Philadelphia, PA (Best E Casino) - PGA TOUR - PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Township, Michigan - The season's final major kicks off this week with the PGA Championship and it will be without defending champion Tiger Woods.
Woods continues his recovery from knee surgery.
Last year, Woods closed with a one-under 69 at Southern Hills to fend off Woody Austin and Ernie Els. For Woods, it was his fourth PGA Championship title as he has gone back-to-back twice at this event.
With any luck, the PGA Championship will have as good an ending as the British Open or even last week's WGC - Bridgestone Invitational.
Both events had some of the top players battling to the end and some of those same players have a history on this week's host course, Oakland Hills Country Club.
Oakland Hills hosted the 1996 U.S. Open and the 2004 Ryder Cup. After the 1951 U.S. Open in which there were only two sub-par rounds, Ben Hogan called this course a monster.
With tricky greens and a long course, 7,395 yards, players will need to have all facets of their games working to earn the title here.
So far this year, Trevor Immelman collected his first major title at The Masters, then Woods defeated Rocco Mediate in an epic U.S. Open playoff and three weeks ago, Padraig Harrington claimed his second straight British Open Championship.
Several Europeans, including Lee Westwood and Harrington, are in fine form entering this event, but history is not on their side. Seventy-five of the 89 winners have been American, while South Africans and Australians account for eight titles at this event.
The last European winner was all they way back in 1930, when Scotland's Tommy Armour defeated Gene Sarazen, 1-up.
Since 1996, Vijay Singh is the only non-American winner. The Fijian won this title in 1998 and was a playoff winner in 2004.
There is plenty on the line this week. The top American and European players are battling to secure spots on the Ryder Cup teams, while some big-name players are also trying to lock up their spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Three former major champions - Davis Love III (150), Lee Janzen (154) and Rich Beem (166) - are all outside the top-144 in the playoff standings and will miss them without a solid performance at Southern Hills.
TNT will have lengthy coverage of the first two rounds and also has early coverage on the weekend before handing off to the CBS team, which has five hours of coverage both Saturday and Sunday.
The PGA Tour heads to North Carolina next week for the Wyndham Championship, where Brandt Snedeker is the defending champion.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
PREFERRED HEALTH SYSTEMS WICHITA OPEN, Crestview Country Club, Wichita, Kansas - Brad Elder ran away with this title last year as he opened and closed with rounds of six-under 65.
For Elder, this was his third Nationwide Tour win, including his second at this event. However, Elder is not scheduled to be on hand to defend his title.
Just three players - Casey Wittenberg, Jeff Klauk and Kris Blanks - who rank in the top-10 on the money list are playing this week. Wittenberg is still searching for his first tour win, while both Klauk and Blanks titled earlier this season.
There is no television this week. The Nationwide Tour returns to the east coast next week with the Xerox Classic, in Rochester, New York. Nick Flanagan capped his magical season by earning the battlefield promotion for his third win of the season there last year.
UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION
U.S. Women's Amateur, Eugene Country Club, Eugene, Oregon - The U.S. Women's Amateur kicked off Monday in Oregon and the field is stacked with big name players as always.
Amanda Blumenherst, last year's runner-up, has played on the last two U.S. Curtis Cup teams, and has qualified for the last three U.S. Women's Opens.
Two-time defending U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion Meghan Bolger, 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links champion Mina Harigae, two-time U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links champ Tiffany Joh, 2006 champion Kimberly Kim and 2008 U.S. Girls' Junior champion Alexis Thompson are all competing this week as well.
Maria Uribe defeated Blumenherst, 1-up, last year for the title. Neither player owned more than a 1-up lead throughout the match. Blumenherst three- putted for bogey on the 35th hole and lost when Uribe parred the last.
The two stroke-play rounds are on Monday and Tuesday, while match play begins Wednesday with the first round. The second and third rounds will be Thursday, with the quarterfinals on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday and the 36-hole final will be Sunday.
The Golf Channel has two hours of coverage for all five days of match play.
The next USGA event is the men's U.S. Amateur from August 18th - 24th, while the next women's USGA event is the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur September 6-11.
