A marked improvement
I’m just going to come right out and say it. Watching Golf on TV isn’t the most exciting thing that you can do. Even if you are a fanatic like me. Most PGA Tour events are about as exciting as The Antique Roadshow. They have their moments, but most of the time it’s just more of the same. The commentary doesn’t help either. Nothing like stating the obvious 90% of the time. God forbid if it’s overcast. Even the network camera men have a difficult time locating where balls landed. Good luck with figuring it out from home. Now with all that having been said. I do get a little excited for the Majors.
My four Majors in order from my most favourite to the least is The Masters, The Open, The U.S. Open, and then the PGA Championship. Although it isn’t a Major I actually like The Players Championship more than the U.S. Open, and the PGA. Why so little love for the PGA you wonder. Well traditionally it’s played on the easiest course of the bunch. I prefer seeing the top Golfers tested. The other three Majors are filled with tradition, and a substantial amount of reverence. The PGA Championship just feels a bit plastic to me. It’s the last Major of the Season, so fans of the sport have witnessed a fair amount of drama in previous events by then. Great shots begin to feel a bit pedestrian when you’ve already seen them achieved numerous times.
Well I’m watching the final round of the PGA Championship while writing this, and it’s more than grabbed my attention. First of all, the changes that have been made to Quail Hollow in preparation for this event are stellar. They took what was once a course that could be dominated by brute force long hitters. They’ve turned it into a course that rewards precise Tee shots, and calculated risk, over basic long driving. Any mistake made on this course can punish even the best scramblers. I’ve complained that the PGA is far too easy at times. Well it’s Sunday and the final group has just begun the back nine. Currently five Players are tied for the lead at only 7 under par. With the most difficult section of the course still to come. This is anyone’s PGA Championship to win. Another considerate addition for us watching at home is the addition of shot tracer technology when Players Tee off. Actually getting to see how each Player shapes their shot. It adds an element that was sorely missing from most PGA Tour broadcasts. Not only do you get to see the end result of each Tee shot. You begin to understand why each Player approaches each shot the way they do.
So only the final group is left on the course. Justin Thomas out paced the field and has a 2 shot lead. Only Kisner can catch him, but after missing his Birdie putt on 17 it seems very unlikely. It was on the tenth Hole when I realized Thomas was going to win it. Call it fate, luck, or divine intervention. It began with an errant Tee shot. It looked like he might have caught it out of the heel. He hit a massive Draw heading way left of the Fairway. What was likely to take Birdie, or maybe even Par out of the equation turned into a great Drive when his ball ricocheted off a tree, and landed in the Fairway. His approach shot to the Green went long. Still it left him with a relatively easy chip to get up and down for Birdie. What should have been an easy Chip came out soft from the Bermuda rough, and left a tricky 8 footer. Thomas’ Putt literally stopped on the left edge of the cup. How it didn’t go in amazed everyone. Thomas took the full 10 seconds to give it a chance to drop. In the tenth second it did!
From that moment on Thomas played like a man destined to win, and win he did.
Your 2017 PGA Champion is Justin Thomas!
