Only one thing's for sure in 2010 -- expect the unexpected
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
One of the strangest seasons in professional golf enters its final major this week -- with the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup on the horizon -- amid only one certainty.
Expect the unexpected.
Let's start at the top. Who in their right minds could have guessed the top three players in the latest Official World Golf Ranking prepared for this week's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in this dubious fashion Sunday?
No. 1 Tiger Woods shot a 77 in the final round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, stamping an ugly ending to his worst performance as a professional. Woods had never taken this many strokes (298) or finished this many shots over par (18) since he started playing for a paycheck 14 years ago. Moreover, he did it in a place that had become an annuity for Woods, having won seven of his 10 previous starts at Firestone.
No. 2 Phil Mickelson, needing a fourth-place finish to pass Woods and become the No. 1 ranked player for the first time at 40 years of age, instead got beat by Woods as Lefty struggled to a 78. Mickelson faded from 10th place to 46th, his third-worst showing of the year.
No. 3 Lee Westwood was probably listening to doctor's orders and "sitting on his backside." Westwood withdrew from the Bridgestone Invitational as well as the PGA Championship after Friday's second round because of a lingering calf injury. He was one of the few players behind Woods when he WD'ed at the midway point.
What does all this mean?
Well, we can be certain Westwood won't again come close to winning his first major. He's earned a rest after finishing in the top three in five of his last nine majors.
Lefty already was trying to brush off his 78 as just a bad day at the office. Yet he has to be concerned that he's had two of his three worst showings of the year in his last two starts (he was T48 at the British Open), topped only by the missed cut at Colonial.
"I've got to turn this around pretty quickly," Mickelson said.
At least Mickelson has his major for the year, having beaten Westwood at the Masters. As for Woods, with his personal issues, who knows where his mind is these days? Hall of Famer Nick Faldo was among the many who said they would be shocked if Woods' name shows up on the PGA Championship leaderboard after the way he struggled at Firestone. They figure, if he can't contend at a place such as Firestone, where can he contend?
But what won't shock us this week? Guys like Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen or Y.E. Yang winning the Wanamaker Trophy? It shouldn't -- players outside the top 30 in the world ranking have won six of the last seven majors.
Can anyone name the player who leads the PGA TOUR in scoring average and all-around ranking this year? Hint: His name rhymes with Natt Kuchar. Few outside the Kuchar household know this.
Who would have thought purple would be this year's red when it came to shirt attire worn by champions on Sunday? Maybe Hunter Mahan (Bridgestone Invitational winner), Stuart Appleby (a 59 while winning The Greenbrier Classic) and Oosthuizen (British Open champion) are on to something.
It says something about the unusual state of affairs in golf this year that Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples are being mentioned as possible Ryder Cup captain's picks.
With a straight face.
Whistling Straits is no laughing matter, though. Designer Pete Dye has placed so many bunkers on the rugged-looking Wisconsin terrain that reportedly nobody has an accurate count. (OK, Golf Digest architecture editor Ron Whitten insists he recently counted 967 bunkers at Whistling Straits.) By my count, that's an average of 53.7 bunkers a hole. That's more than some courses have on their entire 18 holes.
Whistling Straights is so tough, people get hurt even watching the golf -- several fans suffered broken legs and ankles at the 2004 PGA Championship when they fell down the deep slopes off the fairways.
That PGA produced a three-way playoff between Hall of Famer Vijay Singh, Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco -- a formidable group -- with Ernie Els a shot back and Mickelson two behind. Singh was on the verge of overtaking Woods for the No. 1 ranking.
It wasn't so long ago that when majors came along, Woods would usually win. And when he didn't, it was usually Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen or Singh who earned a piece of history. Combined, they have won 23-of-the-43 majors held since 2000.
Now there is no normal. As actress Holly Hunter in "Raising Arizona" once exclaimed, "Everythang's changed!"
Will this PGA be won by one of the usual suspects, or is there a South African, a lad from Northern Ireland or a Korean few have heard of ready to bust through for "glory's last shot?"
Even the usual sub-plot of the PGA during an even-numbered year -- the clinching of U.S. Ryder Cup team spots -- has taken on a surreal approach. Who'd ever thought we be watching a PGA where Woods may have to play his way in to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team, while lesser-knowns such as Jeff Overton and Kuchar already seem to have clinched their inaugural spots?
Woods fell from ninth to 10th in the U.S. standings after Firestone -- Dustin Johnson, who could have nailed down his spot at the U.S. Open, passed him -- and admitted afterward he shouldn't be one of the four captain's picks because he didn't think he could currently help the team.
"We've got a lot of time between now and then, which is good," Woods said.
But not much more time before someone makes more history this week at Whistling Straits amid the 967 storylines. About the only sure bet is it won't be who we think it will be.
Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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