PGA Championship: DJ, Rory, Bubba Have the Length to Win

The PGA Championship will feature a full field of players, but three superstars stand out among the crowd.

It’s hard not to pick Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson as the favorites to win the PGA Championship at Baltusrol — because they are so long, because the course is long and because the course finishes with two par fives. The 17th is 649 yards, while the 18th is 554 yards.

The 17th hole was regarded as unreachable until 1993, when John Daly showed up and parked one on the green in two. Everyone was shocked, but given Daly’s length, they shouldn’t have been. So much for unreachable. Mars is about the only thing unreachable for tour pros these days.

McIlroy, Johnson and Watson were not at Baltusrol the last time the PGA was played here in 2005, so no one knows for certain how they will attack it.

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“I don’t know if I’ve ever played a course that had back-to-back par 5s,” Johnson told the media on Wednesday. “It’s different, but I’ve played par 70 courses all the time where you only get two par 5s, so it’s nothing new.”

Johnson, though, is not so sure the 17th is reachable in two after playing one practice round.

“Unless the course firms up a little bit, 17, I mean, it’s just a little bit — right now, it’s too soft [to reach in two shots],” he said. “[Tuesday] I hit a pretty good drive. It was a little downwind and I still had 295 front or something. So it’s not really doable, unless it firms up.”

It’s not like Johnson can’t hit a 3-wood 300 yards — he could probably do that in his sleep, in fact. The X-factor will be the softness of the fairways. On Monday night, there were storms in northern New Jersey, and two inches of rain fell on the course, according to Kerry Haigh, managing director of championships for the PGA of America. With some dry, hot weather, the fairway conditions will change.

McIlroy acknowledged the length of the golf course is a challenge.

“It’s a long golf course for a par 70, and the two par 5s coming at the end of the course,” he noted when speaking to members of the media. “You’ve got to drive the ball in the fairway, and pretty long, as well. Looking at the scorecard there, there’s a lot of par 4s that are sort of up in the 480, 500-yard mark.”

The course plays at 7,428 yards with a par of 70 this week.

From a distance standpoint, Johnson leads the PGA Tour in average length off the tee, while Watson hit the longest measured non-downhill drive on the PGA Tour this year. McIlroy was second in the PGA Championship long drive event, held at Baltusrol on Tuesday, with a shot of 347 yards. He was disappointed that he was two yards behind the winner, Byeong Hun An.

“I know Jack Nicklaus still carries his money clip from 1963 when he won it,” McIlroy said. “It’s a nice little accolade to have.”

Because of their length, all three have a great chance to add to their respective major championship totals this week. There’s a chance for an eagle-eagle, or at least birdie-eagle, finish every day. That could certainly make for a dramatic conclusion to the PGA Championship come Sunday.

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