Quailish, Hollowish Thoughts Before The Final Round Of The PGA Championship 2017 – In A Word, Ugh!

Before the final round of the 2017 PGA Championship 2017 from Quail Hollow in North Carolina gets underway, here are some random thoughts on the events so far:

-What a snoozefest.  No big names on the leaderboard.  Kevin Who? (Full disclosure:  Kisner’s numbers were quite appealing as I prepared  to make  my fantasy golf selections, and I failed to pull the trigger, so sour grapes may be a factor here).  The one big story coming onto the tournament, Jordan  Spieth becoming the sixth career Grand Slam winner has gone south.  If I don’t get the opportunity to watch any of the final round I will not be disappointed.

-The PGA can move its championship to April, May , June or Mars, for that matter, in the coming years for all I care.  It is,  and will always be, the fourth major, regardless of its position  in the golf Majors rota. 

- Please stop with the Green Mile fascination already.   Comparing holes on a golf course to the last walk of a condemned person about to be executed in real life is laughable. Besides, I’ll take waist- high fescue, deep bunkers and the challenge of the elements (read, the British Open) over water hazards any day. 

-Hideki Matsuyama is a very good golfer.  He may turn out to be a great golfer some day. He may even win this tournament and become the first Japanese golfer to win a major, a distinction the greatest Japanese golfer, WGHOF member Jumbo Ozaki could not accomplish.   But his swing is unwatchable.  The game of golf is slow enough as it is, on both the professional and duffer level.  (See the earlier Jason “All” Day post here describing the ills of slow play.)  If Matsuyama can maintain that deliberate swing as he grows older, and still win tournaments, then bless his heart.  But don’t make me watch it, please.

-Can we stop with the Bermuda grass fetish, please.   Champion Ultradwarf Bermudagrass in the greens, some other variety of Bermuda to create the rough on the course, Bermuda all around.  Stop trying to trick up the courses (three new holes just for the tournament, 500-yard+ par fours, come on)  and let the golfers just play golf.   

Fore!!

Copyright R.E. Kelly 2012-2017

AMDG

Champion Golfer of the Year Chases History

Jordan Spieth’s official title as winner of the 2017  Open Championship at Royal Birkdale is “Champion Golfer Of The Year”.  This quaint title is derived from the Claret Jug itself.  Don’t you know, the Claret Jug has a formal name.  The Claret Jug’s proper name is the Golf Champion Trophy.  The Golf Champion Trophy dates back to 1873, when the original silver Claret Jug was hallmarked. See the history of the Claret Jug, and the awards for the British Open Championship here.   Ever since then, the Champion Golfer Of The Year has hoisted the trophy at the conclusion of the Open Championship.  

Champion Golfer of The Year 2017

Now, starting tomorrow, we can see if Spieth, the second-youngest golfer to win three of golf’s four majors, behind only to the GOAT, Jack Nicklaus, can conquer Quail Hollow and bring home the Wanamaker Trophy (a replica, not the original, which is on display at the PGA Historical Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida).  If he does, he will join the select group of golfers to have won the career Grand Slam:  Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. (Interestingly, of the nine golfers from the modern era with three legs of the career Slam under their belts, only two golfers, indeed, two of golf’s greatest, The King, Arnold Palmer, and  Tom Watson, missed the career Grand Slam by failing to win the PGA Championship.)    Should Spieth win this weekend at Quail Hollow, he will also become the youngest golfer in history to have achieved  golf’s career Grand Slam. No pressure, young man.

Go, Jordan.

                                 Copyright R.E. Kelly 2012-2017 

                                            AMDG

 

Happy Birthday, Geno!

My dad loved golf.  He loved his family.  He loved life.  And his family loved him.

I'm sure the fairways in heaven are lush, the greens perfectly manicured, and no one ever loses a ball, or three-putts.  Play away, Geno!  We miss you and love you.

Love you, Dad!

                                        R.E. Kelly Copyright 2012-2019

                                                          AMDG