Head for the Hills!
Ryder Cup hopefuls need US PGA boost
The Oakland Hills course, in Michigan, where this week's US PGA Championship will be played - has great memories for the British and European contingent looking to claim the season's fourth major. It was here that the Europeans humiliated the US golfers in the 2004 Ryder Cup by nine clear points to extend their winning streak and set up a similar victory at The K Club two years later. Though most emphatically deny it, with still a month to go before captain Nick Faldo's selection is finalised, the Ryder Cup will also be on the minds of several players hopeful of combining a high finish here with an automatic place on the team. | |
Oakland Hills has similarities to Valhalla in Kentucky where the Ryder Cup will be staged in September and if a handful of our players, not already in the frame, can show they can hold their game and nerve together at the highest level, they're sure to catch the captain's eye. Darren Clarke, a Cup hero in the past is coming into form again after a sixth-place finish at Sunday's Bridgestone Invitational and will be looking to justify his pal Lee Westwood's glowing endorsement of his Valhalla credentials. Westwood said: “Darren sums up the old line 'form is fickle but class is permanent.' We need players like him in the Ryder Cup side.” Justin Rose, Oliver Wilson, Nick Dougherty, Paul Casey and Ross Fisher can also give themselves a further boost with a good performance this week, along with Ian Poulter. And, while they have one eye on the Wannamaker Trophy and the other on the Ryder Cup, they will have serious challengers in a handful of Scandinavian exiles also aiming to give Faldo a nudge. | |
Daniel Chopra, Richard E Johnson, Carl Pettersson and Freddie Jacobson have all savoured wins on the US PGA Tour and can battle their way into the spotlight with victory here. Chopra says a winner could come from anywhere because Oakland Hills is the toughest course he has ever played. “I played Augusta this year for the first time and Torrey Pines at the US Open, but those don’t even come close to how hard Oakland Hills will play. The rough is a non-issue because they’ve got bunkers on both sides of the fairways and they’re deep,” he says. “They're are all designed small so you roll in. You literally just have to trickle into the bunker and get down to the bottom of the flat to have a chance to reach the green.” US Open runner-up Rocco Mediate agrees. “Shooting a good score here is one or two under par. It’s just hard but I love that. It’s a difficult driving course and you make a par on a hole and you’re not losing a shot to the field. Hogan didn’t call it a Monster for nothing.” | |
Tee times (US time) - First two rounds | |
Thursday, August 7(first hole)/Friday, August 8 (10th hole) 0730/1240: Bradley Dean, Briny Baird, Alastair Forsyth 0740/1250: Bart Bryant, Jeff Martin, Robert Karlsson
0810/1320: Ryuji Imada, Carl Pettersson, Corey Pavin
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0735/1245: John Mallinger, Frank Esposito, Mark Brown
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1245/0735: Nicholas Thompson, David Long, J.J. Henry
Thursday, August 7 (10th hole)/Friday, August 8 (first hole) 1240/0730: Charlie Wi, Eric Dugas, Louis Oosthuizern
Whom do you think will win? Tell us on the forum. |
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