The excitement of the last major
The last professional major golf championship is upon us as the PGA Championship will be played at the Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa Oklahoma.
For many of the watchers of golf, this may be the “other major”, but it has produced some very exciting competitions in recent years, and for a person like me that has worked in the golf profession for a number of years…this is the important one. This is especially true for the 20 PGA club professionals that have earned a spot in this event.
Two of the players in that category are actually seniors who will be competing against the younger set. Butch Sheehan is 57 years old, a golf instructor in Palm Springs, and the brother of LPGA star Patty Sheehan. Bob McGrath is the general manager at the San Jose Municipal Golf course.
Another interesting PGA club pro story happens to be about my cousin, Scott Hebert from Michigan, and the head golf professional at the Grand Traverse Resort, in Traverse City. Scott has won the Michigan State Open 6-times, and had his Nationwide tour card for a couple of years. All of these players made it to the PGA Championship by finishing in the top-20 in the Club Professional Championship this summer at Sunriver Resort in Oregon.
Another very good player to make it in is Kevin Burton, the golf coach for Boise State University.
Could one of these players break-through and win? I guess so…but don’t bet the house on it. But come to think of it, former PGA champion Rich Beem was once a club professional and stereo salesman, so it can happen.
The PGA Championship has brought us some great excitement. Can you imagine the story of John Daly being 9th alternate, driving all night, having no practice round, and winning the PGA in 1991! How about David Toms’ ace with the 5-wood and go on to win in 2001. And we think of Davis Love III in 1997 with the rainbow, as he putted out to win on the same green where he had lost before. Davis’s dad was a long-time PGA member, so this may have been the most important major for him to win.
So as we look to this year, we can also look to the past three winners for thoughts of who may be in contention. Tiger, Phil Mickelson, and Vijay are the past three winners, and I suspect you will see them in contention once again this year.
So…good luck to Butch, Bob McGrath, and my cousin Scott Hebert. It will be a great major, especially for these three guys.
