Straits dope: Five who could win the PGA Championship

Jason Day seems overdue to get his first major win.

Cliff Hawkins

 

The PGA Championship kicks off on Thursday to wrap up one of the most exciting and important major seasons on the PGA Tour in some time, and no matter the dominance of one young American this year, and the surprise of his elder at St. Andrews, figuring out the favorite at Whistling Straits is tough.

Five years ago, it was Martin Kaymer outlasting Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. In 2004, we saw another playoff at the Straits Course in Kohler, Wis., as Vijay Singh took down Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard. And as the world turns again to this beautiful piece of property, here are five golfers who could be holding the Wanamaker Trophy a week from now ... besides Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.


Danny Willett
A solid week at St. Andrews gave the 27-year-old his first ever top-10 in a major, but what he did the following week was more impressive. Willett went to the Omega European Masters and had bookend rounds of 65 as he won his third European Tour event and first of 2015 to put the guacamole on top of an already incredible season. Now he has even more confidence heading into Whistling Straits. We praise American players when they go across the pond prior to the British Open and play in the Scottish Open, but remember guys like Willett need something positive under their belts as they come here prior to the majors in the U.S., and he got it over the weekend with a T-17 finish at Firestone.

Rickie Fowler

It’s been a really strange year for Fowler when you compare his majors to non-majors; in 2014, he played the big four historically well, finishing in the top five in each, but didn’t pick up a single PGA Tour win. This season, he has played great in the non-majors, winning at the Players and taking home the European Tour’s Scottish Open, but he’s struggled in majors other than a T-12 at Augusta. He missed the cut badly at the U.S. Open and never was a factor on his way to a T-30 at the British. I think this trend goes back to what happened a year ago this week, especially considering his play of late. Despite his major struggles this year, those wins, and his ability to close out huge events, will give him confidence if he finds himself in a similar situation at this championship to the one he faced in 2014 coming down the stretch. Plus, that final-round 67 on Sunday at the Bridgestone won’t hurt. A year where Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler win their first majors? Talk about a monumental season for the future of American golf.

Zach Johnson
If you re-watch the 2010 PGA, you’ll notice one trend, especially when the wind picked up on Sunday: Those 5- to 8-footers for par were essential for every player in the field, no matter how far he hit it (the most overrated stat in golf, by the way). Johnson made those shots at Whistling Straits five years ago just as he did on his way to his second major championship last month at St. Andrews, letting everyone else wilt away when their putts stopped dropping. Johnson missed out on that Kaymer-Watson playoff by a shot five years ago, sure, but the confidence following his play down the stretch at the Old Course and the way he fared the last time the golf world turned to Whistling Straits could mean a third straight back-to-back major winner.

Bubba Watson
What do you want me to say? He was in a playoff at Whistling Straits in 2010, he has finished second in his last two PGA Tour starts and he is currently hitting his driver in a way we’ve never seen in the history of golf (like, ever). As always, it will be between the ears with Bubba, but his play this year has been absolutely incredible, and he is a different guy down the stretch than he was five years ago. But my pick is ...

Jason Day
How close can this guy come to winning a major before one eventually just falls in his lap? I was watching a recap of the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational and even the captions scrolling at the bottom of the screen mistook his name for “Jason Someday.” He’s due to win a major, no doubt about that, but more than being due, I think he’s ready. His T-9 at the U.S. Open despite health issues was the start, and the T-4 at the British had him this close, but there is something to be said about making three birdies down the stretch in a tournament to win, and he did that at the Canadian Open two weeks ago. Day has finished in the top 20 in eight of his last 11 major starts, seems to be playing some of the best and most confident golf of his career and had a good showing (T-10) the last time the PGA was at Whistling Straits. I think it’s time for a Day major win, I really do, and as I mentioned before, I believe he is thinking the exact same thing.