The Final Major - PGA Championship Preview

Tee-off: 8/13/2009

Padraig Harrington will never forget it. The reigning USPGA Champion had finally found his stroke.

After a dismal 2009 where he had missed the cut in 8 out of 14 tournaments and had finished 65th at the British Open, Harrington was three strokes ahead of arguably the best golfer in the history of the sport, Tiger Woods.

Harrington was feeling good about himself and he wasn’t afraid of Tiger, but then it happened, the thing that Harrington will never forget, the thing that could very well haunt him going into this week’s PGA Championship.

Harrington boffed it. He boffed it so badly that if he were a child and his golf instructor had been there, he would have gotten rapped across his knuckles. With Woods making a fantastic 182 yard third shot on the 16th setting up a birdie to tie Harrington who was a stroke ahead, all Paddy had to do was get the ball close to keep pace with his rival. It lied on the rough behind the green, ready for his pitch shot, a shot he had performed admirably many times before, to put it close to the hole.

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But Paddy boffed it. He boffed the shot so badly, it was hit so hard, and bounced so high, that the momentum carried it across the green and into the water.

The shot had turned Harrington’s 1 stroke lead into a 3 stroke deficit and Tiger Woods won his 70th lifetime PGA Tournament. We’ll have to wait and see if Harrington, the 2008 USPGA Champion, will let his awful 16th at the WGC-Bridgestone affect his game this week at Hazeltine.

Let’s take a look at some of the key contenders going into PGA Championship Week.

Contenders

Tiger Woods - - Eldrick Woods made his daddy proud, as pop’s no doubt was cheering his boy on from heaven, by making that fantastic 182 yard shot onto the green on the 16th at the WGC-Bridgestone. With victories in the last two PGA Events, Woods is easily the favorite to win the PGA Championship this week. He finished 2nd in Hazeltine in 2002 and knows the course well. He’ll be tough.

Padraig Harrington - - Harrington followed up the disastrous 16th with pars on both the 17th and 18th. At that point, after the incredibly awful shot from the rough behind the green, Paddy just wanted to get his swing back. It’s probably not back quite yet, but Harrington should be a player this week at Hazeltine as he can bounce back from adversity as well as anybody.

Phil Mickelson - - Lefty finished at +7 at the Firestone Country Club, but could have done worse considering it was his first competitive rounds of golf since the U.S. Open. He shot a very nice 70 and a very nice 69 before 75’s and 73’s on Saturday and Sunday. Mickelson could be tough if he takes his time this week and just makes shots. Mentally, he will have to forget the fact that both his wife and mother are fighting cancer.

Angel Cabrera - - The 2009 Masters winner looked fantastic out there and no doubt is at the top of his game. Whatever has been ailing him after the Masters no longer seems to be an issue. Cabrera has won two majors and could very well be peaking at the right moment again.