Feathers May Fly at Quail Hollow

Restored to its rightful place in the global golf schedule after a year damagingly-displaced by golf’s readmission to the Olympic Games in Rio, as Mike Wilson asks, will the U.S. PGA Championship continue the recent trend of first-time 'Major' champions? Or will the old order be restored with a proven winner of one of golf's 'Big Four,' events lifting the giant Wanamaker Trophy?

U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka tied third at Baltusrol in 2016

Last year’s U.S. PGA Championship leaderboard was about as accurate a reflection as it’s possible to get off the current state of the world game, who’s on form and who’s not. Indeed, Walker was the least likely to lift the US$1.8m first prize, holding-off Australian defending champion Jason Day by a shot.

Most PGA Tour professionals are well-accustomed to playing Quail Hollow as it has been an ever-present venue on the circuit since 2003, first with the Wachovia, latterly the Wells Fargo Championship.

But at this year’s PGA Championship, they will be confronted with an unfamiliar layout, four holes having been remastered and a switch from rye to Bermuda grass, something the defending champion is intrigued by.

"We're used to playing it with rye grass everywhere [but] with Bermuda, it has a potential to play really firm and really fast,” he says, adding, “That's when golf gets really hard when you start losing control of the golf ball," Walker said.

"Bermuda rough tends to fly a lot, or it could come out where you get some horrendous lies,” he continues, predicting, “Guys are going to have to deal with that [question] 'Am I going to get the big jumper?' Or 'Will I get the really soft shot that comes out?'”

Walker concludes, "Even around the greens, Bermuda rough is very hard to chip out of. The greens ought to be fast, and that's the biggest variable, I would think."

The changes to the four holes are quite dramatic. The first is now a 540-yard, par-4 dogleg right. A new Par-3 was built to replace the second, which was eliminated to extend the first, and the fifth, formerly a par-5, is now a par-4 dogleg right, whilst bunkers have been added on the 11th, where the green has also been pushed back.

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