2012 PGA Season

The highly anticipated 2012 PGA season is practically here and guess what?

We have something to say about it! Weird, right?

There are several stories that we have our eye so lets get to it.

The Majors

Duh. Who isn't interested in these tournaments? The Majors this year will hopefully be as thrilling as last year and maybe even produce some more first time champs (we mean you Dustin Johnson...just avoid those pesky "bunkers" sir, and you should be fine).

The Masters at Augusta National always seems to have drama and heres to hoping that this year will be no different. Maybe Tiger should see how a back 9 charge works for him instead of his exciting front 9 one last year. Or maybe our beloved Aussie Adam Scott will continue his excellent play to claim his first career major. Or perhaps another unknown like Charl Schwartzel will make a name for himself on Alister MacKenzie's famed layout. Who knows? But it sure will be fun to watch!

The US Open is at The Olympic Club (Lake Course) in San Francisco, California. The previous US Open held here was a bit controversial, Lee Janzen won the event, but many of the other players in contention (most notably, runner up Payne Stewart and Kirk Triplett) complained about the greens being too hard and fast to putt on. Another issue with was the pin position on the 18th, it was apparently impossible to putt on. Stewart 3-putted and Triplett incurred a 2 stroke penalty because he used his putter to stop the ball from rolling off the green (real professional, Kirk...). It has since been flattened out but nonetheless, this tournament should still provide its typical drama.

The Open Championship (its proper name, but we can still call it the British) will be at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in northern England. This course will have a lot of great memories for many different people. This is the tournament that vaulted David Duval into the #1 World Golf Rankings spot over 10 years ago. Our fellow Minnesotan (and reigning Senior PGA Player of the Year) Tom Lehman won his only major here and Spanish great Seve Ballesteros won British Opens here in 1979 and 1988. As with all British Opens, it will be as much a test against the course and the local weather. 

The season's final major, The PGA Championship is at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. The most famed layout at the seaside resort that boasts 5 courses total. A little bit of trivia to impress your friends, this is the filming site for one of the greatest movies of all times, 

The Legend of Bagger Vance, how awesome is that? I bet it makes you want to watch the PGA Championship 10x more now, right? That and the idea of Keegan Bradley getting an opportunity to go back-to-back? Yeah, we are excited too.

Tiger Woods
Anyone who has read this blog knows we have been rather critical of Mr. Woods' golf game progress since his man-whore days but we really are interested in what he has got going on. We gave him kudos for winning his own tournament, that was a step in the right direction and we think that he can only go up from there this season. Tournaments he is in (especially Majors) are much more exciting to watch on TV when he is in the hunt. Tiger playing well only improves the game of golf as a whole and as much as we hate to admit it, he still can get people excited to watch golf.



Florida Tournaments
Nobody is more jacked than G&B to go watch all these guys when the PGA comes to our newly-adopted home state of Florida. Before moving, I never really paid attention to how many tournaments are actually played here. Hopefully we will be able to attend a few of these events. This is me, rubbing your nose in it. Sorry.

The Honda Classic - PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens
WGC-Cadillac - Doral, Miami
Transitions Championship - Innisbrook, Palm Harbor
Tavistock Cup - Lake Nona (though we will probably NEVER be able to get tickets)
Bay Hill Invitational - Bay Hill, Orlando
Players Championship - TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach
ADT Skills Challenge - The Breakers, Palm Beach
Franklin Templeton Shootout - Tiburon Golf Course, Naples

Repeat Performances
There were some players last season that were really impressive and we are hoping they can follow up excellent 2011 seasons with even better ones in 2012. I kind of had these guys in mind:

Adam Scott - How could he not be included? He came thisclose at Augusta, won at WGC-Bridgestone amid caddy controversy and played like the the stud and leader he is at the Presidents Cup. I really think he is poised for a major win this season, he finally looks ready to handle the pressure of a big win situation.

Bubba Watson - 2 wins last year and one of them was a playoff! Also made his debut at the President's Cup, where he had a pretty decent showing. Bubba is really fun to watch and is a real risk taker on the course. His easy-going nature is what draws people to him and has probably was part of his successful 2011 season. Bubba came really close to a major 2 years ago at Whistling Straits, losing to Martin Kaymer in a playoff. He has matured since then and has really become a force. We are expecting good things from Bubba this season.

Keegan Bradley - I feel bad for any other rookies on tour who played well, they simply had no chance at Rookie of the Year honors when this guy had such a fantastic season. Winning the HP Byron Nelson, the PGA Championship and the Franklin Templeton Shootout (with partner Brendan Steele) the 2011 season was certainly a good one for Bradley and we are looking for him to follow up his great rookie year in 2012.



That should about do it for this post, of course there are other intriguing storylines that are exciting and these are just a sampling of the ones that we have been thinking about.

What are you guys most exciting to watch during the upcoming season?

Whoa, almost forgot! Happy New Year!