[Mark Pearce]

Hell, this couldn't even hold a candle to the Tiger/Bob May PGA at the same venue IMO. 

+1

[jeffwarne]

Hell, this couldn't even hold a candle to the Tiger/Bob May PGA at the same venue IMO.  

+1

Mark,
How on earth could you possibly know that if you"got bored and went to bed with a couple of hours to go"
Talk about zero credibility.


You had a Hall of famer with a flair for the dramatic, the best player in the game ahead of nearly all former greats in major counts by age,
and an exciting, dynamic young player with the best scoring average in the game this year in majors,
as well as a Euro star who was tops a couple years ago-all battling it out.

Say what you want about the aesthetics of the venue, but the finish was good, if not nearly over on 17-but it did come down to the final shots for all players.

We all wish all courses were firm fast links.
We get it.
But the event was very watchable, and CERTAINLY not boring.

[Jim Nugent]

I played that day Greg shot 63. He missed from 4 feet at 17 and three putted 18.
That round was unfathomably great to everyone who played that day. The course was brutally difficult.

Totally agree, one of the best rounds in majors history.  My recollection is that Greg missed from about 18 inches on 17. 

[Terry Lavin]

Warne hits the point squarely here:  Of course, we would prefer firm and fast conditions, but when it rains every day, there's not much the setup guys can do.  And, sure, we would prefer to see the greats play on what we consider the greats, but this is the PGA's party and they can throw it where they want to. 

As for where this major fits within the pantheon of great majors, it surely would suffer by comparison to many, but on the principal question of whether it was one of the most entertaining majors ever, I think it belongs in that conversation.

[Keith Grande]

+1. 

PGA Tour must be happy that the torch is passing, as Tiger is back to being Eldrick.

[Dan Kelly]

Rory's second shot on 10 highlighted what I think is an important fact about golf, as did virtually every other approach shot (and almost every drive) by every player to every other green:

Golf is better when the ball bounces and rolls.

The competition was great. Its entertainment value, for me: not so much.

[Rick Shefchik]

Most entertaining major this year, I'd say.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Rory's second shot on 10 highlighted what I think is an important fact about golf, as did virtually every other approach shot (and almost every drive) by every player to every other green:

Golf is better when the ball bounces and rolls.

And when you (potentially) get away with a mishit?  Did he talk about whether this shot came off as intended after the round?  Or was Faldo's original impression correct that he hit it off the neck?

[Jud_T]

Most entertaining major this year, I'd say.

Way to set the bar high Rick...

[Matthew Essig]

For those saying the drama ended early when Rory holed out on 17, I think you are wrong. It was over when Rory's drive stayed out of the water on 18. I face palmed when Rory's tee shot fell out of sight.

[Garland Bayley]

It was a putting contest. Throw a dart and putt it.
They practically could have held it at a driving range with a green nearby.

[jeffwarne]

It was a putting contest. Throw a dart and putt it.
They practically could have held it at a driving range with a green nearby.

So when Rory hits driver, 8 iron to 16 and Phil is 241 out in the rough and Ricky's in the wrong fairway, that's a putting contest?
I know plenty of great putters who couldn't have reached the fairways

[Garland Bayley]

It was a putting contest. Throw a dart and putt it.
They practically could have held it at a driving range with a green nearby.

So when Rory hits driver, 8 iron to 16 and Phil is 241 out in the rough and Ricky's in the wrong fairway, that's a putting contest?
I know plenty of great putters who couldn't have reached the fairways

Yep! Anything they hit will land on the green a stay where it landed. So it's a putting contest.
As Nick Faldo has said, Ben Hogan would be appalled at the putting contests they hold these days that they have the gall to call golf tournaments.

[Terry Lavin]

Highest golf ratings in five years.  Not entertaining at all.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/chi-pga-final-round-earns-highest-tv-rating-in-five-years-20140811-story.html

[Garland Bayley]

Highest golf ratings in five years.  Not entertaining at all.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/chi-pga-final-round-earns-highest-tv-rating-in-five-years-20140811-story.html

Drama entertainment, yes. GCA related entertainment, little.

[Will MacEwen]

It was a putting contest. Throw a dart and putt it.
They practically could have held it at a driving range with a green nearby.

So when Rory hits driver, 8 iron to 16 and Phil is 241 out in the rough and Ricky's in the wrong fairway, that's a putting contest?
I know plenty of great putters who couldn't have reached the fairways

Yep! Anything they hit will land on the green a stay where it landed. So it's a putting contest.
As Nick Faldo has said, Ben Hogan would be appalled at the putting contests they hold these days that they have the gall to call golf tournaments.

So it is a putting contest, and how close you hit it to the hole has no bearing on the result?

Would you enter a putting contest where you had to putt from 30 feet and your opponent from 6?

[Terry Lavin]

Highest golf ratings in five years.  Not entertaining at all.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/chi-pga-final-round-earns-highest-tv-rating-in-five-years-20140811-story.html

Drama entertainment, yes. GCA related entertainment, little.

That point has been conceded.  A gca shrine it ain't.

[jeffwarne]

It was a putting contest. Throw a dart and putt it.
They practically could have held it at a driving range with a green nearby.

The losers have been saying the same thing about Augusta for years

[Garland Bayley]

...

Would you enter a putting contest where you had to putt from 30 feet and your opponent from 6?

A bit of hyperbole I suspect.

Since on average, Rory hits it 34' 9" from the hole, Ricky hits it 35' 3" from the hole, and Phil hits it 35' 8" from the hole, there's the putting contest I'm talking about.

[Garland Bayley]

It was a putting contest. Throw a dart and putt it.
They practically could have held it at a driving range with a green nearby.

The losers have been saying the same thing about Augusta for years

Since when have the balls been practically embedding in their pitch marks on the Augusta greens?

[jeffwarne]

It was a putting contest. Throw a dart and putt it.
They practically could have held it at a driving range with a green nearby.

The losers have been saying the same thing about Augusta for years

Since when have the balls been practically embedding in their pitch marks on the Augusta greens?

Look, I'm not defending Valhalla as a course,
It rained every day.
Would your course even have been open?

Four of the top players in the world battled it out.
Who hit it farther than Rory this week?
Who hit it closer than Rory this week?
Did Rory putt the best?
I'm lots better from 10 feet than 25.
It was soft and not ideal for a testing major.
You still had to get to the greens

[Garland Bayley]

Look, I'm not defending Valhalla as a course,
It rained every day.
Would your course even have been open?

Yes, we have months on end of rain

Four of the top players in the world battled it out.
Who hit it farther than Rory this week?
Who hit it closer than Rory this week?

I don't know where to get the stats. My point is that on average, there probably was little difference between the top three. We pay particular attention to the back nine, but Rickie and Phil ate up the front nine, while Rory ate up the back nine. I suspect Rickie and Phil hit it closer on the front, while Rory hit it closer on the back.

Did Rory putt the best?

If you can find the stats, I would like to see them.

I'm lots better from 10 feet than 25.

That statement is truly not relevant when discussing players that finish 1, 2, 3 in a professional golf tournament.

It was soft and not ideal for a testing major.
You still had to get to the greens

[Jason Thurman]

Here's are the stats reports for the PGA Championship:

http://www.pgatour.com/statsreport/2014/08/11/strokes-gained-at-the-pga.html
http://www.pgatour.com/statsreport/2014/08/10/performance-stats-pga-championship.html

To summarize, the winner was the guy who finished second in strokes gained driving, first in driving distance, and fifth in strokes gained on approaches. He was 12th in strokes gained putting, behind Mickelson and Stenson and basically tied with Fowler. Looking through the top 12, there was a lot of variety to how they gained their strokes on the field.

[jeffwarne]

Look, I'm not defending Valhalla as a course,
It rained every day.
Would your course even have been open?

Yes, we have months on end of rain

Four of the top players in the world battled it out.
Who hit it farther than Rory this week?
Who hit it closer than Rory this week?

I don't know where to get the stats. My point is that on average, there probably was little difference between the top three. We pay particular attention to the back nine, but Rickie and Phil ate up the front nine, while Rory ate up the back nine. I suspect Rickie and Phil hit it closer on the front, while Rory hit it closer on the back.

Did Rory putt the best?

If you can find the stats, I would like to see them.

I'm lots better from 10 feet than 25.

That statement is truly not relevant when discussing players that finish 1, 2, 3 in a professional golf tournament.

It was soft and not ideal for a testing major.
You still had to get to the greens

12th in putting, but he won.

so your argument falls flat

shocker

why type nonsense such as a "putting contest" when you don't even know the stats?

[Garland Bayley]

...

why type nonsense such as a "putting contest" when you don't even know the stats?

Jeff,

Let's revisit the whole issue. Let's call it the Ben Hogan issue (as I alluded to in my post above, because the words "putting contest" are not mine). If Ben Hogan had viewed the tournament, he would have been appalled by the fact that you could place your tee ball almost anywhere, hit your approach and hold the green. He would be appalled by the fact that the longest balls off the tee had no chance of running into trouble. In effect, the softness of the greens ruled out almost the whole game of golf. You might as well have held a putting contest, because supreme ball striking skills like Ben's would have been nearly useless in such conditions.

But then again, that advent of the new ball would have diminished Ben's advantages already before we got to the tournament in question.

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