2020 PGA Championship: Final Pre-Tournament Observations, Notes And Investment Opportunities
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The four-day forecast by Stewart Williams as of Wednesday afternoon
I’m sprinkling in investment thoughts for the (fellow) degenerates along with some fun notes from Wednesday at Harding Park. The 2020 PGA Championship kicks off Thursday with wall-to-wall coverage by ESPN+ and ESPN.
—COVID-19 testing has gone perfectly. From the PGA of America’s Kerry Haigh today: “With that, we ended up and are using the same testing entities that have been used for the first ten weeks, Drug Free Sport and Sanford Health, and with only one player remaining to be tested, all players and caddies in the field have cleared our COVID-19 protocol. So I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that, and I'm sure 155 players and 156 caddies are just happy, so thank you to all of them.”
—The forecast (above) is extremely favorable for an on-time finish—no thunderstorm chance for a PGA in August!—but suggests the players may be in for a very tough test. The cold makes 7,200 yard Harding Park play forever and even if we get some clearing, the forcasted breezes and sun (please!) should dry things out. The course is in a very good place to prevent an Olympic Club-style bake out, but I’m going to predict the winning score will be -10, which makes the 269.5 over/under intriguing (four-round par is 280).
—Tiger Woods is a great value at 35-1. Seems the money is going elsewhere according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Todd Dewey. I had my doubts given the climate, his Memorial performance and how he looked at the last three majors of 2019. This week? He’s got a determination to his steps, looks focused, is working hard on the greens and as I noted Monday, is in 100% mode with his swing. The course suits his style of play of these days.
—Woods is using a longer putter to allow him to practice more, said practice round playing partner Steve Stricker (Rex Hoggard reports here for GolfChannel.com.)
—Rory McIlroy praised the setup. This on fairway contours was interesting:
I've always liked how PGA Championship setups have been for me. I think they're fair. It's not as if -- you look down a fairway at a PGA Championship and it's sort of the same width the whole way down to the green. A lot of courses, they try to pinch itin at 320 and try to handcuff the longer hitters, whereas here the courses just let you play, which I like. I think Kerry Haigh and his team do a great job. I think Kerry is one of the best in the business at setting courses up. I've always said that. Like I said, it's a little different than the Match Play five years ago. I think it's a great setup, and everyone is in fora good week.
—Collin Morikawa with a Giants bag. Not right. The Cal grad is a good sport this week, playing his Taylor Made-issued bag with San Francisco Giants colors. He threw out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium last year. He has found a nice way to dispose of the bag at week’s end: “As far as the golf bag, my caddie, J.J. is a big Giants fan,so it is immediately going to him after the tournament ends. It will not be staying in my house, I guarantee you that.”
—”It’s right in front of you.” Popular press conference phrase this week. Player code for straightforward, boring and not particularly provocative.
—Dustin Johnson feels better. Harding Park should suit Johnson and he’s typically a great west coast golfer. So this answer about his win followed by a disastrous missed cut and WD should intrigue his backers:
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, honestly, neither one, Memorial or Minnesota didn't bother me one bit. I was swinging terribly. My back was bothering me just from swinging back. I didn't hurt it doing anything. I hurt it swinging just because I was so swinging so poorly. So that didn't really bother me.I knew, I went home, I rested for four days, got treatment,and then went out and practiced Monday at home and just went back to the basics, worked on the right things and started hitting the ball well again.
—Based on money wagered so far, at least based on this, Tiger is not getting much attention:
—William Hill reports more interest in Brooks Koepka in the UK. That note and others from their early wagering report can be seen here.
