Hey, remember this?
I’ll be honest, that doesn’t really look like a bunker to me either, Dustin. In any event, the PGA Championship returns to the scene of the crime Whistling Straits this week. The course is a tough par 72 that may or may not actually favor bombers. What we do know for sure is there’s sand and fescue everywhere. If you miss the fairway,
You’ll want to target some combination of distance, accuracy/ball striking, and scrambling, but more on that later. Whistling Straits has previously hosted the PGA Championship twice (2010 & 2004). Let’s have a look at the top-10 from 2010.
1. Martin Kaymer -11 (won in playoff)
2. Bubba Watson -11
3. Zach Johnson -10
3. Rory McIlroy -10
5. Jason Dufner -9
5. Steve Elkington -9
5. Dustin Johnson -9
8. Camilo Villegas -8
8. WC Liang -8
10. Matt Kuchar -7
10. Jason Day -7
Full Results
There’s a nice mix of styles in that group. Some long hitters, some tacticians, some whatever a WC Liang is. One thing’s for certain, with the exception of Elkington and Liang, you have nine of the best golfers in the world at the time (Camilo was good at one point, I swear.) “So you’re telling me I should target elite golfers in majors? Dynamite drop-in, Monty.” Precisely. Broadcasting school is really paying off for me. Thank you.
As previously mentioned, the PGA Championship was played here in 2004 as well, but I’m not sure how much pertinent information you can glean from a tournament that took place 11 years ago. However, if you’re feeling nostalgic, knock yourself out: The 86th PGA Championship.
As far as statistics go for this week, the experts were pretty much on the same page. Here’s what they think you should be focusing on.
Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
(Rory McIlroy hasn’t played enough rounds to qualify, but he’s at 2.001 SGT2G in 2015)
- Bubba Watson 1.869
- Jordan Spieth 1.628
- Jim Furyk 1.599
- Hideki Matsuyama 1.569
- Henrik Stenson 1.562
Driving Distance
- Dustin Johnson 319.0
- Bubba Watson 315.8
- Jason Day 314.0
- Adam Scott 312.2
- J.B. Holmes 310.9
Ball Striking
- Henrik Stenson
- Adam Scott
- Justin Rose
- Paul Casey
- Hideki Matsuyama
Proximity
- Jim Furyk 31.33′
- Jason Bohn 31.58′
- Russell Knox 31.75′
- Justin Rose 32.50′
- Paul Casey 32.75′
Scrambling
- Steven Bowditch 66.84%
- David Toms 65.61%
- Jason Day 65.52%
- Brandt Snedeker 65.51%
- Jordan Spieth 65.46%
Strokes Gained: Putting
- Jimmy Walker .882
- Ian Poulter .662
- Brooks Koepka .638
- Brendon Todd .606
- Jordan Spieth .600
And here are the specific players the experts like. The Consensus has been pretty strong of late, take note.
- Brooks Koepka
- Bubba Watson
- Danny Lee
- Danny Willett
- Francesco Molinari
- Henrik Stenson
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Jason Bohn
- Jason Day
- Jason Dufner
- Jim Furyk
- Jordan Spieth
- Justin Rose
- Keegan Bradley
- Patrick Reed
- Paul Casey
- Rickie Fowler
- Robert Streb
- Rory McIlroy
- Steven Bowditch
- Zach Johnson
Is this the last PGA Millionaire Maker of 2015? The FedEx Cup is coming up, but the Tour Championship has a field of 30. Probably can’t do much in terms of DFS with that. DK has it’s WFGC at the Deutsche Bank Championship, so maybe there? Who knows. This may be your last chance to win $1,000,000 playing fantasy golf this year, so make the most of it. Get that cash.
oreo
