Predictions: 2016 PGA Championship
July 27, 2016
Apparently, there’s another major this week?
Glory’s last shot at Baltusrol… yada yada yada…
JK:
Win: Jordan Spieth
Winning score: -6
Runner-up: Phil Mickelson
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Jason Kokrak
Low PGA Professional: Rod Perry
The US Open Winner (Dustin Johnson) will: Top 10, probably T2
The Masters Winner (Danny Willett) will: Make the cut
The Open Champion (Henrik) will: Top 10
The 2015 PGA Championship Winner (Jason Day) will: Top 10
Sergio Garcia will: Miss cut
Hideki Matsuyama will: Make Cut
Adam Scott will: Top 10
Bubba Watson will: Get caught in his jetpack
Will someone win it, or everyone else lose it: Tough rounds in the middle of the week, but Spieth lights it up on the weekend to take his third major
What will be the biggest storyline of the tournament: Jordan coming back after not showing up for most of the year
Will you watch on Sunday: Hell no…I’ll be flying somewhere golfy
LG:
Win: Rory
Winning score: -15
Runner-up: DJ
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Kevin Chappell
Low PGA Professional: Mitch Lowe (GO MITCH!)
The US Open Winner (Dustin Johnson) will: 2nd!
The Masters Winner (Danny Willett) will: MC
The Open Champion (Henrik) will: Make Cut
The 2015 PGA Championship Winner (Jason Day) will: Make Cut
Sergio Garcia will: Top 10 (sorry, Sergio)
Hideki Matsuyama will: Make Cut
Adam Scott will: Make Cut
Bubba Watson will: Miss Cut
Will someone win it, or everyone else lose it: Rory takes it down.
What will be the biggest storyline of the tournament: Classic Rory/Tigeresque win. He’s Back!
Will you watch on Sunday: Nope – on a plane to Scotland!
Predictions: Open Championship 2013
July 12, 2013
Updated with actual 7/23/2013
Ahh… Time for the Open Championship. If you’re like me at all, you’ve probably stopped watching professional golf and have been trying to play as much as possible. I honestly forgot the Open was coming up, but am very excited to see another playing of the oldest major!
ACTUAL (basically, just look at JK’s):
Winner: Phil Mickelson
Winning Score: -3
Runner Up: Henrik Stenson
“Unknown” in the Top 10: There really wasn’t one, closest was Hideki Matsuyama, but if you watch any golf you’ve seen this guy.
Last Year’s Winner (Ernie Else) Will … (Win, Top 10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): T-26, +8
The Master’s Winner (Scott) Will …: T3, +1
The US Open Winner (Rose) Will …: MC
The current PGA Champion (Rory) will …: MC
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 1 (Tiger Woods)
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? Both
What will be the biggest story of the tournament? Phil’s comeback from Merion
Who is most likely to “Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie” it? No one
Jason Dufner will: T26, +8
Tiger Woods will: T6, +2
Sergio Garcia will: T21, +7
Paul Casey will: Not in the field, LG
Ian Poulter will: T3, +1
Dustin Johnson will: T32, +9
Top 15:
1 — -3 — MICKELSON, Phil
2 — E — STENSON, Henrik
T3 — +1 — POULTER, Ian
T3 — +1 — SCOTT, Adam
T3 — +1 — WESTWOOD, Lee
T6 — +2 — MATSUYAMA, Hideki
T6 — +2 — JOHNSON, Zach
T6 — +2 — WOODS, Tiger
T9 — +3 — MOLINARI, Francesco
T9 — +3 — MAHAN, Hunter
T11 — +4 — SNEDEKER, Brandt
T11 — +4 — CABRERA, Angel
T13 — +5 — LEONARD, Justin
T13 — +5 — JIMENEZ, Miguel Angel
T15 — +6 — DE LA RIVA, Eduardo
T15 — +6 — ENGLISH, Harris
T15 — +6 — SCHWARTZEL, Charl
T15 — +6 — WILLETT, Danny
T15 — +6 — KUCHAR, Matt
T15 — +6 — BRADLEY, Keegan
LG:
Winner: Graeme McDowell (Mickelson)
Winning Score: -8 (-3)
Runner Up: Sergio Garcia (Stenson)
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Bud Cauley (Close, T-32 at +9. Good call, though, LG)
Last Year’s Winner (Ernie Else) Will … (Win, Top 10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): Top 10 (T26, +8)
The Master’s Winner (Scott) Will …: MC (T3, +1)
The US Open Winner (Rose) Will …: Make cut (MC)
The current PGA Champion (Rory) will …: MC (MC)
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 3 (1 – Tiger Woods)
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? GMAC gets it done. (both)
What will be the biggest story of the tournament? Tiger doesn’t win another major. (Phil’s return from Merion)
Who is most likely to “Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie” it? …Sergio. (No one–maybe Dustin Johnson, 76-77 on the weekend, but that wasn’t uncommon…or maybe snedeker, who shot 79 on day 2. He wins if he shoots E on Friday)
Will you watch on Sunday? Yes. Live? no. (?)
Jason Dufner will: MC (T26, +8)
Tiger Woods will: Top 10 (T3, +2)
Sergio Garcia will: runner up – Top 10 (T21, +7)
Paul Casey will: Make Cut (uhhhhhh….not in the field)
Ian Poulter will: Make Cut (T3, +1)
Dustin Johnson will: MC (T32, +9)
JK: wait…before we get started….are you really not picking Tiger, LG?
Winner: Phil Mickelson (YES)
Winning Score: +1 (-3)
Runner Up: Luke Donald (MC)
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Bud Cauley was a nice call LG. I’ll go with Josh Teater (solo 82nd at +17)
Last Year’s Winner (Ernie Else) Will … (Win, Top 10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): Make the Cut (YES, T26)
The Master’s Winner (Scott) Will …: Top 10 (YES, T-3)
The US Open Winner (Rose) Will …: BE AWESOME AT EVERYTHING but still miss the cut (YES)
The current PGA Champion (Rory) will …: top 10 (MC)
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 1 (YES, Tiger Woods)
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? This is usually one that is a combination of both–a guy who plays OK, but not lights out, while everyone else gets thrashed by the conditions. I’m going with Phil coming back from Merion to win it. (YES)
What will be the biggest story of the tournament? Phil Rebounds from Merion (YES)
Who is most likely to “Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie” it? We could also call this “Phil Mickelson at Merion,” but…I’ll go Jim Furyk (MC)
Will you watch on Sunday? Unlikely Live? if it’s happening then it’s live, so unlikely (yes, actually…while on a plane. Third time I’ve watched a major championship on a plane this year).
Jason Dufner will: choke on his dip. MC (T26)
Tiger Woods will: probably pull out with injury, but if not, top 10–in the running all week, but unable to close. (YES, exactly right, actually…except the injury part)
Sergio Garcia will: show up well but never be in the discussion. Make the cut, likely top 15. (YES, almost exactly right–one shot from top 15, but T21 at +7)
Paul Casey will: who? MC (well, he wasn’t even in the field)
Ian Poulter will: sad to say, he’ll make a run, but he’ll just make the cut. Likely top 20. (YES, exactly…except T3 is better than top 20 for sure)
Dustin Johnson will: (meh)
Plays of the last few weeks (We’re playing catch-up, folks)
April 15, 2012
Where to begin, where to begin? First, we sincerely apologize for falling off the map. JK and I are both junior attorneys at law firms, and JK has an army of little munchkins to corral. it is easy for us to fall off the wagon. But, we are back! Let’s do this awards show style (the Power Fadeys):
Best Original Screenplay: Tiger Woods
It wouldn’t be the Power Fade without a shout out to our boy, TW. While Bay Hill always provides an amazing venue and great host, the tournament becomes electric when Tiger is in contention. He absolutely owns the place. With an air tight tee to green performance and outstanding putting. Tiger showed a true return to what we remembered. 79.2% of GIRs and a 1.8 putting average will win a LOT of golf tournaments. More importantly, he only made 5 bogeys on the week. Grueling conditions appear to be the norm for Mr. Woods. The moment that I thought he was “back” was when I realized he was the only player under par in the last four groupings. Ring a bell? (2000 U.S. Open at Pebble, anyone?). Here’s to you, Mr. Woods.
Best Crybaby: Sergio Garcia
JK and I have gone back and forth on Sergio. JK doesn’t like him. I used to. Sure his mental game needs work, but he hits the ball so pure. Surely it was only a matter of time before he made the breakthrough?! Well, now, if you talk to Sergio, even he will say it’s not going to happen:
“I’m not good enough, and today I know it,” he said. “I’ve been trying for 13 years, and I don’t feel capable of winning. I don’t know what happened to me. Maybe it’s something psychological. … I’m not good enough for the majors.”
For that, Mr. Garcia, you win the Fadey for “best crybaby”.
Worst Timing: Dustin Johnson
Quick shout out to DJ. How are you going to go and miss the masters? fail.
At least he has a sense of humor about the whole Whistling Straits thing…
Best Supporting Actor: Louis Oosthuizen
Oostie put on one hell of a show. The sweet-swinging South African put on a clinic for knocking in pressure putt after pressure putt on the back nine on Sunday. He really did look like he had “ice water in his veins.” Cool as a cucumber, as JK might say. There isn’t much for me to say that his swing didn’t say on Sunday. For some reason, we forget that he won the Open Championship at the home of golf by an outstanding 7 strokes. Oostie, you are a brilliant golfer. After you performance on Sunday, I consider it only a matter of time before the past champions are looking down at their plates the year after you win saying “what the hell is this?”
By the way, nice double eagle, guy.
Best Picture/Best Actor: Bubba Watson
This is an obvious choice, but we here at the PF love the Masters. We love everything about it. It’s our favorite week of the year. You wrote the perfect story. The second playoff hole is the reason we play golf. Crush the ball dead right into the trees…no shot…dead. Unless you’re Bubba. 150-odd yards to the green, but you have to make the ball take a screeching right turn off of some pine straw. That sounds like Bubba golf to me. There’s really nothing I can say that Bubba can’t say for himself:
“I get down there, saw it was a perfect draw,” Watson said. “Even though the tower was in my way, I didn’t want to ask if I could get relief or anything, because it just set up for a perfect draw – well, hook. That’s what we did. We just kept talking about you never know what’s going to happen out here. Anything can happen.”
Way to make it happen, Bubba. You deserve it.
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