PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

94th PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AUG. 9-12

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP GOLF WRITER

Par 4 Yards 396

A gentle start to the final major, though it boasts one of the most narrow fairways on the course, with a waste area to the right and thick dune grass on the left. A good drive will leave a short iron to a green tucked in a natural dune area.

1 2 9 8 7 6 5 3 4

The Ocean Course

Kiawah Island, S.C.
Total length: 7,676 yards Total par: 72

FRONT NINE N
10

BACK NINE
11 12 13 15 16 17 18

Clubhouse

Par 5 Yards 557

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This is another good scoring opportunity, depending on the wind. Players will have to decide how much marsh to take on with their drive, but they should be able to get home in two. The elevated green is set between two sand ridges. Into the wind, this becomes a three-shot hole.

Blowin in the wind

Par 4 Yards 480
The fairway is framed by three wind-pruned live oak trees. Players should take aim at the center oak with a slight draw to eliminate problems from a waste area and a small pond to the left. The green is open at the front, but protected on both sides by more sand.

First and second rounds Aug. 9-10, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., TNT Sports Third round Aug. 11, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., TNT Sports; 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. CBS Sports Final round Aug. 12, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., TNT Sports; 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., CBS Sports.

olfs best will be looking to end the major tournament season with a strong finish at the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island in South Carolina. Wind will play a factor as Atlantic breezes and offshore gusts could make designer Pete Dyes Ocean Course even more challenging.

Par 4 Yards 497 Par Yards

A tee shot down the left-center to the crest of the fairway sets up an approach to a green that is set below them in the dunes. Players will face a large waste area to the left front of the green, and a deeper, steep-faced waste area to the back. The canal down the right side comes into play on the tee shots and continues all the way to the hole. Players must decide how far down the canal they can carry their tee shots. The approach to the green is open, though it is protected by two deep waste areas on the left.

Par 5 Yards 581

Players will have to carry the tee shot over a pond to reach a fairway with the higher shelf on the right side. A long, shallow waste bunker guards the second shot on the right, with a deeper waste bunker down the left side of a green that is perched high on a dune ridge. This should be an easy birdie opportunity when the wind is at the players' backs.

Par 4 Yards 390

The shortest par 4 can be deceptive. The tee essentially is a small island, and players drive over a marsh to what looks to be a wide fairway. To get the best angle, though, the tee shot should favor a plateau on the left side. The green is elevated similarly to the fairway plateau and framed by an old live oak that guards the approach. The green slopes off on all sides.

Par 5 Yards 579

Depending on the wind, players will have to decide whether to carry a natural dune area that creeps into the fairway from the right, or simply play left of it. The green should be reachable in two for most, with a slightly elevated green that is open in the front.

Par 5 Yards 593

This likely will play as a three-shot hole except for when the wind is at the back. Off the tee, players should avoid deep waste areas down the right side of the fairway. Unless the big hitters can get home in two, its better to lay back from the elevated green to avoid the large waste area on the left.

Par 3 Yards 238

The course turns back to the east and plays directly along the beach, the start of five dramatic finishing holes. The green is elevated and exposed to the wind, and any miss will leave a severe uphill chip to try to save par. A deep and dangerous waste area borders the left of the green. The back portion is hidden from the tee, and slopes from front to back, making this hole play more difficult with the wind. The target appears narrow, fiercely guarded by water short and to the right, with two deep waste areas to the left. The object is simply to find the green, which so many players couldnt do on the final day of the 1991 Ryder Cup. With a tight leaderboard on Sunday, this hole could create some separation.

Par 4 Yards 458

Considered the toughest hole on the outward nine, the landing area for the tee shot is generous. Depending on the wind, the second shot to a large green can be played with nearly every club in the bag. Against the wind, players may choose to bail out left of the green and try to save par from an extended collar area.

Par 3
This par 3 gets more back the hole location is on the green. The elevated green is framed by tall live oaks just off the front left corner, and the green gets more narrow as it extends away from the players. Any shot missing long or right will likely find the sand.

Par Yards Par 3 Yards 188

The course turns back to the west at this point. With the Stono River Inlet and Folly Beach to their backs, players will hit to a green in the shape of an hourglass, running away from them diagonally to the right. A large waste area from tee to green ends with a steep face that cuts into the middle of the hourglass.

Y
With the Atlantic on the right, the best tee shot will hug the right side of the fairway. Longer hitters might get an advantage if they carry the crest of the hill and reach the lower level of the fairway, giving them a shorter approach. The narrow elevated green is open from the right and runs away to the back left. Into the wind, most wont be able to reach the lower level of the fairway and will face an approach of more than 200 yards.
AP

Par 4 Yards 494

This is more about length than direction with a long par 4 and a wide fairway that slopes down from the right. The green is open in the front, but a variety of collection areas and swales and waste areas will make for a difficult up-and-down.

Players go from the widest fairway to the most narrow approach. Long irons might be used off the tee to avoid a downhill lie for the second shot. The green is closely guarded on the right by a canal, with dunes and thick native grasses framing the left and rear. The green is open at the front, with a rolling collar area providing some room if the approach misses to the left.

Par 4 Yards 444

A straightforward hole, though the tee shot must find the fairway for an approach to a green that runs diagonally away to the right. Waste areas are left and back of this small green, which is set in a natural dune area.

SOURCE: PGA Championship

STATISTICS FROM AP; PAGE DESIGNED AND BUILT BY POSTMEDIA EDITORIAL SERVICES

Editors Note: It is mandatory to include all sources that accompany this (1994, 1997), Brit2005), U.S. Open (2000, 2002, 2008), Majors: U.S. Open graphic when repurposing or editing it for publication KEEGAN BRADLEY British Open (2000, 2005, 2006), PGA Dates: Aug. 9-12. ish Open (2002, 2012). Age: 26. Championship (1999, 2000, 2006, Prize money: $8 million. PADRAIG HARRINGTON World ranking: 28. Worldwide wins: 2. 2007). Winners share: $1.445 million. Age: 40. Country: Ireland. Majors: PGA Championship (2011). BRANDT SNEDEKER Field: 156 players (136 tour pros, 20 World ranking: 62. Worldwide wins: 19. WEBB SIMPSON Age: 31. club pros). Majors: British Open (2007, 2008), Age: 27. World ranking: 24. Worldwide wins: 3. Defending champion: Keegan PGA Championship (2008). World ranking: 5. Worldwide wins: 3. Majors: None. Bradley. GRAEME MCDOWELL Majors: U.S. Open (2012). Last year: Keegan Bradley became Age: 33. Country: Northern Ireland. INTERNATIONAL BUBBA WATSON only the third player in the last 100 World ranking: 11. Worldwide wins: 8. Age: 33. LUKE DONALD years to win a major in his rst try Majors: U.S. Open (2010). World ranking: 7.Worldwide wins: 4 Age: 34. Country: England. by winning a playoff at the Atlanta RORY McILROY Majors: Masters (2012). World ranking: 1. Worldwide wins: 11. Athletic Club. Five shots behind with Age: 23. Country: Northern Ireland. TIGER WOODS Majors: None. World ranking: 3. Worldwide wins: 6. three holes to play, Bradley went Age: 36. ERNIE ELS World ranking: 2. Worldwide wins: 86. Age: 42. Country: South Africa. Majors: U.S. Open (2011). birdie-birdie-par for a 68, which got

UNITED STATES

PGA PGA CHAMP HOLES 080312 : Graphic illustrates course WATCHthe Ocean Course; with BC-GLF--PGA94TH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPTIONSHIP PLAYERS TO and holes at Championship; 6c x 14 inches; staff; ETA 5 p.m. FACTS & FIGURES Majors: Masters (1997, 2001, 2002, World ranking: 15. Worldwide wins: 63.
him into a three-hole playoff when Jason Dufner produced a late collapse. Dufner made three straight bogeys and nished with a par to join Bradley at 8-under 272. Bradley made a four-foot birdie putt on the 16th, Dufner three-putted for bogey on the 17th to fall two behind and Bradley closed him out with a par. Tiger Woods missed the cut for the rst time in a PGA Championship. Noteworthy: Sixteen players have won the last 16 majors, a streak that does not include Woods.

he PGA Championship is a mystery in so many ways. The final major of the year begins Thursday at Kiawah Island along the coastal waters of South Carolina, a golf course that has not been in the spotlight since it punished some of the best players in the world in the 1991 Ryder Cup. Still fresh are the images of Mark Calcavecchia losing a big lead under the pressure from a big event and a relentless course, and Hale Irwin shooting a 41 on the back nine and still winning the decisive match. But that was more than 20 years ago. Jose Maria Olazabal, now the European captain, is the only player from that Ryder Cup who is playing in the PGA Championship. There are 15 other players who have taken on the Ocean Course over the years at two World Cups, a list that includes Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk, Angel Cabrera and K.J. Choi. For everyone else, no one is sure what to expect on a Pete Dye design that is 7,676 yards, the longest in major championship history. Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Graeme McDowell played Kiawah a week before the PGA Championship to get an idea what they face. I walked off the front nine saying, This course is not all that. I walked off the back nine and said, Yeah, its good. Its good, McDowell said. Its a course of two nines. The front nine has no real definition to it. The back nine has a bit of elevation, a bit of water. Its good. Thats only part of the mystery. The majors have rarely been this unpredictable, especially when it comes to the final round. It started with the Masters, when Bubba Watson came from three shots behind and won in a playoff. Then, Webb Simpson rallied from four shots back on the last day to win the U.S. Open. Still, nothing was more stunning than the British Open, when Ernie Els started the final round six shots back and was still four behind with three to play and won when Adam Scott bogeyed his last four holes. Not since 1989 have all four majors been won by players who were not in the lead going into Sunday. Its showing how deep the fields are and that winning from the front is tough, Luke Donald said. I think thats why we all respect what Tiger has done in the game, because he was so good at getting a lead and keeping it. Thats a tough thing to do. And obviously, thats been shown this year that no lead is really safe. Woods used to make it look so easy. Fourteen times he had at least a share of the lead going into the final round of a major. Fourteen times he posed with the trophy. But since winning his last major, the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, only four players in the last 17 majors have held onto the lead on Sunday. I think everybody got spoiled with Tiger winning, Brandt Snedeker said. I bet if you look back 20 years ago, very few guys closed all the time. Tiger was the best closer ever. But you know, its hard to win. Guys are getting nervous. Guys behind dont get nervous, they just fire at pins because youre not thinking about it. Perhaps that will change at Kiawah. Then again, it was only a year ago at Atlanta Athletic Club when Keegan Bradley walked off the 15th hole of the final round in the PGA Championship trailing by five shots. He wound up with the Wanamaker Trophy. Go figure.