What to Watch For – 2019 PGA Championship

The second major championship is here (it’s weird to write this in May) as Bethpage Black hosts the 101^st PGA Championship.

For the last (nearly) 50 years we’ve thought of this major as being played in hot and humid conditions, but this year we’re going to get cold in the mornings, windy in the afternoons, and wet for at least Thursday. A nice change if you ask me, and a change that is going to test the players mental and physical capacities. The storylines have already been plentiful this week so let’s dive into those and see what to watch for this week.

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To start the week we got hit with the unfortunate news of Justin Thomas having to withdraw due to the lingering wrist injury that he suffered during The Honda Classic. JT was my favorite to win this tournament as I thought his length would greatly benefit him, but it just wasn’t to be this week. He has a long career ahead of him and is more than capable of capturing more major titles. This was a move to ensure health for the remainder of the year and career, so it’s hard to blame the guy for making the tough decision to bounce out of this tournament.

Another unfortunate news story was Tiger Woods getting hit with a wrongful death suit. Tiger has been preparing for two weeks now at this course, so will the lawsuit weigh heavily on his mind? The alleged occurrence happened a few months ago and that certainly didn’t affect him during The Masters, but now that the lawsuit is out there maybe that’ll be on his mind during the week.

We like to think of Tiger as “super human,” but a death that allegedly could’ve been avoided has to be hard to just wipe away for a matter of four days.

Tiger Woods of the United States looks on during a practice round…

Tiger Woods of the United States looks on during a practice round prior to the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 14, 2019 in Bethpage, New York. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

While thinking of news that came out this week, let’s not forget that John Daly was granted permission to utilize a golf cart this week. There has been plenty of criticism and I won’t add on to that criticism because I love seeing John in the field. He probably won’t make the cut so this will soon be forgotten, but if he does make the cut and contends then you can be assured the snarky remarks will be plentiful from competitors and fans alike.

John Daly looks at his scorecard on the second hole during round one…

John Daly looks at his scorecard on the second hole during round one of the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands Country Club on May 03, 2019 in The Woodlands, Texas. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

As for the play itself this week, let’s not even try to sugarcoat it, it’s going to be brutal! This is a par-70 course that plays around 7,500 yards, but with the wet, cold, and wind it’ll play more like 7,700 yards or more. This is a lot of golf course that will only offer about 4-5 holes with a realistic birdie opportunity, meaning the final score on Sunday evening will be low (-4 would be a great week of golf).

Alex Bjork of Sweden plays a shot on the 18th hole during a practice…

Alex Bjork of Sweden plays a shot on the 18th hole during a practice round prior to the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 14, 2019 in Bethpage, New York. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Holes 1 and 2 give you a great opportunity to get off to a good start, heading to the 3^rd at E or worse will leave a tough road ahead. The 4^th hole is a gettable par-5 and will more than likely play as the easiest hole on the course. The 6^th is a potential birdie hole as long as you hit a good approach as it’ll play just over 400 yards will give the entire field a chance of making a score before heading to the latter third of the inward nine. 13 is the 2^nd of the par-5s and will be a three-shot hole for a vast majority of the field, it should yield some birdies though nonetheless. And finally there’s 18 which I think is a fairly easy finish to the round, but that’s only if the first 17 holes haven’t completely drained you.

Road crossing signage is displayed during a practice round prior to…

Road crossing signage is displayed during a practice round prior to the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 13, 2019 in Bethpage, New York. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

7, 10, and 12 are all par-4s that will be playing between 505-525 yards. It’s obvious just by looking at the yardage that a long and accurate drive is needed followed by an approach within 40’ to avoid the big number. 15 and 16 are also going to be tough by playing between 480-490 yards in length, again these are tough tests that require distance, accuracy, and precision.

The par-3s are no sleepers as they’re all protected by strategically placed bunkers and slight elevation changes. Any chips or pitches needed to get on the green will all but guarantee a dropped shot, especially if the tee balls go long.

Signage is displayed during a practice round prior to the 2019 PGA…

Signage is displayed during a practice round prior to the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 13, 2019 in Bethpage, New York. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The rough has been a major talking point and it should be, it’s seemingly always a factor at this course. The bunkers in my opinion don’t get enough love (or hate depending on how you look at it). Any shots, whether that be off the tee or off approach shots that find the bunkers will require the utmost patience and focus to try getting up-and-down to save par.

I don’t live in the state of New York so I’ll say this, I’d be willing to bet money that at least 80% of balls that find bunkers result in bogeys or worse.

Golfers play on the 18th hole of the Bethpage Black Course at…

Golfers play on the 18th hole of the Bethpage Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Long Island, New York on April 16, 2019. The public golf course is the site of the 2019 PGA Championships. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

So now to bring this to a conclusion, it’s time for me to reveal who I think will win the PGA Championship. As stated earlier, Justin Thomas had been my favorite to win this tournament since last August. He’s out of the field so I had to do some soul searching to find a replacement winner.

For a short while I was leaning heavily toward Jon Rahm because he has too much talent to not have won a major title yet. Yes I know he’s extremely young, but it’s getting to be about that time for him to break through. The same can be said for Xander Schauffle, but I can’t get over his struggles around February and March to confidently say he’s a 2019 major champion. Watching this Bruins-Hurricanes series is making me want to take a slight underdog, but it just won’t be the case this week (that goes for the Hurricanes as well).

My pick for the week, and to become a two-time major winner, is Dustin Johnson. The last time we saw DJ was at the RBC Heritage, where he stunk up Hilton Head in the final round after holding the lead. I like him this week though because he bounces back extremely well after bad finishes to rounds and he has the length and short game to get around this golf course.

The only concern I have is the putter; if it’s anything like the final 36 holes at Shinnecock then it may be a tough run (I’m blaming the putting woes more on the USGA than I am DJ).

Dustin Johnson after finishing on the 4th hole during the second…

Dustin Johnson after finishing on the 4th hole during the second round of The Barclays played at Bethpage State Park the Black Course in Farmingdale,NY. The Barclays is part of the Fed Ex Cup. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

So there you have it, a preview of what to watch for and a winner for the 2019 PGA Championship. If you don’t agree with my winning pick, please let me know who you like this week on Twitter and/or Instagram.

Enjoy major championship golf this week, it will surely be an epic week of viewership that’ll be talked about for many years to come. Cheers!

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