We enter the years final Major Championship with Rory McIlroy on top of the golf world yet again. The young Irishman claimed his second straight big tournament last week when he was victorious at the Bridgestone Invitational (Obviously his prior win was the Open Championship). The best players in the world will all be congregated in Kentucky this week, attempting to conquer the famous Valhalla.
Let's take a closer look at the course for this week.
Valhalla Golf Club is in Louisville, Kentucky, and will be hosting its third PGA Championship. This week the course will be playing 7458 yards and as a Par 71. Valhalla is known as a generous golf course off the tee but a demanding one from there. Iron play will be the key this week, as players who miss these greens will be severely challenged to get up and down.
The greens are a bentgrass strain, and should hold the ball well based on the forecast ( chance of thunderstorms in the area throughout the tournament). They are undulating but it will be the pressure of putting in a major that will challenge players the most.
My favourite hole on this course is the Par 4 6th Hole. It will play to 495 yards this week, a drastic change from the last time the players teed it up here when it was only 420. The green has been pushed over 70 yards back, thus forcing players to attack it from between 180-210 yards. It is guarded by a very deep bunker on the left hand side and a closely mown area on the right. Par here will be a great score all week.
We will see a 156 man field this week, though I would say only about 100 players actually have a chance at winning the championship. Headlining the event will be the aforementioned Rory McIlroy, along with Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Though Phil and Tiger have had seasons to forget in 2014, they are still always top talked about names in Major Championships.
Over recent years golf has seen plenty of first time major championships, and based on our selections this week we have a feel this trend might continue (though there is some major championship flavor in there).
Lets get down to the picks, as I am very excited about this weeks 6 pack.
STEVES 6 PACK
SHANE LOWRY 250/1 - The big man from Ireland currently sits 15th on the Race to Dubai standings on the European Tour. He has finished inside the Top 10 in both of his last two starts, including a T9 just a few weeks ago at The Open Championship. His finish prior to that was a T4 at the Scottish Open, where he carded rounds of 68, 68, 66 to close the tournament. Lowry hits the ball an average length off the tee but is most known for his iron play and great putting. Those will be two keys to winning this week at Valhalla.
Lowry has all the talent in the world and I feel he will be a name that will pop up on leaderboards of big tournaments in the coming years. This will only be Lowry's 2nd tournament on US soil this season (other one being the US Open), but that shouldn't be an issue. His good buddy Rory won the last major, look for Lowry to grab this major title.
MARC LEISHMAN 45/1 - I absolutely love this pick. Leishman is playing the best golf of his life recently, posting Top 5 finishes in his past two tournaments. He has also posted Top 12 Finishes in 4 of his last 5 tournaments. Marc finished T5 at Open Championship, and struck the ball beautifully all week. Last week Leishman finished solo 3rd at the Bridgestone Invitational, a tournament that saw him hit only 48% of his fairways, yet 66% of his Greens. With Valhalla being extremely forgiving off the tee, Leishman can figure to be hitting from the short grass much more often this week.
It will be a positive for the long hitting Aussie that last week he was lights out with the putter, as the flat stick has cost him in big moments this season. It might surprise some people but Marc actually ranks 8th on the Tour for All Around Ranking. We can expect Leishman to hit the ball close once again this week and it will come down to his putting. I like Marc's chances of bringing the Wanamaker Trophy back to Australia.
LEE WESTWOOD 70/1 - Westwood closed last week with a 63 at the Bridgestone Invitational, a round that should bring him great confidence this week. Westwood has expressed in the past that he loves Valhalla, and that he feels the course suits his game. People feel that Lee has had a bad season this year but if you look at his results in some of the bigger tournaments it is actually impressive (Masters - T7, PLAYERS - T6, Bridgestone - T19).
Westwood also won the Malaysian Open earlier this season when he posted a ridiculous score of -18, winning by 7 shots. Lee's window to win a Major Championship is running out, and he will need to make the most of these opportunities. Westwood is known as one of the best iron players in the world, and will put that talent on display in Kentucky this week. It would be great to see this veteran Englishman win his first Major. It should also be noted that Lee has expressed his desire to play his way onto the Ryder Cup team, even though he is a sure bet to be a captains selection.
KEEGAN BRADLEY 32/1 - Keegan won the Wanamaker Trophy in 2011, kick starting what has been an impressive start to a career. He had a fairly quiet start to the 2014 season, though he has posted 12 Top 25's in his 22 events. Keegan looks like he is really rounding into form recently though, posting T4's in two out of his last three tournaments. Bradley finished T4 one month ago at the Greenbrier Classic, shooting sub 70 in all 4 rounds. He then finished T19 at the Open Championship thanks to a pair of 69's on the weekend. Last week at the Bridgestone Keegan played great all week, once again posting 4 straight round sub 70.
Keegan bombs the ball off the tee and will absolutely love the forgiving fairways at Valhalla( ranks 14th on Tour for Driving Distance). Keegan is also a terrific putter, something that is crucial to win a major. He ranks 24th this season in Strokes Gained Through Putting, and 20th on Tour for total putting. A key for Keegan this week will be keeping his emotions in check. He is one of the more intense players on Tour but cannot get frustrated when something doesn't go his way. I expect him to use the great memories from 3 years ago and be in contention yet again.
ROBERT KARLSSON 185/1 - Some people might question this pick as they don't know much about Karlsson. He is an extremely talented player from Sweden who has been playing some of the best golf in the world for the past month. Very few players will be more confident entering this week than Karlsson will, as he has posted Top 12 finishes in each of his last 3 starts. These finishes included a 4th place at the Alstom Open de France, a T8 at the Scottish Open, and a T12 at the Open Championship.
Karlsson has started in just 5 PGA Tour events this season but has finished inside the Top 15 in four of the five. Karlsson is known for his terrific iron play (especially long irons), and that will be of great use this week. The odds that we are getting on Karlsson are ridiculous, as I had him pegged at 100 to 1. This is one of those players that no one is talking about and will be making noise on Sunday. A great chance for a big payday here.
RICKIE FOWLER 23/1 - We have to take Rickie in this spot. I will keep this short and sweet. The guy has finished inside the Top 5 in each of the years first three majors, including Runner ups in the past two. His swing looks outstanding and his presence on the course is that of a veteran (It really doesn't get to him when he makes mistakes). Fowler is ready to take that next step and win his first major (Rory even noted that at the Open Championship in his speech). I feel these odds are more than fair for Rickie, as he is playing like a Top 3 player in the world right now. Enjoy watching Rickie in bright orange on Sunday holding the Wanamaker trophy.
HEAD TO HEAD
TWO units on both of these plays
ROBERT KARLSSON (-1.5) (-120) over Geoff Ogilvy
KEEGAN BRADLEY (-105) over Phil Mickelson
We deserve a winner and are going to get it this week.
Steve
w-thumbs!^
