The Oakland Hills course, in Michigan, where this week's US PGA Championship will be played - has great memories for the British and European contingent looking to claim the season's fourth major. It was here that the Europeans humiliated the US golfers in the 2004 Ryder Cup by nine clear points to extend their winning streak and set up a similar victory at The K Club two years later. Though most emphatically deny it, with still a month to go before captain Nick Faldo's selection is finalised, the Ryder Cup will also be on the minds of several players hopeful of combining a high finish here with an automatic place on the team. | |
Darren Clarke, a Cup hero in the past is coming into form again after a sixth-place finish at Sunday's Bridgestone Invitational and will be looking to justify his pal Lee Westwood's glowing endorsement of his Valhalla credentials. Westwood said: “Darren sums up the old line 'form is fickle but class is permanent.' We need players like him in the Ryder Cup side.” Justin Rose, Oliver Wilson, Nick Dougherty, Paul Casey and Ross Fisher can also give themselves a further boost with a good performance this week, along with Ian Poulter. And, while they have one eye on the Wannamaker Trophy and the other on the Ryder Cup, they will have serious challengers in a handful of Scandinavian exiles also aiming to give Faldo a nudge. | |
Chopra says a winner could come from anywhere because Oakland Hills is the toughest course he has ever played. “I played Augusta this year for the first time and Torrey Pines at the US Open, but those don’t even come close to how hard Oakland Hills will play. The rough is a non-issue because they’ve got bunkers on both sides of the fairways and they’re deep,” he says. “They're are all designed small so you roll in. You literally just have to trickle into the bunker and get down to the bottom of the flat to have a chance to reach the green.” US Open runner-up Rocco Mediate agrees. “Shooting a good score here is one or two under par. It’s just hard but I love that. It’s a difficult driving course and you make a par on a hole and you’re not losing a shot to the field. Hogan didn’t call it a Monster for nothing.” | |
| Tee times (US time) - First two rounds | |
Thursday, August 7(first hole)/Friday, August 8 (10th hole) 0730/1240: Bradley Dean, Briny Baird, Alastair Forsyth 0740/1250: Bart Bryant, Jeff Martin, Robert Karlsson 0750/1300: Jeev Milkha Singh, DJ Trahan, Tim Clark 0800/1310: Pat Perez, Charl Schwartzel, Cliff Kresge 0810/1320: Ryuji Imada, Carl Pettersson, Corey Pavin 0820/1330: Simon Dyson, Ken Duke, Robert Allenby 0830/1340: Steve Stricker, Jeff Quinney, Peter Lonard 0840/1350: Ryan Moore, Graeme McDowell, Billy Mayfair 0850/1400: Todd Hamilton, Richard Green, Niclas Fasth 0900/1410: Hunter Mahan, Richard S. Johnson, Jerry Kelly 0910/1420: Sean O'Hair, Scott Hebert, Rod Pampling 0920/1430: Steve Lowery, Brad Martin, Peter Hedblom 0930/1440: Oliver Wilson, Curt Sanders, Vaughn Taylor | |
0735/1245: John Mallinger, Frank Esposito, Mark Brown 0745/1255: Hiroyuki Fujita, Don Yrene, Paul Goydos 0755/1305: Steve Marino, Ross Fisher, Daniel Chopra 0805/1315: Pablo Larrazabal, Boo Weekley, Paul Casey 0815/1325: Jim Furyk, Colin Montgomerie, Aaron Baddeley 0825/1335: Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas 0835/1345: Lee Westwood, Geoff Ogilvy, Zach Johnson 0845/1355: Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Rich Beem 0855/1405: K.J. Choi, Justin Leonard, Chez Reavie 0905/1415: Stewart Cink, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Nick O'Hern 0915/1425: Prayad Marksaeng, Sonny Skinner, Peter Hanson 0925/1435: Steve Flesch, Tim Weinhart, Hennie Otto 0935/1445: Greg Kraft, Rick Leibovich, Parker McLachlin | |
Thursday, August 7 ( first hole)/ Friday, August 8 (10th hole) 1245/0735: Nicholas Thompson, David Long, J.J. Henry 1255/0745: Ryan Benzel, Brian Gay, Mathew Goggin 1305/0755: Darren Clarke, Tom Lehman, Shingo Katayama 1315/0805: Trevor Immelman, Angel Cabrera, Padraig Harrington 1325/0815: Bubba Watson, Rocco Mediate, Nick Dougherty 1335/0825: David Toms, Vijay Singh, John Daly 1345/0835: Henrik Stenson, Brandt Snedeker, Woody Austin 1355/0845: Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Fred Couples 1405/0855: Kenny Perry, Retief Goosen, Justin Rose 1415/0905: Rory Sabbatini, Ian Poulter, Chad Campbell 1425/0915: Mike Weir, Alex Cejka, Andres Romero 1435/0925: Sam Arnold, Jyoti Randhawa, Dean Wilson 1445/0935: Ben Crane, Johnson Wagner, Vince Jewell Thursday, August 7 (10th hole)/Friday, August 8 (first hole) 1240/0730: Charlie Wi, Eric Dugas, Louis Oosthuizern 1250/0740: Kevin Sutherland, Tim Thelen, Steve Webster 1300/0750: Martin Kaymer, Jim Estes, Heath Slocum 1310/0800: Tommy Armour III, Brendan Jones, Fredrik Jacobson 1320/0810: Ben Curtis, Scott Verplank, Toru Taniguchi 1330/0820: Paul Azinger, Jay Haas, Michael Campbell 1340/0830: Stuart Appleby, Charles Howell III, Soren Kjeldsen 1350/0840: Steve Elkington, Mark Brooks, Bob Tway 1400/0850: Stephen Ames, Mark Calcavecchia, Anders Hansen 1410/0900: Soren Hansen, J.B. Holmes, Chris DiMarco 1420/0910: John Merrick, Kyle Flinton, John Senden 1430/0920: Eric Manning, George McNeill, James Kingston 1440/0930: Alan Morin, Scott Strange, Jonathan Byrd Whom do you think will win? Tell us on the forum. |
