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Tournament At A Glance
Latest: Thursday August 17, 2000 08:34 AM
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Tiger Woods is aiming for his third major of the year, and most of the PGA Tour hopes he won't leave them in the dust. AP |
By John L. Byrwa, CNNSI.com
Storylines we're following at the PGA Championship:
There is no bigger story line this week than Tiger Woods (Is there ever?) Having completed the career Grand Slam in record fashion last month at St. Andrews, Woods takes aim at becoming the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one season. "For me, I'm going to give everything I have to put myself in position to hopefully win the tournament," Woods said. "Whatever happens happens. But I'm not here to duplicate what Hogan did in '53. That's just a byproduct of winning the tournament."
He's bid farewell to the U.S. Open and taken his last swings in a British Open. Now Jack Nicklaus in all likelihood will make his final appearance in the PGA Championship. And it's only fitting that Nicklaus, one of only two five-time winners of the PGA Championship, will be in the same group as Woods when the first round commences Thursday morning.
David Duval will have to wait until next year before he can shed the ignominious label of Best Player Never to Win a Major. Duval, who battled back pain at the British Open, succumbed to what was described as a lower-back strain and was forced to withdraw from the tournament on Tuesday. Regardless, Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie are still in the field.
The first Shark sighting in almost two months came last week at The International. Greg Norman, who underwent hip surgery seven weeks ago, finished fourth in Denver and said he's more than fit to make a run at his third major. "I do like my chances," Norman, 45, said. "I feel free, I feel loose."
| FEATURED COLUMN | | THE EXPERTS' PICKS |
| SI's Alan Shipnuck is two-for-two this season picking Tiger Woods to win majors. So why should we doubt Shipnuck when he opines that Woods will win the PGA Championship? Because he says that the law of averages is bound to catch up with Woods. Besides that, haven't you heard of the Time magazine cover jinx? | | Believe it or not, not all of our so-called experts think Tiger Woods is the man to beat this week at Valhalla. In fact, three of the six contend that Woods is no better than a top contender. So who do they think will walk off with the Wanamaker Trophy come Sunday? Check out our experts' picks and see their predictions. |
| ON FIRE | | ON ICE |
 Yeah, right, as if we need to tell you. Along with running away with the last two majors, winning the U.S. and British Opens by a total of 27 shots, Tiger Woods has won 12 of his last 24 PGA Tour events. To quote Nick Faldo, who in 1992 said this about Fred Couples, then the world's hottest player, "If the man was any hotter, he'd have to wear asbestos shorts." | |  He's not exactly cold, but Colin Montgomerie is close to frosty, at least with the flat stick. Montgomerie putted woefully last week at the British Masters, and was never a factor at the British Open. But Monty has shed 20 pounds since the Open -- "By keeping my mouth shut and not eating after 7 p.m.," he said -- and says he has convinced himself he can win in the States. |
| WHERE THE ACTION'S AT | | THE LIST |
| The seventh hole should produce plenty of fun. With two fairways, the par 5 can play as long as 597 yards using the left, and 557 yards using the right. The left fairway makes the green reachable in two, but it is surrounded by rough and a gnarly hazard. The safe route is on the right, laying up and leaving a wedge to an elevated green protected by two bunkers. You can get a good look at No. 7 by visiting CNNSI.com's video hole flyovers of Valhalla. | | Tiger Woods can become the first player to win back-to-back PGA Championship titles since the tournament went to a stroke-play format in 1958. Under the match-play format, only five players won consecutive titles: Jim Barnes (1916, 1919, no matches were played in 1917-'18) Gene Sarazen (1922-'23) Walter Hagen (1924-'27) Leo Diegel (1928-'29) Denny Shute (1936-'37). |
| STATITUDES OF THE WEEK |
| 75 | | Highest first-round score by an eventual winner. John Mahaffey shot a 4-over-par 75 in the opening round. Mahaffey proceeded to fire a final-round 66 to complete a seven-stroke Sunday comeback, the biggest in tournament history. PGA Championship, By the Numbers |
| THEY SAID IT |
| "We all have our chances and we just have to believe in ourselves. You know, don't be thinking about Tiger; just be thinking about your own game and try to shoot as many under pars as you can." -- Sergio Garcia, on who he thinks has the best chance of beating Tiger Woods. |
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