Observations after the first three days of the 2020 PGA championship:
1. From this fan’s perspective the TPC Harding Park golf course is a bust. Kudos for using a municipal course for the PGA Championship for a second consecutive year. However, to this observer’s eye it is the most boring layout for a major championship in recent memory. It is wide open and flat, allowing the big hitters (read: DJ, the insufferable Bryson the Mad Scientist, the aptly-named Cameron Champion – maybe PGA Champion after today - and Brooks Koepka) to bomb away, giving them a huge advantage over the distance-challenged rest of the field. (Of the top 17 golfers on the PGA leaderboard heading into Sunday, the top 3 (DJ, Champion, Scheffler), 4 of the top 6 and 8 of the top 17 (more than half) were in the top 21 in this season’s Driving Distance, according to PGA statistics, with Champion a scant 3 yards average behind the first-place Mad Scientist.
And the fact that there is only one par-five hole on each nine, one of them 605 yards long (!), the other 562 yards in length, one par-four at 515 yards, and five more par-four holes weighing in at 470 yards or longer, renders the course even more challenging for the shorter hitters (and boring to those of us at home.). If not for a stiff breeze and uneven distribution of rough surrounding the fairways and greens, the scores would closely resemble vastly under-par scores at the typical weekly PGA stop at the West Tumbleweed Open.
2. The ESPN coverage is unspeakably abominable. I have been watching for three days and I still don't know who the commentators are for ESPN. If I didn't know the voice of Scott Van Pelt and his reference on air to David Duval I would be completely in the dark. And OMG, Andy North, really? Not only does he add nothing to the telecast, but he also he has been assigned for some strange reason to cover Tiger Woods and his so-called marquee group. Granted, North won the U.S. Open twice, but that was 42 and 35 years ago, respectively when the courses were engineered to favor short, accurate hitters.
On the other hand, North won only one other tournament on the PGA Tour, and missed the cut in 40% of the majors in which he participated.
And about the aforementioned SVP. I realize that he is, speaking of marquee attractions, the king of ESPN, in terms of longevity and some limited talent in certain situations. But hosting ESPN’S golf coverage is not one of them. Granted, the bar established by his predecessor Chris “Boomer” Berman from 1986 to 2014, was set remarkably low. Nevertheless, SVP’s succession of snarky remarks and inside references to cultural artifacts, n one of which were pertinent to the golf tournament being held in the background, are typical of the smugness exhibited by ESPN personalities over the years from the golden age of Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann to the present day. But this attitude is completely off-putting in 2020 (and they wonder why ESPN’s ratings are down.)
Oh, and is there some unwritten rule that ESPN may not hire a commentator who speaks with a British or other, similar foreign accent? Good grief. Who knew that golf audiences everywhere would be pining for the dulcet tones of Jim Nantz, Nick Faldo and the other supremely professional commentators on the CBS golf coverage. And if I hear one more reference “Georgia bulldogs” I may scream.
3. This is stating the obvious but Tiger Woods can't putt worth a lick any more. It is one of the reasons why this blogger predicted that Tiger Woods would not win this event. And most likely will not win another major and may not win another golf event. Anytime a golfer changes putters right before an event it is not a good sign.
AMDG
Copyright R.E. Kelly 2012-2020
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