PGA Championship :: Report Card

Jason Dufner – A+

When you hit as many fairways and arrow as many shots at the pin as Dufner did in that final round, you deserve to win majors. Sure, he’s not the most exciting of characters and it probably wouldn’t hurt him to crack a smile every so often but the ‘Dufmeister’ was great value for the win with that excellent last day performance. Put it this way, had that been Tiger hitting those shots, everyone would have been salivating over it. A worthy, if somewhat low-key, champion.

Marc Warren – A-

Finishing tied 12th in only your third major? Pretty damn good. Warren waited a long time to make his debut in golf’s four biggest events – his first was the 2012 US Open – but he looks right at home on this stage. Hopefully this impressive performance will be the catalyst for better things to come between now and the end of the season. A third European Tour win, for example, and a hot start in the race to make next year’s Ryder Cup team. On this sort of form, he’d slot straight into Paul McGinley’s side.

Henrik Stenson – B+

The best each-way bet in golf right now. I could be tempted to back him on the nose at Augusta if he keeps this up.

Rory McIlroy – B

I think that’s what you call a step in the right direction. Tied eighth? Under normal circumstances, that would be considered a pretty robust title defence. However, given everything Rory has gone through this year, it’s even more impressive. One thing to note was how much easier Rory seemed to be swinging at Oak Hill. It was just about the first time this season that he has looked like his imperious 2012 self. Let’s hope he can build from here and chalk the last seven-and-a-half months up to experience.

Sky’s coverage – B-

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: nobody does golf like Sky Sports. The coverage is fantastic and, by and large, the commentators and analysts are top drawer. For example, you don’t get irrelevant, mind-numbingly tedious anecdotes about courses he played back in the day from Ewen Murray; just stats, facts, insight and knowledge. It’s an unfailingly good watch and an even better listen. Only one bone of contention: Bruce Critchley. He’s easily the weak link in the team. I had to laugh on Thursday when he noted that Phil Mickelson is “so good off the tee with his two 3-woods that it’s a wonder he carries a driver”. Except he doesn’t.

Lee Westwood – C- 

Three-under and in the mix at the start of the final round; three-over and tied for 33rd just 18 holes later. How many more times is the Englishman going to put himself in a position to win his first major only to undo all of his good work with a disastrous final round? He is combined 12-over for his four final rounds in the majors this season. Not exactly the hallmark of a champion and certainly not in keeping with the talent Westwood unquestionably has at his disposal. He’s doing himself a disservice with these big final rounds scores.

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Oak Hill – C-

The PGA of America has some fantastic venues on its rota. Whistling Straits, Kiawah Island and Hazeltine all spring to mind. But Oak Hill is no classic. I might be alone here but I thought it was a thoroughly dull, monotonous layout. No real stand-out holes, no real platform for drama. It was as uninspiring as Whistling Straits is brilliant. Incredibly, I noticed a couple of people on Twitter comparing it to Augusta National. Aye, that’ll be right.

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The tournament formerly known as “Glory’s Last Shot” – D

We’ve had some unforgettable PGA Championships down the years. This was not one of them. The 2013 major season ended with a whimper rather than a bang. In all truth, the tournament was a bit of a snooze-fest. A good leaderboard, yes, but a thoroughly dreary championship all the same. There was no real drama, no Sunday charge by any of the chasing pack. In the end, it got the finale it deserved with new champ Dufner bogeying the final two to win.

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Tiger Woods – F

A total of 22 majors have now come and gone since Woods’ last win. He sat out four of those and missed the cut in two others. He has had nine top tens but has only been a factor until the 72nd hole once, when he finished runner-up in 2009. It’s hard to believe that this is the same guy who 14 of his 52 previous majors up to and including the 2008 US Open and who had only missed the cut once in a major in his professional career. Look, I’m no expert on the golf swing but you don’t need to be Sean Foley, Hank Haney or Butch Harmon to realise that Tiger’s barren run has less to do with how he’s swinging the club and more to do with his mental approach. He looks nervous in the majors these days, like he’s trying too hard. Has he won his last major? Hard to say but he’ll be 38 when the Masters rolls around. Time isn’t on his side, plus seven of the last eight major winners have been younger than him. Put it this way: I’ll be amazed if he breaks Jack’s record now.

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The crowd – Z

Amazing how, time and again, it is a handful of idiots who spoil things for everyone else. At US-based golf tournaments, it is invariably the brain-dead minority who feel the need to yell random gibberish after players have hit their shots that are responsible for tarnishing an otherwise enjoyable spectator experience. If I heard “Mashed potato”, “Chewbacca” and “Baba-booey” once each during the broadcast of the championship, I heard it a thousand times. Even my wife (not a golf fan) noticed their nonsense and asked me on Sunday night: “What’s wrong with those people?” Goodness only knows. Ian Poulter took to Twitter to say he’d like to be able to tazer them, so it’s clearly getting under the skins of some of the players. This means it’s time to get on the case with the PGA Tour, PGA of America and USGA to ask them when and how they plan to deal with the ridiculous behaviour of these attention-seeking morons. I mean, shouting out the names of Star Wars characters at a golf event in the hope that you’ll be heard through the on-course TV microphones – how badly wired do you need to be to do that? Idiots.

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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