Pro Golf Now
Fansided

Predicting Winners For The 2016 Major Championships

By Danny Norris

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next

Jun 18, 2015; University Place, WA, USA; Brooks Koepka after putting on the 5th hole in the first round of the 2015 U.S. Open golf tournament at Chambers Bay. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

PGA Championship

Winner: Brooks Koepka

Baltusrol Golf Club is a big course. You might not think that when you see the yardage at 7,462 yards, but when you dig deeper you will see that getting distance off the tee will be a huge advantage.

Baltusrol is 7,642 yards and it’s a par 70, not a par 72. Holes 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, and 13 will play as very long par 4’s and holes 3 and 7 will be play at over 500 yards.

There are only two par 5’s on the course and one of them – hole 17 – will come in at 650 yards. That will only be reachable for the longer hitters that can bomb it over 350 yards plus down the fairway.

Distance will be the biggest key at the PGA Championship this year and that narrows down the field.

I’ll say this, if Dustin Johnson actually did win The Open Championship he’d probably parlay that into a win at the PGA Championship. I’d like to go with Johnson here as well, but I don’t want to put a couple of my eggs in one basket.

More from PGA

As I teased in the previous slide, I feel Koepka is going to have a pretty significant year in 2016. If I had to pick a golfer that will have a Jordan Spieth like year in 2016 it would be Koepka.

Remember, before 2015 Spieth was a great young player that had the potential to contend and win some majors in his career. Well, that came sooner than expected as he broke out in 2015.

Koepka is in the same boat. He had a great 2015, he has the upside to really contend at some significant tournaments in his career, and I think it’ll happen next year.

As we talked about in the previous slide, Koepka will be in contention at The Open Championship and he will carry that momentum into the PGA Championship.

You have to remember that The Open and the PGA Championship will be played in a three week span. Recent form will play a big part in who wins the PGA Championship next year.

Plus, I think Koepka will have a bit of a chip on his shoulder next year. He wasn’t a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup, that just adds fuel to the fire.

Koepka will be highly motivated and look to make the Ryder Cup team and represent the United States in the Olympics.

Next: Golf Instruction: Improve Your Golf Swing by the Weekend

More from Pro Golf Now

Home/PGA