PGA Championship

The summer is always when the PGA tour really takes off. Suddenly though, the golfing year is entering their big finish. This week is the last major of the year, the PGA Championship, which will be held at Valhalla. Soon the FedEx Cup Playoffs will be underway too. Then, the Ryder Cup. Exciting stuff!

Today, we’ll just stick to our normal preview:

Key Holes at Valhalla

#2 – “The Ridge” – After a generous opening hole, this par 4 is daunting at roughly 500 yards. Water, bunkers, and trees line the fairway and surround the green. Par is a great score here.

#6 – “The Bear” – Similar to the second hole, this beast of a par 4 plays nearly 500 yards. What makes this hole different is the complex green with a deep bunker on the left and a shaved run off to the right.

#7 – “Players Pick” – As the name indicates, this is a risk/reward hole. There is a split fairway that can make the hole shorter, but it brings water and rough well into play. The other route though clearly makes it a three shot hole. This is also the only par 5 on the front, so players will feel pressure to perform.

#13 – “The Island” – This is a short par 4, but the green is an island which makes it both fun and challenging. Accuracy will rule the day here, particularly with the short iron approach.

#16/#18 – “Down the Stretch” and “Gahm Over” are the key finishing holes, as both are long and challenging. The difference is that 18 is a par 5, so it does allow an opportunity to birdie.

Pick 5 Challenge

For those who are not familiar, for many PGA Tour evens we pick 5 players that we think will do well. Greg leads the tight race this year 488 to 478. We gave each contestant freedom to choose any five players they wish.

Greg's Picks

Rory McIlroy

Sergio Garcia

Adam Scott

Marc Leishman

Jim Furyk

Andrew's Picks

Rory McIlroy

Adam Scott

Rickie Fowler

Justin Rose

Phil Mickelson

Tiger Woods

While it hasn’t been announced, most assume Tiger Woods will not play this week after once again having back trouble (although he’s practicing today). He’ll miss the Fedex Cup and will likely then miss the Ryder Cup as well. The question we ask is: Will he ever win another major?

Greg – No, he won’t. Tiger continues to be riddled with injuries year after year, in some important parts of the body. Suddenly, he’s also fairly old now and is quickly running out of time. I know golfers can age well and still win in their 40’s, but recently it’s the younger guys that have dominated.

Andrew – I’ve said yes to this question for many years, ever since the doubting started. I’m seriously questioning it now (my head is telling me no), but I’m stubborn so I’ll still say yes. He needs to get fully healthy, get his putting back on track, and put the driver away. He should take the rest of the year off resting and working on his game. That way he’ll be ready to roll in 2015.

Intriguing Pairings

Here are three I love:

Bubba Watson/Martin Kaymer/Rory McIlroy – The three major champs in 2014 will be playing together as they typically do at the PGA Championship. Rory in particular is on top of the golfing world after retaking #1 in the world rankings from Adam Scott.

Adam Scott/Jordan Spieth/Lee Westwood – Speaking of Scott, he’s anxious to take back #1 this week. Spieth is one of my favorite young players on the verge of big things, and Westwood is the best player never to win a major. Can it happen now?

Matt Kuchar/Louis Oosthuizen/Justin Rose – The only non-major champion here is Kuchar, but he’s one of the most consistent performers on tour. Likely, someone from this group will seriously be in the mix this weekend, and potentially all three.

Like always, let us know your thoughts. Feel free to pick five guys yourself and compete against us. Let us know what you are looking forward to. And don't miss the action, particularly on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!

By: The Sports Guys

US Open - Golf

We haven't blogged in a while, but the US Open has pulled us from our shell again. We all know Tiger Woods isn't participating, but the rest of the stars are in play. Can Phil finally win his US Open? Can Bubba win the year's first two majors? Is Rory or Scott going to step into those big boy shoes with Woods out? Can Spieth win his first major? Or can a "nobody" win like last time the event was at Pinehurst (Campbell)? Let's skip the commentary... here are our picks:

Greg's Picks

Bubba Watson
Dustin Johnson
Zach Johnson
Adam Scott
Jordan Spieth

Andrew's Picks

Phil Mickelson
Jordan Spieth
Matt Kuchar
Rory McIlroy
Rickie Fowler

By: The Sports Guys

The Players Championship

The Masters brought us April excitement, but May is all about the Players. Before we get into previewing the event, let's recap 2013 on the PGA Tour in three points:

1. Tiger Woods is out, has been out, and will be out. He's currently rehabbing after back surgery. He originally was targeting The Open Championship for his return, but he recently stated that rehab is slow. Maybe that won't happen.

2. Bubba Watson took home the green jacket at the Masters. It was his second victory there in three seasons.

3. Overall though, the big players are struggling. Rory recently fell out of the top ten. And there aren't many marquee players winning events. Lots of first time winners, which is actually refreshing.

So all of that helps sets the stage for one of the biggest non-major events of the year. The Players Championship is always one of my favorites, in large part because of the course it is played on: TPC Sawgrass. It was designed by Pete Dye, my favorite in the profession. He first drew this gem on the backs of napkins.

For those of you not familiar with the golf course, you better start getting familiar with it. This course is the ultimate stadium, and the best the world has to offer for golf in that regard. Here are some of the key holes:

#1 – In classic Pete Dye style, this hole features a weird angled tee shot. Because of that, this hole is the second hardest driving hole on the entire course. Not exactly a great way to start a round. But since it plays around 420 yards, those in the fairway will have a short iron in hand on their approach. Those folks can start with a birdie.

#7/#15 – These great par 4’s play right in the middle of each nine. Once again, challenging tee shots begin each hole, but equally tough second shots wait. The greens contain little bumps and nuances, which can make them play fierce depending on where players are. These holes make up the meat of the course.

#16 – This par 5 is the ultimate risk/reward hole. It’s not that long so it brings eagles into play. But there is sand, trees, turns, and water, which brings double bogeys into play also. In order to win the tournament, you better play this hole well, especially on Sunday.

#17 – This is the most famous hole in golf and this tournament. This island hole is the centerpiece of one of the best finishes on tour. It’s not a long hole, but with wind, pressure from the tourney, and thousands of screaming fans surrounding the lake, this hole can make or break you.

Now let's break down the field:

Pick 5 Challenge

We'll begin with our picks in our "Pick 5 Challenge". For those who are not familiar, for various PGA Tour events, we pick 5 players in different categories that we think will do well. Greg leads the competition so far this year 340 to 322. This week, each player is free to pick any five players they want (no categories). Should be interesting... Here are our picks:

Greg's Picks

Matt Kuchar

Jordan Spieth

Adam Scott

Justin Rose

Sergio Garcia

Andrew's Picks

Matt Kuchar

Jim Furyk

Dustin Johnson

Rory McIlroy

Lee Westwood

Intriguing Pairings

Dustin Johnson/Phil Mickelson/Sergio Garcia - Now this is fun. Great ball-strikers, which typically bodes well for a Pete Dye course.

Adam Scott/Rickie Fowler/Steve Stricker - The best player in the field with the young, flamboyant American, and the calm, collected veteran. Great contrast in styles here.

Matt Kuchar/Bubba Watson/Jimmy Walker - Kuchar has been one of the best players on tour this season. Bubba has won golf's only major thusfar. And Walker is coming off a terrific 2013 and looking to build on to his young resume.

Like always, let us know your thoughts. Feel free to pick five guys yourself and compete against us. Let us know what you are looking forward to always. And don't miss the action, particularly on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!

By: The Sports Guys

The Masters

The first major in golf is here and it is the most prestigious of them all: The Masters. Before we get into previewing the event, let's recap 2014 on the PGA Tour:

1. Tiger Woods is injured. That's been a common theme for the last 8 years or so, but this will be his first time missing the Masters since he was young.

2. Three players can take over #1 in the world with a win this week. Adam Scott would need a two-way tie for third (or better) to take over. Henrik Stenson would need a two-way tie for second (or better) to get to #1. Jason Day would need to win.

3. Lots of new winners. I'm not looking at the exact stats, but we are seeing some new blood at the top of some of these tourneys. One such player is Patrick Reed, who won a big WGC event.

4. And in the biggest event thus far in 2014, Jason Day won the WGC Match Play Championship.

So that sets the stage for the first major of the year. For those of you not familiar with the golf course, you will hear all weekend that the back nine on Sunday is when the real tournament starts. Here are some of the key holes:

11 - 13, nicknamed "Amen Corner" - This consists of a tough par 4 and par 3, then a very important reachable par 5. Getting through 11 and 12 unscathed is important, but taking advantage of 13 is vital. NOTE: Look up Phil Mickelson's second shot at 13 in 2010 if you want to see excitement.

15 - Similar to 13, this is a reachable par 5 that needs to be birdied or better to keep pace with the field and the leaders... especially on Sunday. Last year, it was a bad break hitting the flag stick and rolling into the water that led to Tiger's penalized drop. I think that made headlines...

16 - This par 3 can play difficult depending on the pin location. But the Sunday pin location makes for excitement as we will see bogeys, birdies, and even a likely hole-in-one. NOTE: Look up Tiger Wood's chip in on this hole on youtube (2005). My favorite shot of the Masters, ever.

18 - The finishing hole in any tournament is important, but this one can play brutal if into the wind. Players will likely be satisfied with a par with the difficult wind (like in 2013), and the Sunday pin is placed in a gully with lots of turns.

Now let's break down the field:

Pick 5 Challenge

We'll begin with our picks in our weekly "Pick 5 Challenge". For those who are not familiar, for each PGA Tour event we pick 5 players in different categories who we think will do well. Andrew leads the competition so far this year 272 to 262. This week our categories are based on age. We must pick one player in each of these age ranges: Under 25, 25-30, 30-35, 35-40, and 40+. Here are our picks:

Greg's Picks

Under 25: Jordan Spieth (20)
25-30: Jason Day (26)
30-35: Adam Scott (33)
35-40: Zach Johnson (38)
Over 40: Lee Westwood (40)

Andrew's Picks

Under 25: Rory McIlroy (24)
25-30: Charl Schwartzel (29)
30-35: Sergio Garcia (34)
35-40: Matt Kuchar (35)
Over 40: Phil Mickelson (43)

Intriguing Pairings

McDowell/Fowler/Walker - McDowell is a grizzled vet and he's paired with young talents Fowler and Walker. Fans would love it if this group was making a charge.

Scott/Dufner/Fitzpatrick - Adam Scott is the defending champ and highest ranked player in the field. Dufner is one of the best players in the country as well. And Fitzpatrick is the defending US Amateur Champ. Should be fun.

Spieth/Reed/McIlroy - This is the group I'd follow if I was attending. All young, all exciting, and all winners.

Day/D. Johnson/Stenson - Day and Stenson each can take over #1 in the world this week. And Dustin is still searching for that first major after so many close calls.

Watson/Donald/Garcia - Bubba won this tourney a couple years ago. Donald and Garcia have both hovered around the top of the game for years. Will it be the year for any of them?

Mickelson/Els/Rose - This is the old group (although Rose isn't too old). And any group with Phil at the Masters is marquee

Like always, let us know your thoughts. Feel free to pick five guys yourself and compete against us. Let us know what you are looking forward to always. And don't miss the action, particularly on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!

By: The Sports Guys

WGC - Cadillac Championship

Another week, another tourney, another addition of the Pick 5 Challenge. This week is a big WGC event at the Blue Monster at Doral. It's a great site and a great field. Let's hope the tourney can be as exciting as last week's Honda Classic. That 4 man playoff was intense. First off, here are the updated 2014 standings:

Greg: 195 Points
Andrew: 193 Points

This week (as we've done all year), we can pick anyone. I like the freedom. Here are our selections:

Greg

Justin Rose
Zach Johnson
Steve Stricker
Graham Delaet
Victor Dubuisson

Andrew

Rory McIlroy
Matt Kuchar
Keegan Bradley
Nick Watney
Henrik Stenson

By: The Sports Guys

Honda Classic

Last week in golf, we watched an epic Match Play Championship. Jason Day ended up winning a marathon match in the finals, which is a big step for a very talented young player. This week there is yet another big event, The Honda Classic.

This is played at a great course in Florida, one that the players love. And yes, the big names are playing (Tiger, Phil, Scott, Rory, etc). We are inching closer and closer to the year's first major (Masters), so these tourneys are great previews.

This week for our Pick 5 Challenge, we were free to choose any five players. Here's how it turned out:

Greg

Ted Potter Jr.
Carl Pettersson
Adam Scott
Matteo Manassero
Y.E. Yang

Andrew

Tiger Woods
Rickie Fowler
Michael Thompson
Louis Oosthuizen
Sergio Garcia

By: The Sports Guys

Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

We kicked off our "Pick 5" Season at the Farmer's Insurance Open. It was an up and down battle, but here are the final results:

Andrew - 72 Points
Greg - 62 Points

We resume the battle at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. We could pick 3 USA players, but we had to pick 2 international guys also. Here are the picks for this week:

Greg

Russell Henly
Bo Van Pelt
Dustin Johnson
Sang Moon Bae
Jason Day

Andrew

Graeme McDowell
Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Nick Watney
John Senden

Play along in the comment section if you'd like. Later!

By: The Sports Guys

Farmers Insurance Open

This is our first golf challenge of the season. This is also the first "big" tournament of the PGA Tour season. We will engage in a yearlong competition picking golf picks. This week we can pick any five players we want. Here you go:

Greg's Picks

Tiger Woods
John Huh
Graham Delaet
Jordan Spieth
Billy Horschel

Andrew's Picks

Tiger Woods
Jason Day
Keegan Bradley
Brandt Snedeker
KJ Choi

By: The Sports Guys

President's Cup Preview

The President’s Cup begins tomorrow featuring 12 American golfers against 12 International golfers. The top ten on each squad qualified over the last two years, with the remaining two players earning “captain’s picks.” Full rosters for the event can be found online.

Group play begins Thursday and lasts through Saturday. Singles matches take place on Sunday. Whichever team earns the most points wins. Today we’ll preview the event by answering a 12-pack of questions:

If any, which player isn't here that should be (got snubbed on a captain’s pick)?

Greg – As for the US, an argument could be made for Dustin Johnson or Bubba Watson, but I do not really feel that anyone was snubbed. The US's best 12 players are here. Similar for the Internationals… Arguments for KJ Choi and Y.E. Yang could be made as they would be better captains picks than Brendan De Jonge and Marc Leishman in my opinion. Don't think you can say anyone was "snubbed" though.

Andrew – I’m fine with both sides actually. The only “snub” that could be argued is Jim Furyk for the USA. He has been playing great recently and was 12^th on the standings for qualification. He also has a lot of experience in these events. But Webb was 11^th and Jordan Spieth had more points this year and was playing potentially better. So I’m in agreement with the captain’s selections.

International Breakout Player

Greg - Graham DeLaet. Most experts are picking Hideki Matsuyama and they could be right, but DeLaet had a strong finish to the PGA tour season and I think he has a good week.

Andrew – I also love DeLaet, but I’ll go with Matsuyama. People don’t know much about him but he is a solid player that showed up in some big events late in the year.

USA Breakout Player

Greg - Can any of these guys break out? They are all very established players. I'm going to say Hunter Mahan because he has the most to prove. He will have the biggest chip on his shoulder and could go undefeated.

Andrew – At last year’s Ryder Cup it was Keegan Bradley that broke out. This year I’ll go with Jordan Spieth. We all know about him already, but this is his first team competition. I think he has the right makeup to play well and will prove he deserved a captain’s pick.

International MVP

Greg - Jason Day. He is one of the better competitors on tour and is a member at Muirfield Village. He lives only 23 miles from the course and plays there once a week during the year when he is there. He knows the course the best and it will show in his scores.

Andrew – Hard to argue with Greg but I’ll pick Adam Scott. He had a great year and comes in hot after a nice Fedex Cup run. He has the mindset that excels in match play.

USA MVP

Greg - Jordan Spieth, who is arguably the best player in the world currently. Nearly stole the tour championship from Henrik Stenson and has shown ice in his veins more than once in pressure situations this year. He will be the strongest of the US players.

Andrew – Zach Johnson, assuming he gets put into a lot of matches. He is also redhot right now and putting is so key in these competitions, which he excels at.

Which International Player will struggle?

Greg - Marc Leishman. I already noted I wouldn’t have selected him.

Andrew – Ernie Els will struggle. He’s battled with injuries and poor play ever since he won that major last year.

Which USA Player will struggle?

Greg – Phil Mickelson. Just a hunch.

Andrew – Hunter Mahan. It’s tough to choose a guy but he hasn’t played that great the second half of the year and sometimes struggles in these team things.

What International Pairing do you want to see together in groups?

Greg - Adam Scott/Angel Cabrera - Their finish at the Masters this year was memorable and I'd like to see the combo of their length and GIR.

Andrew – Adam Scott/Jason Day – This is a powerhouse team I think they could ride to a victory in every group session, no matter who they face.

What USA Pairing do you want to see together in groups?

Greg - Bill Haas/Keegan Bradley. I know Phil loves to play with Keegan, but I think that Haas has the quiet confidence to get Keegan playing well.

Andrew – I’ll be okay seeing groups that have played well in the past together… Keegan/Phil and Tiger/Stricker. But I’d love to see Spieth play with a big boy like Tiger and Phil and create that young/old magic similar to Keegan/Phil in Ryder Cup last year.

What singles matchups do you want to see Sunday?

Greg - Tiger vs. Adam Scott (for obvious reasons, and Scott will win). I’d also enjoy Hunter Mahan vs. Jason Day, and Jordan Spieth vs. Hideki Matsuyama.

Andrew – I’m all in on Tiger vs. Scott. They are arguably the best two players in the world, that don’t really like each other. And you have the whole caddie situation. And Tiger would win.

Who will win and will it be close?

Greg - The US will win, and no, it won't be close. The US team is miles better than the International team from top to bottom and at every position. 6 of the 12 US players have won majors (4 for International team), and the members of the US team are all playing better than their International counterparts (with the exception of Tiger at the moment).

Andrew – Agree with Greg. The USA owns this competition and they will again.

What's your overall opinion on the President's Cup?

Greg - I think it is a more fun version of the Ryder Cup. Even if the US loses it won't matter that much, and the International team is nowhere near as good as the Euro teams of the Ryder cup. It also does not have the tradition or suspense that the Ryder Cup has. Maybe later on in its existence it will have more draw, but to me it does not feel like it is a "must watch" event.

Andrew – I enjoy the President’s Cup but wish it was more competitive. It seems that Internationally there isn’t as much talent these days so it is always a blowout, unlike the Ryder Cup. Plus, since people are plucked from all over, it’s hard for their team to gel like the Euro’s.

By: The Sports Guys