Complete PGA Championship coverage
Welcome to Golfweek’s Wanamaker workout: Complete PGA Championship coverage! This page will be your one-stop shop for all things Southern Hills. Be sure to check back daily as
Golfweek brings you closer than anyone to the action at “Glory’s Last Shot” with:
• Daily video on GolfweekTV.
• Up-to-the-minute scoops on The Tour Blog.
• Daily commentaries from Golfweek’s fleet of reporters.
• Recaps, news and notes after every round at Southern Hills.
And you can join the conversation on Golfweek’s discussion boards.
Now on GolfweekTV:
• Despite being chased by Woody and Ernie, “Glory ’s Last Shot ” has a
repeat champion. Jeff Rude and Rex Hoggard wrap up the week from
Oklahoma.
• Jeff Rude and Jeff Babineau discuss Tiger’s Nicklaus-esque approach to the third round at Southern Hills and what to expect from Sunday’s final pairing of Woods and Stephen Ames.
• PGA Tour pro Michael Boyd tells Jeff Babineau what makes the 18th at Southern Hills the toughest hole this week.
• Day 2 is in the books and Tiger Woods took control. Can anyone catch him? Jeff Rude and Jeff Babineau discuss.
• You think you ’ve had a busy day? Listen to what PGA of America member
and University of Illinois coach Mike Small went through this week.
• Rex Hoggard and Jeff Rude dissect Day 1 at the PGA Championship.
• Night golf anyone? Jeff Rude, Jeff Babineau and Rex Hoggard tee it up with PGA Tour pro Michael Boyd in Tulsa.
• Jeff Babineau
speaks with F-16 fighter pilot/PGA Professional Dan Rooney about his
efforts to create and promote the first ever Patriot Golf Day, a
charity event to help support the families of wounded or fallen
soldiers in combat.
• Preferred Lies: Jeff Babineau and Jeff Rude sit down with special guest Steve Elling to discuss the “hot” issues at Southern Hills and even look at the favorites for PGA Tour player of the year.
Monday (Wrap up):
• TV ratings down from past Tiger wins: The final round of Tiger Woods’ fourth PGA
Championship victory on Sunday earned CBS an overnight rating of 6.8
and a 15 share, the fifth-highest rating in the metered markets since
1986. But it didn’t match Woods’ three previous PGA
Championships wins in 1999 (7.7/18), 2000 (10.0/23) and 2006 (7.2/16),
or his one-stroke loss to Rich Beem in 2002 (8.0/17).
Sunday (Round 4):
• Hot pursuit: Tiger wins No. 13 at PGA: Tiger Woods still has never lost a major
when entering the final round with the lead. Woody Austin and Ernie Els
made things interesting Sunday at Southern Hills, but in the end, Woods
emerged with his fourth PGA Championship. He needs five more majors to
tie Jack Nicklaus’ record.
• Good finish gets Austin in Presidents Cup: Woody Austin will get another chance with
Tiger Woods on the golf course, this time playing as his teammate
instead of against him. Austin’s surprise second-place finish to
Woods at the PGA Championship on Sunday vaulted him into the top 10 in
the Presidents Cup standings, meaning he’s earned an automatic spot on
the American team in Montreal next month.
• Confident Austin finishes strong at PGA: Woody Austin played better than Tiger Woods on Sunday. Again. Austin finished second in the PGA Championship, two strokes behind Woods after a final round in which he actually beat the world’s best player by two.
• Els nearing old self again: Ernie Els saved his best round of the PGA
Championship for Sunday, shooting a 4-under 66 that got him close to
Woods. He finished at 5 under for the tournament,
three strokes behind Woods and one behind Woody Austin. It’s his second
consecutive top-5 finish at a major, following his tie for fourth at
the British Open.
• Notes: Lay-off helps Dyson to top 10: Simon Dyson took three weeks off before the PGA Championship, and would’ve been happy simply with a top-30 finish. Instead, he shot 64 Sunday to move up to a tie for sixth place. “It's something I'll savor for a long time,” Dyson said. “Unless I do something better the next couple of years.”
• Green faced death at Southern Hills: Hubert Green had a larger concern while
trying to win the 1977 U.S. Open at Southern Hills – his life. Green
was told on the 15th hole that a threat had been made on his life. He
decided to keep playing and went on to win his first major.
Saturday (Round 3):
• Rude: Bet the farm: Heck, bet a friend’s farm – Tiger’s locked up another major
• Woods punishing PGA, extends lead: Tiger Woods
followed his record-tying 63 at Southern Hills with a round that wasn’t
anything special Saturday, but no less effective at the PGA
Championship. He made 15 pars in his 1-under 69, giving him three-shot
lead over Stephen Ames going into the final round.
• Ames, Tiger to meet again in final group: This time, Stephen Ames is spotting Tiger Woods three strokes and keeping his mouth shut. Even
with that, it's hard to imagine Ames – who'll play with Tiger in Sunday's final pairing – will end up as much more than a
trivia question when the PGA Championship is over Sunday.
• Notes: Boo unknowingly misses history: Boo Weekley didn't know when he arrived at the 18th
green Saturday he had a chance to tie the record for the best score in a
major. Three putts later, he had a 65 that still moved him up 49 spots on the leaderboard.
• Verplank backs up on moving day: Scott Verplank spent too much time under the trees and in the rough Saturday to make up any ground at the PGA Championship. Instead, he slid backward – waaay back.
• Garcia DQ'd from PGA: Sergio Garcia was disqualified from the PGA Championship Saturday for signing an incorrect scorecard. Garcia, who made the cut on the number at 5 over par, signed for a 4 on the par-4 17th hole, when he in fact recorded a 5. "He said, ‘That just puts the icing on the cake,’” playing partner Boo Weekley said.
• Notes: Immelman makes morning move: Southern Hills’ greens were syringed in the morning to help keep them healthy for the afternoon heat. Trevor Immelman, playing in the day's second group, took advantage and shot 66 to move to T-13.
Friday (Round 2):
• Hoggard: What’s your number?: Tiger was close to 62, but he wants No. 13
• All Tiger, almost history at PGA: Tiger Woods was a lip-out away from
history. His birdie bid on the 18th hole went halfway into the hole,
but spun out, leaving him with a 7-under 63 and the lead at the PGA
Championship. And that’s not good news for the rest of the field. Woods
is 7-0 in majors when heading to the weekend on top.
• Verplank gets a lift at Southern Hills:
Scott Verplank was a hotshot collegian at Oklahoma State, but his
career got derailed by three elbow surgeries. Verplank is back on track
at Southern Hills. He shot a second-round 66 to take the early
clubhouse lead at the PGA.
• Daly keeps crowds roaring at PGA: Despite the blistering heat and
suffocating humidity, a Tiger-sized gallery was following every move of
the topsy-turvy 3-over 73 that turned John Daly back into America’s favorite
side show after a brief stay atop the leaderboard at the PGA
Championship.
• Notes: Glover, Rollins eye Presidents Cup: Lucas Glover is No. 10 in the Presidents Cup
standings by a mere $43,861 over John Rollins, so after opening with a
70 in the PGA Championship, you would think he would have checked to
see what Rollins shot. “I didn’t have to,” Glover said. “I’m staying with him.”
• Confident Ogilvy tracking Tiger at PGA: Geoff Ogilvy shot 2-under 68 on Friday to wind
up three shots behind Woods, the only major winner within five of the
world’s best player with two rounds left at Southern Hills. “It’s not really that ominous,” Ogilvy said of the, well, ominous task of catching Woods over the weekend.
• Notes: Mickelson finding form at PGA:
Phil Mickelson’s second-round 69 at Southern Hills marked the first
time Mickelson made a cut or shot in the 60s in the U.S. since his win
at The Players in May. “This is the first week I feel just terrific,”
Mickelson said. “My hand feels pretty good and I’m excited about
playing golf.”
Thursday (Round 1):
• Babineau: Glued to the Daly Show: While others were sweating it out at Southern
Hills the past few days, Daly was across town in Catoosa, playing slots
– and a little private golf in a cart wearing shorts and a T-shirt – at
Cherokee Casino Resort, home of the Wild Potato Buffet and the Dog Iron
Saloon. Seems to have worked. He shot a first-round 67.
• Storm: From dish-washer to PGA leader: Graeme Storm was washing trays at a cake factory in
England five years ago so he could buy Christmas presents and use the
rest of the money for a last-ditch effort to play golf for a living.
Not even he could have imagined a 5-under 65 in stifling heat for a
two-shot lead in the final major of the year.
• Notes: PGA gets aggressive on slow play:
Five-hour rounds are commonplace at majors. The PGA tried to change
that by putting several groups on the clock, but Southern Hills' design
isn't conducive to quick rounds.
• Near-misses put Woods six back at PGA: Tiger Woods did not make many tough putts, which is one reason he left Southern Hills on
Thursday with a score that didn’t represent the way he felt he played
in the first round of the PGA Championship.
• Phil feels good despite rough PGA start: Phil Mickelson’s wrist feels good. After finally logging some solid practice time, he thought his game was pretty good, too. The results after one round at the PGA Championship? Not so good.
• Notes: Estes has short stay at PGA: Bob Estes arrived at Southern Hills about 9
a.m. Thursday as an alternate, hoping to play in the PGA Championship
for the 10th consecutive year. By 2 p.m., he was on his way back to the
airport to fly home to Austin, Texas.
• Club pro Lardon impressing at PGA: Brad Lardon, one of 20 club pros in the field at the PGA Championship, was one stroke better than Tiger Woods
on Thursday. No club
professional has won the PGA Championship, and Chip Sullivan’s
31st-place finish in 2004 was the highest in the past decade.
• Garcia ignoring Open hangover: If not for a couple of missed reads on his
last two holes Thursday, Sergio Garcia would be right with the leaders at
Southern Hills. Still, with an even-par 70, he was only three strokes
behind early leader John Daly.
Wednesday (Preview):
• Cink seeks redemption at Southern Hills: Stewart Cink doesn't believe Southern Hills owes him anything. A
lapse of concentration cost him a chance to win the U.S. Open, now it's
up to him to make sure it doesn't happen again at the PGA Championship.
• Notes: Azinger names assistant captains: The Ryder Cup is a year away, but it was in the news this week as Paul Azinger named Dave Stockton, Raymond Floyd and Olin Browne his assistant captains.
• Rude: No regrets: When last seen on an international stage accompanied by pens and lenses, British Open runner-up Sergio Garcia gave an emotional post-mortem that many observers felt portrayed him as a whiny, blaming victim. When asked about it Wednesday, Garcia said he didn’t regret it. Maybe he should rethink that.
• First-timers relish major spotlight: Zach Johnson is the everyday guy from Iowa.
Angel Cabrera is the burly underdog from Argentina. Padraig Harrington
is the self-proclaimed journeyman from Ireland. They will be
together this week at the PGA Championship because of something else
they are: golf's three most recent major champions.
• Boyd blog: Defending Southern Hills: Michael Boyd shows support for his hometown of Tulsa and Southern Hills Country Club in his latest blog entry.
• Maxwell's rolls will confound at PGA: Perry Maxwell is one of this country’s storied
golf course architects. And as the PGA Championship field is about to
find out, the understanding of golf strategy that he formulated early
in the last century still has relevance today.
Tuesday (Preview):
• A PGA Tour pro’s guide to Tulsa: PGA Tour rookie Michael Boyd won’t be in the
field at next week’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in
Tulsa, Okla. Boyd does, however, have some hometown knowledge about the Tulsa scene, having lived there for 15 years.
• Mickelson is Southern Hills' mystery: It’s still hard know what “Fans of Phil” who show up at steamy Southern Hills this week should expect from the injured star.
• Hot topic: Tiger's last shot: This is the fifth time in his career that the
world’s No. 1 player arrived at the PGA Championship without already
having won a major. Only once did he come through, at Medinah in 1999.
Monday (Preview):
• Tougher courses test Tour veterans: Tiger Woods usually goes on vacation after
winning at Firestone, but that changed this year when it was moved to
the week before the PGA Championship. He was at Southern Hills on
Monday morning getting ready for the final major of 2007.
Posted: 8/6/2007
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