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2009 PGA Championship Preview: The Top 10 Contenders.

Beginning August 10, 2009 Hazeltine National will continue adding to it’s history of major PGA tournaments by hosting the 2009 PGA Championship.
The PGA Championship returns to Hazeltine National Golf Course in Chaska, Minnesota site of the 2002 PGA Championship. In the 2002 event Rich Beem held off a hard charging Tiger Woods by 1 stroke.

Who are the top 10 contenders in this years field?

1) Tiger Woods

He finished 2nd here 2002, and has won the last two events his entered. This included beating a world-class field this week at the Bridgestone Invitational. The British Open missed cut looks like ancient history. He’s putting great now.

Odd of winning: 2 to 1

2) Stewart Cink:
Stewart Cink finally won that elusive 1st major title at this year’s British Open out dueling golf legend Tom Watson. Could more majors be in store Cink? He just finished T-6 at Bridgestone as well. He drives the ball straight, and is one of the better ball strikers on tour. In 2002 he had a top finish 10 at Hazeltine.

Odds of winning: 8 to 1

3) Phil Mickelson:

Phil Mickelson has been dealing with cancer recoveries of both his Mother and his wife the last several weeks. Mickelson alluded to the treatments going well and we wish them the best. With a player as talented as Mickelson he can turn it on at a moments notice. Like at the U.S. Open I can see Mickelson using the motivation of his family inspiring him to great play.

Odds of winning: 10 to 1

4) Steve Stricker

Steve Stricker has quietly put together one of the most solid seasons on tour this year. He won at the Colonial and at the John Deere. He also has other six other top ten finishes. He’s contended at the PGA and several other majors before. Is this the major he finally breaks through? I think he’ll contend this week.

Odds of winning: 12 to 1

5) Robert Allenby

He should have won 15 times on tour by now. Allenby is that talented. He finished T2 to Tiger Woods this week, and was the only player other than Stewart Cink to not shoot 1 round in the 70s. He ranks in the top 10 in total driving driving on tour, and in the top 25 in greens in regulation. The greens are small at Hazeltine, so that GIR stat will be very important. If Allenby can put together a solid week of putting he might surprise. Putting has been Allenby’s achilles heel his whole career.

Odds of winning: 15 to 1

6) Sergio Garcia

Hazeltine is a ball striker’s golf course. One of golf’s best best ball strikers in the 90s, Payne Stewart won the U.S. Open at Hazeltine in 1991. Sergio Garcia was another player who had a top 10 finish here in 2002. Like Allenby, Garcia’s career, especially recently has been his inability to putt consistently. He’s more than overdue for a major, and I think his balky will get going which will allow him to get into contention this week.

Odds of winning: 18 to 1

7) Padraig Harrington
Padraig Harrington looked poised to take down Tiger Woods through 70 1/2 holes this week. He did something players just don’t often do to Woods in the final round. He tracked Tiger Woods down from a 2 stroke deficit, on the back 9 of a final round to lead by 1 with 3 holes to play. Harrington oddly fell apart on 16. He drove the ball wayward, and was all over the hole ending up with a triple bogey 8. If Harrington wins, he’s 2nd on this list, but mentally that might have did a number on him. Looks like his swing changes are taking hold, and if he puts this past week behind him, he’ll be there.

Odds of winning: 20 to 1

Lee Westwood

Its just matter of time before Westwood wins a major. Westwood is like a European Stewart Cink. Just a very solid player, that rarely overwhelms you, but seems to get in contention in 1 or 2 majors a year. Westwood is coming off solo 9th place finish at Bridgestone that included a final round 65. That was the best of the day tied with Tiger Woods. He also finished T-3 at the British Open just one stroke out of the Cink Watson playoff.
Odds of wining: 25 to 1
9) Jim Furyk

After strong play most of the year, Furyk hasn’t finished in the top 20 of any of his last 3 tournaments. He’s in the top 30 on tour in driving accuracy, but ranks outside the top 100 in Greens In Regulation. That’s a little surprising for someone who hits the ball as well as Furyk. In 2002 he finished T-9, so Furyk can play this course.
Odds of winning: 35 to 1

10) Davis Love III

If there is a darkhorse in this year’s event, I’m going with Davis Love III. Hey if a 59-year old Tom Watson can almost win the British Open, then a 45-year old Love can contend this week. He still hits ball a mile, and has had some solid results against some strong fields, 19th this week, 16th at the AT&T National, and a 5th at the Memorial. That’ 3 top 20 finishes in his last 5 tournaments. It’s a bit of long shot, but Love’s name may show up on the leaderboard this week.

Odds of winning: 50 to 1

Watch the Live Streaming PGA championship 2009

The PGA Tour will make their stop at Hazeltine National Golf Club this Thursday for the final major golf event of the year at the PGA Championship. Located in Chaska, Minnesota, Hazeltine has hosted prior major golfing events including the 2002 PGA Championship. Rich Beem took home the title in that event in his only major victory holding off a strong charge from Tiger Woods in the final round. Hazeltine Golf Course will have a different look when the best players in the world roll back into town. The course which was already monstrous in length has been stretched out even more since 2002 and has also added plenty more bunkers making the course more challenging. The course will play at an insane 7,674 yards for this year’s PGA Championship making it the longest major in PGA history. The course’s tremendous length will include 3 different Par 5 holes over 600 yards. The course will not only be extremely long, but it also has very narrow fairways making it very difficult for competitors. Hazeltine will put every golfer to the extreme test demanding length and accuracy. To compete for the win at this year’s PGA Championship, players must be at the best in every aspect of their game.

Watch US PGA Championship 2009 Live Streaming

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