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A Love for the PGA Championship 1997 champion should fare well at Medinah Country Club
Posted: Thursday August 12, 1999 06:16 PM
By Benjamin Berman, CNN/SI The PGA Championship is the final major of the millennium and who better to win it than Davis Love III? Love has been outstanding in 1999, notching 10 top-10 finishes, including three seconds in only 15 events. Love has a special tie to this event, too. In 1997, he won the PGA Championship by five strokes with a remarkable 11-under 269. During the final 18 holes -- what he refers to as the best round he ever played -- Love remembered his father, who was killed in a 1988 plane crash. Fittingly, a rainbow crossed the sky as he made his final putt. So why not again? Not only would he fit in perfectly with the two-time winners of other majors in 1999 (Jose Maria Olazabal at the Masters; Payne Stewart at the U.S. Open), but Love's game is perfect for Medinah -- if that is possible. He is long off the tee, and when he is on, his touch around the greens is one of the best. These traits are necessary at Medinah Country Club, which will play as a par-72 at 7,401 yards, the longest course for a major since Columbine Country Club played 35 yards longer in the mile-high air of Colorado at the 1967 PGA Championship. He also is playing his best major golf. This year, Love finished second at the Masters, 12th at the U.S. Open and seventh at the British Open. Still, there is one question mark even in Love's consistent game. Back trouble has kept him off the tour at times in 1999, and he hasn't won since April 1998 at the MCI Classic. However, Love's PGA experience and wisdom appears to be paying off. He sat out some events specifically to rest for the majors and the result is his best golf every time plays. Likely to be on the leaderboard all week, don't be surprised if Davis Love III ends his victory drought this week and captures his second PGA Championship. THE CONTENDERSSteve Elkington: Another guy who has battled injuries and illness recently. No. 2 in all-time earnings in the PGA Championship, Elkington won the event in 1995, finished third in 1998 and 1996, and was seventh in 1994. With his accurate play from tee to green and fine touch with the flatstick, Elk's week may come down to distance off the tee. Tiger Woods: When he is on, he's the best. When he's off, he's darn close. Arguably the best driver on tour, Tiger has shown great touch around the greens. He had five top-10 finishes and three victories in a one-month span this season, briefly reclaiming the No. 1 spot. He also has shown brilliance at recent majors, finishing in a tie for third at the U.S. Open and in a tie for seventh at the British Open. If he putts well, look for him to run away with his second major. Phil Mickelson: Apologies to David Duval, but Mickelson still holds the label of "best to never win a major." He is long off the tee and has the best touch around the green -- a perfect diet for Medinah. However, Mickelson has taken a lot of time off the Tour of late to spend time with his wife and newborn baby. However, if shakes off the rust, this may be his week. A memorable second-place finish at the 1999 U.S. Open was marred by a horrific British Open. Still, in 16 events he has five top-10 finishes. You never know: After this week, Duval may have a lock on the best never to win a big one. THE DARK HORSEHale Irwin: The best player in Senior Tour history and yet he is a dark horse on the PGA Tour. Irwin won the 1990 U.S. Open on this Medinah course with a memorable 50-foot birdie putt on the final hole. Last seen winning the Seniors' Burnet Classic, Irwin has won five of his past nine events on the older guys' circuit. Youngsters take notice, his game may not be ideal for Medinah, but his mindset is. If Irwin gets rolling, he may not only win this event, he may rejoin the PGA. And would the Seniors' other star, Bruce Fleisher, love that.
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