PGA Championship Preview (Georgia Bulldogs)

Professional golf has returned to action over the last several weeks, but this week will be the first major of the season (of three). The 102nd PGA Championship will be played out west in San Francisco, California, at the TPC Harding Park. This is the first time a golf major has been played at this course. The last time a PGA Championship was played in California was in 1995 at the Riviera in Pacific Palisades.

Brooks Koepka has won the last two Wanamaker Trophies and if he wins this week, he will join the great Walter Hagen (1924-27) as the only golfers to win at least three PGA Championships in a row. A Georgia Bulldog has never won the PGA Championship although several have come close.

Four Bulldogs were in the field last year, but all four missed the cut at Bethpage Black. This year eight Bulldogs are in the field. Here is a deeper look at those Dawgs as they prepare for golf’s first major.

Harris English started the 2019-20 season with a bang last September. English had four top-six finishes in his first five events including a season-best tied for third at The Greenbrier. This season he has finished in the top-25 in 10 of 15 PGA Tour events has made the cut three out of four times in June. Since the return, he has shot under par in ten of 14 rounds he has played. English has never had a top ten in any major (best finish is tied for 15th in 2013 British), but he has made the cut in his last eight he has played.

Brian Harman also started the 2019-20 on a high note finishing a season-best tied for third with English at The Greenbrier. Since the return in June, Harman has struggled some, missing three cuts in a row, but did finish tied for 41st at the 3M Open. The lefty has one of the best PGA Championships finishes by a Bulldog, but his most successful major came in 2017 when he was one of the players tied for second at the U.S. Open.

Russell Henley was not initially in the field this week, but after England’s Paul Waring withdrew, it was Henley that filled his spot. Henley has been hit or miss this season. He made just nine of 16 cuts this season, but has two top-ten finishes, including a tie for 7th last month at the Workday Charity Open. Henley has eight top-25 finishes in majors. He also made the cut in the last four PGA Championships he has played (he did not play last year).

One of the most consistent Bulldog golfers ever on tour has been Kevin Kisner. If he is not found challenging the barstoolsports.com bloggers or answering Anthony Dasher’s questions, he is found near the top of the leaderboard. Last month he finished a season-best third at the Rocket Mortgage up in Michigan. He has made the cut in 14 of his last 16 majors and was tied for second at the 2018 British Open. He missed the cut in last year’s PGA Championship, but finished in the top 20 in the three previous years including finishing par or better in eight of 12 rounds in that time period.

Keith Mitchell has struggled this season after doing a nice job on tour, making just over 69 percent of his cuts the two previous seasons. This season he has made nine cuts in his 18 PGA Tour events. He does have four top-25 finishes, including a season-best tie for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in March. Last season was the first he played in the majors and had a best finish of tied for 43rd at the Masters. In last year’s PGA Championship, he missed the cut by one stroke after shooting a 74, 71.

After struggling earlier this season making five of his first 18 PGA Tour cuts, Sepp Straka has turned it around by making the cut in four straight including a tied for eighth-place at the Rocket Mortgage last month. Since professional golf resumed, Straka has shot under par in 15 of 24 rounds he has played. He has played in one major in his career and that was the 2019 U.S. Open in which he finished tied for 28th.

Brendon Todd has been the best golfer on tour this season amongst all the Bulldogs. He is currently in 9th place in the latest FedExCup Standings. He has made the cut in 14 of 20 PGA Tour events, including eight top-25 finishes and two victories (Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic) prior to the tour being suspended. Twice in the last two months he has led after three rounds. Bubba Watson (2017-18) is the only Bulldog to win three times in one PGA Tour season. Todd struggled from 2016 to 2018 making just five of 39 cuts. Todd does have a pair of top-25 finishes in majors, but neither has been in the PGA Championship. In his two career events in this tournament, he has a 72nd place finish in 2014 and a missed cut last year.

While Brendon Todd has been the best Bulldog golfer this season, Bubba Watson is probably the best Bulldog golfer of all-time. Watson has won 12 career PGA Tour events (most by a Bulldog) and is the only University of Georgia golfer to win a major (The Masters in 2012 and 2014). This season, he has been all or nothing. He has made just ten of 17 cuts on the PGA Tour this season, but of the ten events, he has finished in the top-25 five times. He has also missed the cut in eight of his last 12 majors, including his last three PGA Championships. He does have a runner-up in this tournament back in 2010 when it was played in Whistling Straits.

Here are the eight Bulldog golfers once again and their tee times for their first round on Thursday…