the forefront of almost everything associated with this week’s PGA Championship.
But the good pros that they are, they know that hunting pack will be like hungry wolves. And leading that charge will be none other than the world number one Jason Day.
The Australian’s desire to win at Baltusrol will be driven by more than just one thing. He will come in with a view to consolidating his status as the world’s best player and more importantly he will be aiming to win a second Major championship title.
Further still, Day will be the defending champion at Baltusrol. His victory in this event last season earned him his maiden Major crown and he will be bent on adding to that, no doubt.
Mickelson will be spurred on by the fact that he won this tournament at this venue the last time it was played at Baltusrol. That was back in 2005, with a score of just four-under-par 276.
As Stenson now knows how it feels to win a Major, he’ll be keen on a few more. The Swede certainly has the game to win more Majors. That was a frequent mention by the pundits at the Open last Sunday.
The 40-year-old’s “weapon” in his bag is that awesome 3-wood. Along with his putting, it is the 3-wood that could be credited most with his win at Troon.
But the contenders for the season’s fourth and final Major cannot be restricted to this trio.
Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, numbers 2, 3 and 4 in the world rankings, respectively, will be plotting a case of their for the title.
McIlory, of the three, and despite being at No 4, appears the most desperate to succeed. He also seems the most likely.
The 28-year-old from Northern Ireland’s last victory in the Majors was the 2014 PGA Championship. His game has not quite been where he would have wanted it, but he has shown flashes of that old Rory magic. A bucket full of that and he should be right up there again come Sunday afternoon.
Johnson’s Open challenge was characterised by spurts of quality golf. And in the end, there was too little of that to make any headway.
In this tournament, one gets the feeling that he could come good with another showing like that which secured him his first Major at the US Open last month.
Spieth, for all his prowess, appears to have gone off the boil, and all at the wrong time. The 20-year-old Texan is being mentioned in the same breath as some of the game’s best players, only because he is one of them. Now he needs to underscore that with another Major or two.
A victory at Baltusrol would be more than welcome by the Spieth camp and fans, and it would be no less than the young man deserves.
He has become one of the game’s star attractions, and while he might not start among the top trio of Stenson, Mickelson or Day, he should not be counted too soon.