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All-new Challenge Awaits at PGA Championship
Atlanta Athletic Club Scorecard
Hole-by-Hole Look at Atlanta Athletic Club
Heat, Pressure Could Make PGA a True gem
All-new Challenge Awaits at PGA Championship
ATLANTA, August 8, 2011 (AFP) - Atlanta Athletic Club's renovated course promises a longer, tougher test for golf's finest when the 93rd PGA Championship begins on Thursday, compared to the face it presented in 2001.
Tiger Woods, seeking his first title since November of 2009, called the revamped 7,467-yard, par-70 layout "wonderful" after a practice round a week ago, adding, "It should be a great test for a major championship."
The 14-time major champion, unable to play a full round since the Masters in April until last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational due to nagging left knee and tendon injuries, tees off Thursday with US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love and Ireland's Padraig Harrington.
"It's certainly way different than we played in '01," Woods said. "If they play it all the way back from the markers, it's seven par-4s over 450, so it's going to be a pretty long test.
"Granted, it's going to be hot, so the ball is moving, it's flying. Drive the ball in the fairway, you're probably a club longer just because of the heat. But still, it's much, much longer than what we played in '01."
David Toms collected his only major title a decade ago at Atlanta Athletic Club, solving the course's most troublesome holes with a Saturday hole-in-one at the par-3 15th and a lay-up par on the 72nd hole on Sunday for the victory.
Toms found the rough off the tee at 18 in the final round but a perfect lay-up to 84 yards, a sand wedge to 12 feet and a tense title-winning par putt made him Major Toms.
"I hit a perfect lay-up with a pitching wedge and I hit a full 60-degree sand wedge in, so it couldn't have been any better as far as the way I laid it up in a good spot," Toms recalled.
"But they have changed that hole. There's a bunker in the lay-up zone now and the water comes in on the left on the tee shot more. I remember that tee shot you really couldn't see the water. You knew it was there."
A Rees Jones redesign in 2006 saw every green, tee area and bunker rebuilt with an extra 273 yards added.
The bunker on the right side of the lay-up landing area and a pond pinching the left side of the fairway and fronting the green promises to add to a 507-yard 18th hole already dramatic enough, especially with tricky rough.
"If you drive the ball in the rough, you can't get to the greens," Woods warned. "It's just that thicky Bermuda where it's just thin enough where the ball just doesn't sit up, it sits down every time."
Toms smacked a 5-wood for his ace at the 15th, for many the most vivid memory of the week.
"David Toms holed it there with the technology and the ball then versus now," Woods said. "We played a center pin from the back tee and it was 265. Not too many par-3s you play at 265. It's going to be a very trying test."
World No. 1 Luke Donald of England agreed.
"Stewart Cink went there, he posted a picture on Twitter of the 15th hole, which was 260 or 265 yards -- not my most enjoyable holes when they're that long for par-3s," World No. 1 Luke Donald of England said.
The 18th saw 172 bogeys or worse in 2001 and could be even more formidable this time around.
"I remember it being a very good but extremely difficult golf course," said Darren Clarke, the 42-year-old Northern Irishman who won his first major last month at the British Open at Royal St. Georges.
Donald expects a stern version of the weekly challenges he faces on tour.
"It's going to be a tough test," Donald said. "It will be warm. The ball will be flying. It just seems like every week we play long, hard golf courses, so I don't think it'll be too much of a change."
Atlanta Athletic Club Scorecard
ATLANTA, August 8, 2011 (AFP) - Card of the course at Atlanta Athletic Club for the 93rd PGA Championship that begins here on Thursday:
(Hole - Yards - Par)
1 - 454 - 4
2 - 512 - 4
3 - 475 - 4
4 - 219 - 3
5 - 565 - 5
6 - 425 - 4
7 - 184 - 3
8 - 467 - 4
9 - 426 - 4
Out: 3727 - 35
10 - 442 - 4
11 - 457 - 4
12 - 551 - 5
13 - 372 - 4
14 - 468 - 4
15 - 260 - 3
16 - 476 - 4
17 - 207 - 3
18 - 507 - 4
In: 3740 - 35
Total: 7,467 yards, par 70
PGA Championship Pairings
ATLANTA, August 8, 2011 (AFP) - Tee times and pairings for the first round of the 93rd PGA Championship, the year's final major golf tournament that starts on Thursday at Atlanta Athletic Club (USA unless noted):
1st tee
7:30am (11:30 GMT): Craig Stevens, Brendon de Jonge (ZIM), John Rollins
7:40: Danny Balin, Andres Romero (ARG), Tommy Gainey
7:50: Faber Jamerson, Charlie Wi (KOR), Kevin Streelman
8:00: Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Jason Dufner, Liang Wen-Chong (CHN)
8:10: Brendan Jones (AUS), Martin Laird (SCO), Brendan Steele
8:20: Spencer Levin, David Hutsell, Peter Hanson (SWE)
8:30: Brian Davis (ENG), Keegan Bradley, Bill Lunde
8:40: John Senden (AUS), Bo Van Pelt, Scott Stallings
8:50: John Daly, Mark Brooks, Jerry Pate
9:00: Aaron Baddeley (AUS), Arjun Atwal (IND), Rocco Mediate
9:10: Jeff Sorenson, Robert Garrigus, Jamie Donaldson (WAL)
9:20: Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Sean Dougherty, Webb Simpson
9:30: Alexander Noren (SWE), J.J. Henry, Rob Moss
12:45pm (16:45 GMT): Scott Erdmann, Yuta Ikeda (JPN), David Horsey (ENG)
12:55: Marty Jertson, Richard Green (AUS), Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN)
1:05: Anthony Kim, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN), Ernie Els (RSA)
1:15: Shaun Micheel, Martin Kaymer (GER), Yang Yong-eun (KOR)
1:25: Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia (ESP)
1:35: Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose (ENG)
1:45: Rory McIlroy (NIR), Darren Clarke (NIR), Charl Schwartzel (RSA)
1:55: Matt Kuchar, Lee Westwood (ENG), Jason Day (AUS)
2:05: Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Zach Johnson, Graeme McDowell (NIR)
2:15: Lucas Glover, Camilo Villegas (COL), Francesco Molinari (ITA)
2:25: Jonathan Byrd, Heath Slocum, Ricky Barnes
2:35: Sean O'Hair, Cameron Tringale, Steve Schneiter
2:45: Jeff Coston, Seung-yul Noh (KOR), DJ Trahan
10th tee
7:35am (11:35 GMT): Tetsuji Hiratsuka (JPN), Ryan Moore, Bob Sowards
7:45: Gary Woodland, Mike Northern, Stephen Gallacher (SCO)
7:55: Adam Scott (AUS), Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), Matteo Manassero (ITA)
8:05: Angel Cabrera (ARG), Stewart Cink, Ross Fisher (ENG)
8:15: David Toms, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh (FIJ)
8:25: Luke Donald (ENG), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Nick Watney
8:35: Tiger Woods, Davis Love, Padraig Harrington (IRL)
8:45: Ian Poulter (ENG), Bubba Watson, Jeff Overton
8:55: Jim Furyk, K.J. Choi (KOR), Thomas Bjorn (DEN)
9:05: Paul Casey (ENG), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Steve Stricker
9:15: J.B. Holmes, Bill Haas, Charles Howell
9:25: Stuart L. Smith, Jerry Kelly, Scott Verplank
9:35: Brandt Jobe, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE), Dan Olsen
12:40pm (16:40 GMT): Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Brad Lardon, Steve Marino
12:50: Mike Small, Chris Kirk, Johan Edfors (SWE)
1:00: Anders Hansen (DEN), Johnson Wagner, Rory Sabbatini (RSA)
1:10: Charley Hoffman, Ryuji Imada (JPN), Brian Gay
1:20: Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Brandt Snedeker
1:30: Larry Nelson, Rich Beem, Steve Elkington (AUS)
1:40: Ryan Palmer, Robert Allenby (AUS), Harrison Frazar
1:50: Mark Wilson, Retief Goosen (RSA), Tom Gillis
2:00: Simon Dyson (ENG), Trevor Immelman (RSA), Bryce Molder
2:10: D.A. Points, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE), Thomas Aiken (RSA)
2:20: Robert McClellan, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Michael Bradley
2:30: Kyung-Tae Kim (KOR), Ben Crane, Brian Cairns
2:40: Todd Camplin, Kevin Na, Scott Piercy
Hole-by-Hole Look at Atlanta Athletic Club
ATLANTA, August 9, 2011 (AFP) - A hole-by-hole look at the 7,467-yard Atlanta Athletic Club course where the 93rd PGA Championship will be staged starting Thursday:
1 - 454 yards, par four: New tee adds 25 yards to 2001 PGA distance and better attack angle to dogleg left. Avoiding fairway bunkers could set up a short wedge on a green where staying below the bunker-flanked greens is key.
2 - 512 yards, par four: Right to left tee shot to a bunker-patroled landing area. A sloped green reconfigured in 2006 offers many troublesome pin spots, the toughest to the front right side.
3 - 475 yards, par four: Tee shot usually into the wind, avoid bunkers right of fairway. Staying below a faster than it looks green will be critical.
4 - 219 yards, par three: A lake left of the green on a hole 15 yards longer off the tee than a decade ago. Winds usually force tough club choices and safe play to right of green brings lightning-fast putt.
5 - 565 yards, par five: Easiest hole in 2001 toughened by 25 more yards with an uphill green that will defy eagle bids from all but the longest hitters. New bunkers 100 yards from green force tough choices for laying up.
6 - 425 yards, par four: Bunkers guard right side of landing area on a straight-on hole with trees on the left of the course's narrowest fairway. Short and left finds a greenside pond and no rough to stop wayward balls.
7 - 184 yards, par three: A mid-iron over water to a wide green with little front to back room to work with and bunkers front and back, the front one a steep-faced obstacle to be avoided.
8 - 467 yards, par four: Dogleg left with new tee that requires a 280-yard carry over water. Sand and water lurk left of an uphill green. Going beyond the green is bad with downhill putts no prize either.
9 - 426 yards, par four: Bunkers pinch a slightly elevated landing area. Tee shots left will catch a bunker. Green slopes back to front. One or two club lengths extra for back right pin placements.
10 - 442 yards, par four: Two bunkers guard landing area on dogleg right. Huge bunker guards let side of green. Staying below the hole is vital. Going over the green is deadly.
11 - 457 yards, par four: Sharp dogleg left. Attacking the flag on approach means going left over bunkers or longer path over greenside water.
12 - 551 yards, par five: New elevated tee adds length but downhill tee shot evens out test on the dogleg left. Water protects the green's right side for 100 yards. Long and left sand lurks.
13 - 372 yards, par four: Shortest par-4 a sharp dogleg right that requires precision off tee. Pines flank the fairway, bunkers guard the landing area. Slightly elevated green with bunkers front and left.
14 - 468 yards, par four: Slight dogleg right with large left bunker at landing area and more sand lurking well in front of green so making sure to carry them is key to an elevated green. Left side pins the toughest.
15 - 260 yards, par three: Course's longest and hardest par-3 surrendered an ace to winner David Toms in the third round in 2001. Slightly downhill but large pond guards right side of green. Most will make sure they hit mid to left side of green.
16 - 476 yards, par four: Narrow, long and uphill with new tee making it 35 yards longer than 2001. Bunkers added to protect landing area. Players will be able to see the flag but not the putting surface for their approach.
17 - 207 yards, par three: Elevated tees overlook huge lake surrounding front of green. Bunkers along the back so no help there. Shots coming back downhill will be hard to stop as they roll toward the water.
18 - 507 yards, par four: The hardest hole in 2001, Toms laid up and sank 12-foot par putt to win. Dogleg left requires draw to largest fairway on course but bunkers guard right side of fairway. A new bunker tightens layup area. An undulating green fronted by water has bunkers left and rear, water on right.
Heat, Pressure Could Make PGA a True gem
ATLANTA, August 9, 2011 (AFP) - Tiger Woods is healthy. Rory McIlroy is ready. Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Adam Scott are hungry. Temperatures are hot, the course is formidable and young guns are taking aim at a major title.
There's not much more golf fans could want when the 93rd PGA Championship tees off Thursday morning at Atlanta Athletic Club, a 7,467-yard par 70 layout where the world's finest meet in the year's final major tournament.
"The competition is strong," Scott said. "Luke Donald has played amazing, Lee Westwood is playing amazing and now we have Tiger healthy again, so this is going to be interesting for everyone to watch."
Former World No. 1 Woods, a 14-time major winner chasing the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, missed three months with left knee and Achilles tendon injuries before returning last week at a World Golf Championhips event.
Woods said he was "absolutely encouraged" about his game even though he has not won any title since the Australian Masters in November 2009 and has not won a major since the 2008 US Open.
"It would surprise me if he went on and won the next couple of weeks," said World No. 1 Donald, the Englishman citing the difficulty in coming back from an injury at a high level.
McIlroy, the Northern Ireland prodigy who won his first major title at the US Open in June, was hailed as the next Woods but was unhappy with wind for the second British Open in a row and said he likely will play the US tour in 2012.
"I'm playing well," McIlroy said. "I'm really happy with the way I'm hitting it and driving it a lot better than I have done the last couple weeks, so yeah, I'm ready for it."
Australian Scott comes off a WGC victory last week with new caddie Steve Williams, fired by Woods in July after serving as his bagman in 13 major wins.
"I've won a few times before a major and I've won a few times the week after a major as well, but it's very hard to peak for a certain week," Scott said. "With the way I've set it up, it shouldn't be as hard as it was in the past to carry a bit of form into a major."
Scott will play alongside Japan's Ryo Ishikawa and Italy's Matteo Manassero, teen titans threatening to claim a major title before the 31-year-old Aussie.
"We have some high-quality young players living up to their potential quickly like Rory and Ryo and Matteo," Scott said.
England's second-ranked Lee Westwood has adopted a more relaxed attitude in his search for a first major crown after talks with Bob Rotella, the sports psychologist who helped Darren Clarke before his British Open victory in July.
"I've done all the hard work now, done it for 20 years," Westwood said. "It is time to just relax and let it flow... have a free and clear mind and play like it doesn't really mean anything and try to have fun out there."
Westwood also hopes to complete the "Chubby Slam" for manager Chubby Chandler, who is also manager for the year's three prior major winners -- McIlroy, compatriot Clarke and Masters winner Charl Schwartzel of South Africa.
"He has waited a long time to get a major champion and all of a sudden it has snowballed," Schwartzel said. "He deserves it."
The course has been renovated since offering up David Toms the lowest major 72-hole score of 15-under 265 to win the 2001 PGA Championship.
"It's quite long and demanding off the tee," Scott said. "Driving the golf ball this week is certainly going to be the only way to create opportunity for birdies. You must be in the fairway."
Considering the wet conditions in which McIlroy won the oft-punitive US Open, the PGA might produce the test Congressional Country Club did not.
"Very fast, slopey greens which is going to be quite challenging," Donald said. "If they get them any firmer and faster, it's going to play more like the US Open than the US Open was."
Sweltering heat will test fitness while the course takes its toll on golf skills.
"We have to conserve some energy this week and drink water because it is extreme heat out there," Scott said. "We're going to be out there for 5 1/2 hours and we're going to have to deal with it."
Westwood dropped nine pounds with diet and exercise, deadlifting 354 pounds -- "a Chubby and a quarter" -- and said, "In any conditions, it helps to be fit, but it's an advantage in heat like this."
Americans will try to end a record six-major win drought and prevent the first year since 1994 with no US major winner.
First-time major winners have taken nine of the past 10 majors, the lone exception being the most recent major title for an American: Phil Mickelson's 2010 Masters victory.
The last time a prior major winner won the PGA crown was in 2007 in extreme heat at Southern Hills when Woods took the title.
More to come, check back soon!