Tired of the birdie fest on the PGA Tour?
Scores have been ridiculous this year. It’s almost a shock if a player makes a bogey. If a player wants to make the weekend, he’d better be under par. Several players have flirted with breaking 60. I think we all like to see a good play, but enough is enough.
Architects keep trying to make the courses more challenging. Manufacturers keep improving the equipment to where 60-year-old men are driving the ball 300-plus yards. The players are more athletic; not many fatso golfers pounding beers daily.
There have been 30 Tour events this year and the winners in 7 of them were minus-20 or lower. It took minus-19 to win another 5.
Well, the birdie fest should end today with the start of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, located just out of Rochester, N.Y.
Oak Hill is one of the great courses, built 121 years ago by Donald Ross and renovated last year. It plays long with deep rough and difficult greens. This is the 7th major played there, the first since Shawn Micheel shocked the golf world and quickly disappeared.
Players will quietly celebrate pars. I don’t think there’ll be a surprise winner this week, too many players — Jon Rahm, and Scottie Scheffler heading the list — at the top of their game.