MAJOR TOURNEY, MAJOR GOALS
Texans shooting for Grand Slam victories in Oklahoma
Apair of Texans are headed north of the Red River pursuing different varieties of the Grand Slam at the PGA Championship.
This year’s Masters champion Scottie Scheffler has the longest way to go, especially with only three players in the last 20 years even reaching the second leg of a calendar sweep of the four majors. But with four big wins in the last four months, and the No. 1 ranking, no one should be as quick to rule him out at Southern Hills, a course that rates among his favorites.
Jordan Spieth is chasing the career Grand Slam. This is his sixth shot at the Wanamaker Trophy since he picked up the third leg at the 2017 British Open, and it might be his best chance with his swing in form and his confidence high from winning a month ago.
And they’re not even the headliners when the 104th PGA Championship returns to Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a record fifth time.
The PGA features the strongest field of the majors, and the star attraction isn’t even among the top 800 in the world ranking. That would be Tiger Woods, who attracts the biggest gallery whenever he plays and even sends social media into a frenzy by flying to Tulsa for a practice round.
Woods mangled his right leg in a February 2021 car crash, and 14 months later he made the cut at the Masters. Now he has another month of strengthening his right leg and heads to a course where he won his fourth PGA title in 2007.
The defending champion is Phil Mickelson, who produced one of the most historic performances in history by winning at Kiawah Island at age 50. He kept everyone guessing whether he will show up until the last minute, withdrawing six days before the opening round. He is the first PGA champion not to defend since Woods was recovering from knee surgery in 2008.
Mickelson has been out of view since his explosive comments involving Greg Norman’s Saudi-funded rival league and took time away. He signed up for the PGA Championship (along with the first Saudi event) to keep his options open. The scrutiny whenever or wherever he plays will be unlike anything he has faced.
Golf has been sleepy in the five weeks since the Masters, and it’s about to come to life in Tulsa. The top players have shown up only sparingly, but there has been a strong collection of winners with Spieth and Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
That bodes well considering the history. The last five major champions at Southern Hills are all in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
SOUTHERN HILLS
Southern Hills was not scheduled to host the PGA Championship until 2030. It moved up to 2022 when PGA officials voted unanimously to remove it from Trump National just days after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as Congress was certifying the election that former President Donald Trump had lost. The course was designed by Perry Maxwell during the Depression and opened in 1936. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner completed a restoration project that returned some of the edges around the greens to slope away from the putting surfaces. No other course has hosted more PGAS.
SPIETH’S CHANCE
Spieth is 28, the youngest of the three active players missing the final leg of the career Grand Slam. This will be his sixth time trying to win the PGA Championship with the career slam at stake. History isn’t on his side.
The other five players who won all four of the professional majors got the final piece in no more than their third attempt. In Spieth’s favor for this PGA Championship is the course would seem to suit him better than Kiawah Island or Bethpage Black. And he is a month removed from his most recent victory.
MAY DAY
The lasting memory of Southern Hills is oppressive heat. Oklahoma was in the midst of a heat wave for the 2007 PGA Championship. The heat index was 108 degrees for the opening round, and it never got much better. It hit 110 degrees in the final round. That was in August. The PGA Championship now is in May, which should lead to a much more pleasant week. Just don’t expect mild weather.
The forecast was for highs in the upper 80s, possibly into the 90s at some point, before cooling ever so slightly for the final round. Jordan Spieth