2018 PGA Championship Preview (Georgia Bulldog edition)

Golf’s final major of 2018 is this week, and five former Bulldogs will try to become the first former Georgia player to win the PGA Championship. This will be the 100th PGA Championship, and Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, and Bubba Watson will try to take home the Wanamaker Trophy.

This year the tournament will be taking place just outside St. Louis, Missouri, at the Bellerive Country Club. This is the second time the PGA Championship has been at Bellerive (1992) and the third time it has hosted a non-senior major (1965 U.S. Open).

Here are the top performances by former Georgia greats at the PGA Championship. Two, near the top of the list, occurred last year at Quail Hollow.

The action this week begins Thursday, and here's a little more info on the five Dawgs, in alphabetical order by name.

Brian Harman, the lefty, is currently ranked 33rd on the Official World Golf Ranking list and 29th in money earned. His best finish this season was third at the Sentry Tournament of Champions back in January, and his best PGA Championship finish is just ten off of that. Check out these stats.

Russell Henley is next on the list. Henley hasn't been hot lately, other than his last round. He shot 80 in the second round of the British Open, but prior to that, he shot his previous nine rounds under par. Two of his three top-10 finishes this season have been after the U.S. Open in June. He is currently ranked 54th on the Official World Golf Rankings list, and 73rd on the money list. He has played in five previous PGA Championships, and has made the cut in the last three. Here are more stats on him and the fourth major.

Next is Kevin Kisner. We all followed him last month during his runner-up finish at The British Open. It was his second runner-up finish this season, and he was second at the WGC-Dell Tech Match Play (to Bubba Watson). K-Kis is ranked 27th both in the Official World Golf Ranking and in money earned. His runner-up finish in July wasn’t his only top-ten major finish as you can see here.

On paper it may not look like Chris Kirk is having a good season. He is ranked 140th on the Official World Golf Rankings list and 64th in money earned. However, Kirk has made 19 of 24 cuts this season and has eight top 25’s. This is his first major that he has played in 2018, but he has played in 15 during his pro career. Here are his numbers at this prestigious tournament.

And Bubba Watson, of course, is playing in his 12th PGA Championship, and this could be the season he pulls through. He has three PGA Tour wins this season – which is the most he has had in one season. His Official World Golf Ranking is 14th, while he has won the 4th most money on the PGA Tour. Back in 2008, he played on this course when it was the host of the BMW Championship. Watson finished tied for 28th (fellow Bulldog Ryuji Imada was tied for 67th). We all know Bubba has two Masters titles, but could have won his first major during the 2010 PGA Championship when he finished as runner-up. Here are all his stats here.

I mentioned that the BMW Championship was played at Bellerive back in 2008. It was also the site of the 1992 PGA Championship where former Dawg Chip Beck missed the cut by one stroke. In fact he was ten over par on holes 2, 6, 10, and 14, and he was three under par on the other 14 holes.

Here is another chart showing how each of these five competitors have fared in the majors so far in 2018.

Here are Thursday's Tee Times that might help you find your favorite Bulldog. Coverage is on TNT each day and CBS Sports on the weekend. A couple of Dawgs will also be broadcasting: Ernie Johnson and Billy Kratzert.

Other former Georgia golfers have fared well on the PGA Tour in recent years, but a new one might be added soon as well. Sepp Straka won the Web.com's KC Golf Classic last week and moved from No. 130 on the money rankings to 29th. Maybe one day his name and stats will come up in articles like this one.

Finally, as I mentioned up top, this is the final major of the season. However next season, this tournament will be the second one, and will be played in May at Bethpage.