Well, another big week is upon us. The PGA Championship is here and I have to say that I really enjoy this major. I know it doesn’t get the kind of respect that the other three do but I think it is my favorite major behind the British Open. The courses are always set up fair and at the beginning of the week everyone has a chance to win. The setups don’t only favor long hitters or really good putters, any style of player can win here if he has a really good week which is why there are so many different winners. It does make picking a winner tough but here goes…
My personal favorite for this week is Retief Goosen. I love to watch this guy play golf. He has played six very good rounds of golf in the majors this year but had tough final rounds in the U.S. Open and British Open. The usually unflappable Goosen struggled in both but after winning the International should have all his confidence back. He was tinkering with his putter and putting stroke for awhile but appears to be comfortable again. Goosen is a great ball striker and that always helps at Baltusrol.
Another solid pick is obviously Vijay Singh. Another great ball-striker and he appears to be rounding into form again after some near misses early in the year. The second half is when he really turned his game up last year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do it again. Only player other than Tiger to finish top ten in all three majors so far.
Okay, two of the top five players in the world. I know, I’m not exactly going out on a limb here so here are some more picks for you.
Zach Johnson, I really like the way this guy plays. Not all that long and nothing flashy to his game but a very solid all around player. Has four top ten finishes this year and ranked 24th in overall ranking.
Scott Verplank, a year to forget thus far for Scott but he has showed flashes of his old self. He is a fierce competitor and Baltusrol should be a good set up for him.
Some sentimental favorites as well.
Sergio Garcia, a good ball-striker and very good off the tee. I would love to see Sergio win his first major here but nothing in his game recently has shown me that he will.
Padraig Harrington, another player I would really like to see win especially after he lost his dad to cancer. Harrington was having a great year with two PGA Tour victories but will likely have to work out some rust in his game in order to be competitive here.
Okay, there you have it. My picks for success at the 2005 PGA Championship. Not alot of surprises here but we will see who SirShanksAlot has in mind for his picks.