Aussie pair Adam Scott and Jason Scrivener admit that there is a US Open air about this week’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina as they seek to become the sixth Australian to hold aloft the Wanamaker Trophy.
Starting with Matt Jones from 9:11pm Thursday (AEST) there are eight Aussies who will tackle the seaside Ocean Course that at 7,876 yards (7,201 metres) will be the longest course in Major championship history.
It measures 200 yards longer than when Scott and Geoff Ogilvy finished tied for 11th at the 2012 PGA Championship and boasts a closing stretch that will require the front-runners to hold on for dear life to close it out.
Returning to Kiawah Island confident and calm, Scott says he may need to draw on the manner of Ogilvy’s US Open title at Winged Foot in 2006 if he finds himself in contention late on Sunday.
“If the wind blows this way for the rest of the week, it’s going to be a battle to just get in the clubhouse,” Scott said on Tuesday of the closing five holes of the Ocean Course.
“One that comes to mind of just surviving was when Geoff Ogilvy won the US Open. He was the only guy to play the last four holes in par that day, I believe, and it could be something similar for anybody kind of near the lead.
“These holes are very, very difficult into this wind. Not just on Sunday, but I think every day.
“The big challenge for the players is it’s a little bit like a St Andrews where you go in one direction for so long – play maybe 11 holes in the same wind direction – and then you turn around on 14 and play the exact opposite for five holes.
“That adjustment I think is quite difficult to make.
“For me I’m trying my best to prepare myself on how I approach that mentally so I produce some good shots coming in.”
Playing in just his second Major championship, Scrivener played the back nine alongside American Keegan Bradley on Tuesday and admits that there will be no place to hide coming down the stretch.
“It’s pretty friendly going out. You’ve got downwind holes that play a bit shorter but as soon as you turn at 14 it’s just brutal,” said Scrivener, who played the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
“I hit 3-iron into 14, 3-iron into 15, 16 is a three-shot par-5, 17’s 3-iron and 18 I hit 3-iron as well.
“It feels more like a US Open course the way it was playing today but I like it. It’s obviously going to be a brutal test and every part of your game is going to have to be on.”
As for which hole may decide the championship on Sunday, Scrivener said every player will approach the 204-metre par-3 17th with a great sense of trepidation.
“Seventeen will get your attention,” Scrivener said understatedly.
“That’s the hole where guys are going to have to man up on the tee and hit a golf shot there because there’s nowhere to hit it.
“If you bail out you’re not going to make par and then obviously you’ve got the water short and right.
“That’s the one shot that you probably don’t look forward to.”
The exposed site and predictions of winds up to 20kph each of the four days is expected to play right into the wheelhouse of Warrnambool native Marc Leishman while Cameron Smith’s creative streak and short game wizardry will flourish in such a setting.
In addition to the PGA Championship some of our leading women are in action at the LPGA Tour’s Pure Silk Championship, there are nine Aussies playing the Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour and former PGA Tour winners Aaron Baddeley and Mark Hensby are among the six Aussies playing the Korn Ferry Tour’s Advent Health Championship, a tournament won by Michael Sim in 2009 and James Nitties in 2011.
PGA form guide
Cameron Smith
Rd 1 tee-time (AEST): 3:36am with Gary Woodland, Justin Rose
World Ranking: 25
Best finish at the PGA: T-25 in 2015
Best finish in a Major: T-2 at The Masters (2020)
Best result in 2021: Won Zurich Classic (with Marc Leishman)
Last start: Won Zurich Classic
Marc Leishman
Rd 1 tee-time: 9:27pm with Garrick Higgo, Paul Casey
World Ranking: 37
Best finish at the PGA: T-12 in 2013
Best finish in a Major: T-2 at The Open (2015)
Best result in 2021: Won Zurich Classic (with Cameron Smith)
Last start: T21 at AT&T Byron Nelson
Adam Scott
Rd 1 tee-time: 9:38pm with Tyrrell Hatton, Rickie Fowler
World Ranking: 38
Best finish at the PGA: 3rd in 2018
Best finish in a Major: Won The Masters (2013)
Best result in 2021: T-10 at Farmers Insurance Open
Last start: 54th at The Masters
Matt Jones
Rd 1 tee-time: 9:11pm with Larkin Gross, Dylan Frittelli
World Ranking: 56
Best finish at the PGA: T-21 in 2015
Best finish in a Major: T-21 at PGA (2015)
Best result in 2021: Won The Honda Classic
Last start: T-37 at Wells Fargo Championship
Jason Day
Rd 1 tee-time: 3:14am with Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington
World Ranking: 65
Best finish at the PGA: Won in 2015
Best finish in a Major: Won PGA (2015)
Best result in 2021: T-7 at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Last start: MC at AT&T Byron Nelson
Lucas Herbert
Rd 1 tee-time: 4:26am* with Tyler Collet, Brendon Todd
World Ranking: 97
Best finish at the PGA: T-71 in 2019
Best finish in a Major: T-31 at US Open (2020)
Best result in 2021: T-22 at Omega Dubai Desert Classic
Last start: MC at Wells Fargo Championship
Jason Scrivener
Rd 1 tee-time: 10:50pm with Stuart Smith, Emiliano Grillo
World Ranking: 118
Best finish at the PGA: First appearance
Best finish in a Major: MC at US Open (2018)
Best result in 2021: 2nd at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Last start: MC at Betfred British Masters
Cameron Davis
Rd 1 tee-time: 4:31am with Pete Ballo, Chris Kirk
World Ranking: 127
Best finish at the PGA: First appearance
Best finish in a Major: T-39 at The Open (2018)
Best result in 2021: 3rd at The American Express
Last start: T-26 at Wells Fargo Championship
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Kiawah Island Resort (Ocean Cse), South Carolina
Defending champion: Collin Morikawa
Past Aussie winners: Jim Ferrier (1947), David Graham (1979), Wayne Grady (1990), Steve Elkington (1995), Jason Day (2015)
Top Aussie prediction: Marc Leishman
TV schedule: Live 3am-9am Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 503
Round 1 tee-times AEST
Japan Golf Tour
Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament
Toride Kokusai Golf Club, Ibaraki
Aussies in the field: Adam Bland, David Bransdon, Andrew Evans, Matthew Griffin, Michael Hendry, Brad Kennedy, Dylan Perry, Anthony Quayle, Todd Sinnott, Scott Strange
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Matthew Griffin
LPGA Tour
Pure Silk Championship
Kingsmill Resort (River Cse), Williamsburg, Virginia
9.26pm Sarah Jane Smith, Linnea Johansson, Pornanong Phatlum
9.37pm Su Oh, Mind Muangkhumsakul, Haru Nomura
9.48pm Katherine Kirk, Min Seo Kwak, Brittany Lang
10.10pm Sarah Kemp, Megan Khang, Christina Kim
11.05pm* Gabriela Ruffels, Ashli Bunch, Cindy LaCrosse
Defending champion: Bronte Law (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2006), Minjee Lee (2015)
Top Aussie prediction: Katherine Kirk
TV schedule: Live 5am-8am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 505; 6.15pm-7.30pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 505
Korn Ferry Tour
AdventHealth Championship
Blue Hills Country Club, Kansas City, Missouri
9.55pm Rhein Gibson, Curtis Thompson, Taylor Montgomery
10.48pm* Steven Alker, Tag Ridings, Marcelo Rozo
3.10am Aaron Baddeley, Alex Prugh, Drew Weaver
3.10am* Mark Hensby, Andrew Svoboda, Wade Binfield
3.21am* Brett Drewitt, Evan Harmeling, Derek Lamely
3.42am Jamie Arnold, Hayden Buckley, Charlie Saxon
4.13am Harrison Endycott, Nick Voke, Jonathan Hodge
Defending champion: Michael Gellerman (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Michael Sim (2009), James Nitties (2011)
Top Aussie prediction: Harrison Endycott
Challenge Tour
Dormy Open
Österåkers Golfklubb, Åkersberga, Sweden
4pm Jarryd Felton, Craig Ross, Merrick Bremner
4.15pm* Dimitrios Papadatos, Scott Henry, Moritz Lampert
4.30pm Josh Geary, Jacques Blaauw, Mateusz Gradecki
9.05pm* Deyen Lawson, Federico Maccario, Gary Stal
10.15pm* Blake Windred, Oliver Lindell, Christopher Sahlstrom
10.20pm Daniel Hillier, Douglas Quinones, Erik Nordlund
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Blake Windred
Symetra Tour
IOA Golf Classic
Alaqua Country Club, Longwood, Florida
Aussies in the field: Stephanie Na, Robyn Choi, Julienne Soo, Soo Jin Lee, Hira Naveed
Defending champion: Laura Wearn
Past Aussie winners: Hannah Green (2017)
Top Aussie prediction: Robyn Choi
[IMAGES: Getty]
