US PGA Championship 2024
Posted: Tue May 14, 2024 4:15 pmKicks off Friday morning our time.
A prelude I found online, for your further digestion.
The PGA Championship is the only major championship that does not extend invitations to amateur players, though 20 spots are set aside for PGA club professionals. Therefore, the tournament annually garners the highest strength-of-field rating as compiled by the Official World Golf Ranking. Though the PGA has produced some surprise winners in the past 15 years — Jimmy Walker, Jason Dufner and Y.E. Yang say hello — it has become increasingly unlikely that an unheralded player will topple the world’s greats.
As with all majors, the PGA Championship winner almost always enters in great form: 17 of the past 18 champions made the cut in their previous tournament, and the one exception — Brooks Koepka last year — plays on a LIV Golf circuit that does not have cut lines. Three of those 18 champions were coming off a win, nine finished in the top five in their previous outing (including Koepka last year), and all but two finished in the top 20 in their most recent event.
Of the past 20 PGA Championship winners, 15 had won a tournament in the same calendar year. Nineteen had at least three top-10 finishes, and all 20 had at least one top-20 finish in the same calendar year (although the PGA Championship used to fall later in the year, allowing for more time to accomplish such feats).
Five of the past six PGA Championship winners already had a major win on their résumés. The one who didn’t — Collin Morikawa in 2020 — has since won another major (the 2021 British Open).
This is another issue of small sample size, but in the four PGA Championships played in May since 2019, three of the winners also finished in the top 10 in that year’s Masters. (Phil Mickelson, the outlier in 2021, finished tied for 21st at Augusta that year.) This year’s Masters top 10: Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Young and Will Zalatoris.
After some tinkering, Valhalla will play long — 151 yards longer than in 2014 and the third-longest course among PGA Tour venues this year. It also should be firm and fast, unless it rains a whole lot to take the starch out of the greens, as happened 10 years ago. The rough will be up, too. However, low scores were predominant the past two times Valhalla hosted the PGA Championship. In 2014, when Rory McIlroy won the tournament at 16 under par, there were 179 rounds below par, fourth most in tournament history, and 58 players finished under par, with 14 of them at least 10 under. In 2000, Tiger Woods and Bob May set what was then the PGA Championship stroke-play record at 18 under before Woods won in a playoff.
So after reading all of that...... I've wacked $20 on Max Homa at $31.
A prelude I found online, for your further digestion.
The PGA Championship is the only major championship that does not extend invitations to amateur players, though 20 spots are set aside for PGA club professionals. Therefore, the tournament annually garners the highest strength-of-field rating as compiled by the Official World Golf Ranking. Though the PGA has produced some surprise winners in the past 15 years — Jimmy Walker, Jason Dufner and Y.E. Yang say hello — it has become increasingly unlikely that an unheralded player will topple the world’s greats.
As with all majors, the PGA Championship winner almost always enters in great form: 17 of the past 18 champions made the cut in their previous tournament, and the one exception — Brooks Koepka last year — plays on a LIV Golf circuit that does not have cut lines. Three of those 18 champions were coming off a win, nine finished in the top five in their previous outing (including Koepka last year), and all but two finished in the top 20 in their most recent event.
Of the past 20 PGA Championship winners, 15 had won a tournament in the same calendar year. Nineteen had at least three top-10 finishes, and all 20 had at least one top-20 finish in the same calendar year (although the PGA Championship used to fall later in the year, allowing for more time to accomplish such feats).
Five of the past six PGA Championship winners already had a major win on their résumés. The one who didn’t — Collin Morikawa in 2020 — has since won another major (the 2021 British Open).
This is another issue of small sample size, but in the four PGA Championships played in May since 2019, three of the winners also finished in the top 10 in that year’s Masters. (Phil Mickelson, the outlier in 2021, finished tied for 21st at Augusta that year.) This year’s Masters top 10: Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Young and Will Zalatoris.
After some tinkering, Valhalla will play long — 151 yards longer than in 2014 and the third-longest course among PGA Tour venues this year. It also should be firm and fast, unless it rains a whole lot to take the starch out of the greens, as happened 10 years ago. The rough will be up, too. However, low scores were predominant the past two times Valhalla hosted the PGA Championship. In 2014, when Rory McIlroy won the tournament at 16 under par, there were 179 rounds below par, fourth most in tournament history, and 58 players finished under par, with 14 of them at least 10 under. In 2000, Tiger Woods and Bob May set what was then the PGA Championship stroke-play record at 18 under before Woods won in a playoff.
So after reading all of that...... I've wacked $20 on Max Homa at $31.