Monday's Telling News: 2014 PGA Championship At Valhalla

• There are certain questions that are always asked about specific sports over and over again in main stream media. Any time after a substantial international soccer tournament or a thrilling match in club play in Europe, people constantly wonder if soccer is truly growing into a major sport in the states. The World Cup is obviously a catalyst for this conversation because of just how important the competition is to the rest of the globe and even its popularity in America with people supporting the national team in large numbers in public fan gatherings. Even outside of the World Cup, which has gotten people invested in soccer for years, after Sergio Aguero scored the championship winning goal for Manchester City in their 3-2 victory over Queens Park Rangers in 2012, everybody began to ponder if European soccer leagues were becoming much more prevalent in the American view (I can watch Aguero's goal all day long). In golf, after each and every tournament where Tiger Woods is either out hurt or missing the cut while looking like a shell of his old self, the inevitable question that comes along is can golf flourish without Tiger? The NBA survived without Jordan (although for a while, any big player that came along was supposedly the "next Jordan," whether it was Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, or Harold Miner), the NHL went on without Gretzky, but can golf really prosper without the single man who has dominated the game for so long and broke down so many golf barriers (remember, Tiger won his first major back at the 1997 Masters when he was only 21, so Woods has been the biggest walking golf story for nearly 20 years) The PGA Championship at Valhalla showed that golf does have the potential to be just as enthralling even without Tiger, with the right mix of drama and key players fighting it out on a Sunday (if Downtown Abbey can remain intact even after Dan Stevens was killed, so can golf without Woods).
• With remarkable late drama and four players having at least a share of the lead on the back nine, golf may lose some fans that only watched for the intrigue of Tiger, but it can remain very captivating if the final rounds are as climactic as the one at Valhalla this past weekend. The PGA of America could not have been much more fortunate because to go along with the late theatrics of the tournament, they could not have picked a better group of players to be involved in the late stretch of really tense golf. Rory McIlroy, the best player in the game and somebody who is well on his way to challenging for 10 to 15 majors over the next decade, came into the 4th round at the top of the leaderboard and was always the favorite to win the championship after his wins at Royal Liverpool and Firestone in late July and early August. The most beloved golfer on the tour for his class and near misses over the years, Phil Mickelson was able to turn his lackluster season around at the PGA and really get into the mix in the final round at Valhalla after he birded the par-3, 11th hole and had a share of the lead for a long stretch on the back nine. For as much as I admire Rory McIlroy for the force he possesses at the bottom of his swing and the turn he gets in his shoulders to just power through the ball, he is not a guy that is going to get a lot of new people into golf (unless your a single girl). However, Rickie Fowler is going to attract new fans into the game with his colorful clothes and sparkling play, and he was also in contention on Sunday for the 4th consecutive major (he also gives American golf fans some hope because Kevin Streelman at the Travelers Championship at TPC Rivers Highlands and Brian Harman at the John Derre Classic at TPC Derre Run are the only two US players to win on the PGA Tour in the last 10 events since early June). Finally, although Henrik Stenson is not a particularly alluring name (not nearly as much as his compatriot Zlatan Ibrahimovic), he won both the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai in 2013, and can spin back his irons like nobody else in the game (see his shot on the 13th hole onto the island green that set up his birdie to have a share of the lead), making him a very dangerous player to be around the top of the scoreboard on a Sunday. Golf without Tiger is not going to be easy, but with late drama and the right names in the mix on Sunday, it is still possible to reach Tiger-like excitement.
• The amazing theater of the PGA Championship was only intensified because of its stark contrast to the dreary previous two majors of the season. Martin Kaymer just obliterated the field at the U.S. Open from Pinehurst No. 2 and not only did the course not look like a typical U.S. Open with thick rough when it was replaced by sandy waste areas next to the fairways, but it was the first time I can ever remember my dad saying he did not even watch a single shot of tournament because of just how little intrigue there was in the event. At the Open Championship from Royal Liverpool, Rory McIlroy went wire-to-wire for the victory and literally nobody else in the field even put up a mild challenge to stop him from doing so (It was Rory's second wire-to-wire victory at a major, putting him in a select group of players to have multiple wire-to-wire wins at major championshps. Arnold Palmer won the 1960 and 1964 Masters in such fashion, Jack Nicklaus won the 1972 Masters, 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol all in wire-to-wire wins, Raymond Floyd did it at the 1969 PGA at NCR, 1976 Masters, and 1982 PGA at Southern Hills, and finally Tiger won the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, 2000 PGA at Valhalla, 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, and 2005 Open at St Andrews in wire-to-wire victories). I guess you could say Sergio Garcia came close to putting up a fight at the Open Championship this year, but everybody knew Sergio would pull a "Sergio" somewhere in his final round, and that came with his horrible bunker shot on 15 that never left the sand and led to a bogey on the par-3, all but ensuring a title for Rory in England. Over the past decade, there have been plenty of head-to-head battles amongst golfers at majors, which is always gripping stuff with each guy trying to pull away, whether it be Retief Goosen and Phil trading blows at the 2004 U.S. Open from Shinnecock Hills, Tiger and Chris DiMarco being so close during the final round at the Masters in 2005, Stewart Cink and Tom Watson going into a playoff at the 2009 Open Championship from Turnberry, or Y.E. Yang and Tiger going at it in the 2009 PGA at Hazeltine. However, it is much more rare to see a major golf tournament, like this year's PGA, where coming down the back nine so many different players have a share of the lead and a chance to take home a major championship with the utmost suspense attached to it. The 2001 Masters with Tiger, David Duval, and Phil all in the hunt was quite tense, Phil overcoming K.J. Choi and Ernie Els in the 2004 Masters for his first major was so exciting, and the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot with Geoff Ogilvy, Jim Furyk, Phil, Colin Montgomerie, and Padraig Harrington passing around the lead was wild. The 2014 PGA Championship gave us all of the late drama that the game had been missing over the past several majors with guys trying to match one another on every hole coming down the final stretch.
• Enough about how Rory McIlroy is the future of golf because he is the here-and-now of the golfing world after his PGA Championship at Valhalla. On a day in which everybody around him was making serious moves on the front nine (Phil was 4-under, Stenson was 5-under, and Rickie was 3-under on the first nine holes), Rory shot a 1-over 36 (he bogeyed 3 and 6 before finally making a birdie on 7) and could not really get anything going or any big birdie putts to go down to gain some momentum. However, the fact that Rory showed so much resolve to keep on fighting, even as his final round lead was shrinking, should really worry the rest of the players on tour. If Rory has the unwavering mental strength that he showed this past weekend to go along with his immense golfing talent, he should be well on his way to double-digit major championships. When Rory won the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, he did so by eight strokes over Jason Day and set records for the fewest shots and lowest score under par at the world's hardest golf tournament in his blowout win. McIlroy destroyed the field once again at the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island and took home the Wanamaker Trophy after winning by eight strokes over David Lynn, the most ever in tournament history. Rory entered the final round of this year's Open Championship leading by six strokes (in the last 60 years only Tony Lema in 1964 had a bigger lead going into the fourth round of the major when he was up on Jack Nicklaus by 7 strokes at St Andrews) and nobody ever really came close enough to scare McIlroy for the title, or put any significant pressure on his game. Any time you have three majors in the bag at the age of 25, the talent is obviously there, but McIlroy's fourth major proved the resolute and obstinate nature that he has built into his mentality, which so few golfers truly possess. The great ones in every sport have this unshakable tenaciousness to always fight through various challenges, no matter the circumstances around them. For the first time at Valhalla, people saw Rory's unyielding personality on the golf course, because even when he wasn't at his absolute best and guys were right on his back, he stayed strong through the adversity and the pressure. In a week where McIlroy only gained 1.1 strokes on his putting (in comparison, Phil gained 1.7 strokes on putting and Henrik Stenson racked up 2.3 shots on his putts), he was still able to be persevere for another major championship.
• As much as winning a tight major golf championship is about staying tough mentally, which Rory demonstrated for the first time that he can do on a Sunday with his calm emotions and staunch confidence, he also hit some incredible shots on the back nine to secure the championship. Unlike most of the other golfers that struggled on the back nine because of the difficult par-4 12th and the 508 yard par-4 16th, Rory destroyed the final nine holes at Valhalla all week long, as he was 2-under on Thursday including a stretch of 4 straight birdies from 12 to 15, 3-under on Friday and Saturday with an eagle on 18 in his second round, and 4-under on Sunday without a bogey to close out the tournament. On the back nine in his final round, Rory was able to hit a three wood onto the green for an eagle on the par-5 10th hole to jump start his round, finally get a big putt to fall on the par-4 13th for his 3rd birdie in 4 days on the hole, and then put a shot from a fairway bunker to within 10 feet of the hole for a dagger birdie on the 17th. Even though he did not putt his absolute best, when a guy can pull off some of the shots that Rory can on a golf course, and hit the big ball that he can from the tee with his driver to set up short irons to the pin, like he showed on the back end of the PGA Championship at Valhalla, it is scary to think about what he is capable of doing in the future.
• Some of Rory's accomplishments and records are just staggering to think about, especially at his young age. With McIlroy's victories at the Open Championship and PGA Championship in 2014, he joins Arnold Palmer in 1960 and 1962, Jack Nicklaus in 1963, 1966, 1972, 1975, and 1980, Lee Trevino in 1971, Gary Player in 1974, Tom Watson in 1977 and 1982, Nick Faldo in 1990, Nick Price in 1994, Mark O'Meara in 1998, Tiger Woods in 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2006, and Padraig Harrington in 2008 as the only players to win at least 2 majors in a single season in the last 55 years and joins Walter Hagan in 1924, Price in 1994, Tiger in 2000 and 2006, Harrington in 2008 as the only players to win the two titles back-to-back in nearly 100 years. Rory has actually won the Open Championship, the Bridgestone Invitational from Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, and the PGA Championship in three consecutive starts, becoming the first golfer since Tiger Woods in 2008 when he won the Buick Invitational, Accenture Match Play, and Arnold Palmer Invitational to do so. Gary Player (9 majors), Harry Vardon (7 majors), Nick Faldo (6 majors), Seve Ballesteros (5 majors), James Braid (5 majors), John Henry Taylor (5 majors), and Peter Thomson (5 majors) are the only golfers born outside of America with more grand slams than McIlroy, and the Northern Irishman is only 25 years old and at the beginning of his career. In fact, only Young Tom Morris (1868-1870 and 1872 Open), Tiger Woods (1997 Masters, 1999 PGA at Medinah, 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, 2000 Open at St Andrews), and Jack Nicklaus (1962 US Open at Oakmont, 1963 Masters, 1963 PGA at Dallas Athletic, 1964 Masters) won 4 majors at a younger age than McIlroy. Essentially, Mark Zuckerberg is the only person to accomplish more than Rory by the age of 25 to put it all in a nutshell.
• Rickie Fowler has had one of the best seasons ever for a guy to not have a single win all season long on tour, which leaves much more to be desired in the future for the young American. Since Fowler is only 25 years old and does have so much promise in his game, especially with his ball striking and iron play at such a proficient level, I would still characterize his year on the side of impressive and auspicious rather than disappointing and frustrating (it is hard to call a year with 7 top 10's through August a poor season). Despite all of his great tournaments throughout the season and his more than solid performances in the four majors, it is not like Rickie ever blew opportunities for victories or threw away leads when he was in position to run away from the field. He has been on the periphery of almost every tournament he has entered this season, but has never really been able to cement himself at the top of the leaderboard in any event, as was evidenced at the PGA Championship. Fowler's tied for 5th finish at the Masters, tied for 2nd spot at the U.S. Open and Open Championship, and tied for 3rd mark at the PGA Championship puts him with Jack Nicklaus in 1971 and 1973 and Tiger Woods in 2000 and 2005 as the only golfers to finish all four majors in the top five in one season (Nicklaus, however, won the PGA in 1971 and 1973 and Tiger came out victorious in the U.S. Open, Open, and PGA in 2000 and the Masters and Open in 2005). Rickie also joins Ben Crenshaw in 1987, Sergio Garcia in 2002, Ernie Els in 2004, and Vijay Singh in 2005 as the only players in the last 35 years to finish in the top 10 in all of the majors in a calendar year and not win any of them. Fowler's bogey on the par-3 14th hole at Valhalla because of a tee shot that went wayward and into some mud to the right of the hole dropped him behind Phil and Rory on the back nine, and he was never able to really recover from that blow even after an incredible scramble for a par on 16. Fowler, though, just exudes so much confidence on the course, especially in his calm putting stroke, and it is a matter of "when" not "if" he wins a major championship.
• Over the past two decades, golf has really been dominated by two man, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, and coming into the PGA Championship, both of them had been having horrible seasons and there is no way around that fact. The only event Phil finished in the top 10 before the PGA was back in January on the European Tour in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Tournament and Tiger basically missed 4 months of the year with back surgery and then came back to miss the cut at the Quicken Loans National from Congressional, have his worst 72-hole finish in a major in the Open Championship, and then withdrew from the Bridgestone Invitational due to his back pain coming back once again. Tiger looked terrible once again on the golf course at Valhalla, missing just his 4th cut as a professional at a major tournament (he also missed cuts at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot after he missed significant time because of his father's death, the 2009 Open at Turnberry, and the 2011 PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club). Golfers not named Tiger Woods have now won 26 straight majors dating back to 2008 and if Tiger doesn't win the Masters in April, it will be exactly 7 years since his last major victory. He looked in pain at the PGA with his reoccurring back ailment, and seems to be having all sorts of trouble with his driver, having no consistency with his misses which is a bad sign for a professional. On the other hand, after shooting a 62 in his final round at Firestone to gain some much needed confidence (it was his best 18 hole score since he shot a 60 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2013), Phil was finally able to turn his play around at the PGA and he was right in the thick of things on a Sunday at a major once again. Mickelson took advantage of the three par-5 holes at Valhalla all weekend long, birding the 7th in all four rounds, birding the 10th on Friday, and going 5-under on the 18th including an eagle in his second round. Lefty also went away from the claw grip that caused him so much trouble on the greens at the U.S. Open when he finished tied for 28th and made so many long putts to keep him towards the top of the leaderboard at Valhalla. His clutch putting was highlighted by a 30-foot par save on the arduous 12th hole to keep him tied for the lead at 15-under in the final round. The finish for Mickelson, however, could not have epitomized his career of ups-and-downs in a more symbolic fashion. On the 16th hole, his chip for birdie lipped out of the pin and he was unable to salvage a par with his next putt, and then on the 18th hole, his eagle attempt to pull even with Rory at the top of the leaderboard just barely missed the cup. Despite shooting a final round 5-under, 66, Phil once again came up just short of a major championship - something we have gotten so used to saying over the years with his near misses - finishing in second at a major for the 9th time in his roller-coaster career, and for the 2nd time at the PGA Championship (only Jack Nicklaus with 19 and Arnold Palmer with 10 have more second place finishes than Phil in majors).
• The other thing that the PGA Championship does is that it solidifies the U.S. Ryder Cup automatic selections for the competition this September in Scotland, a match-up that is likely going to be the biggest mismatch since "The Mountain" came up against "Prince Oberyn Martell" because the European team is going to be an overwhelming favorite. Even the most optimistic American golf fans have to realize that this US Ryder Cup squad could be even worse than the teams in 2004 and 2006 that lost by a margin of 18.5 to 9.5 to Europe in the biggest blowouts since all the way back in 1975 at Laurel Valley when it was still the US against Great Britain and Ireland. The nine players that have automatically qualified for the US team and will be playing at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire are Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, and Zach Johnson. Phil was on the outside looking in coming into the PGA Championship, as he was sitting in 10th place on the US points standings, but his second place finish at the major bumped him all the way up to 5th and gave him a spot on the team for the 10th consecutive time. Despite having to withdraw from the PGA because of a back injury, Matt Kuchar was still able to finish amongst the top 9 positions for the US team because he has the most top 10 results on the PGA Tour, but his back problem is another big concern for an already weak US team. Patrick Reed was good enough at the PGA to keep his spot on the team, as he made the cut and shot even par golf for the tournament, but he has played really poorly since winning the Humana Classic and WGC Cadillac Championship at Trump National in Doral earlier in the year. Meanwhile, Zach Johnson nabbed the last automatic spot on the US team mainly because of the poor play of everybody else around him. Jason Dufner, who came into this year's last major in the 8th position for the US team, had to withdraw from the PGA as the defending champion midway through his first round because of a neck problem and was knocked out of an automatic spot. Keegan Bradley, Chris Kirk, and Webb Simpson all missed the cut at Valhalla and only one player shot worse than Brendon Todd who stayed around for the weekend, so Johnson fell into the last automatic US Ryder Cup spot more than anything else. With Bubba's recent struggles in missing out on the cut at the U.S. Open and the Open and having a 65th place finish at the PGA, Rickie, Furyk, Jimmy Walker, and Phil are the only guys playing well right now of the nine automatic US players on the cup teams. The struggles of the US spells big trouble when they go up against a stacked European team that will likely be highlighted by Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, and Ian Poulter. The Europeans could have the best squad that their continent has assembled since 1985 when Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer, and Nick Faldo took the cup back from the US for the first time since 1957.