WILD CARD Jordan Spieth … Lost amid his inconsistency is that he actually has improved about one stroke per tournament in putting in the last two months. In terms of results, the anomaly was a T9 at Carnoustie where ShotLink doesn't measure performance. It's impossible for him not to think about achieving the career grand slam at Bellerive, but that sets up as a bonus as he's "distracted" by working on the X's and O's necessary to yield it. In that sense, it's a challenge within a challenge, and that just might bring out his best. NOTE: The remaining 135 golfers in the field of 156 are segregated as seen below. The groupings include all 12 who competed in the 2008 BMW Championship at Bellerive and all 34 tournament debutants. CHALLENGERS If you'd prefer, label them as the snubs from the Power Rankings. Each could appear and few would argue. Ranked in order of Rob's confidence (* - former champion; 2008 BMW Championship finish) Alex Noren *Keegan Bradley Tyrrell Hatton *Tiger Woods Kyle Stanley Matt Kuchar Charl Schwartzel Ryan Moore *Phil Mickelson (T17) Bubba Watson (T28) Hideki Matsuyama Xander Schauffele Bryson DeChambeau Henrik Stenson Kevin Na Adam Scott (T50) SLEEPERS Because it's a major, loosen the restraints as to who qualifies as a Sleeper. Ignore current world ranking, distant victories in majors and recent inclusion in team competition. Ranked in order of Rob's confidence (* - former champion; ^ - debutant; 2008 BMW Championship finish) Brandt Snedeker Kevin Kisner Gary Woodland Russell Henley Byeong Hun An Branden Grace Russell Knox Chris Kirk Stewart Cink (T60) *Jimmy Walker Thomas Pieters Billy Horschel Anirban Lahiri Brian Harman Ryan Fox *Jason Dufner ^Austin Cook Peter Uihlein ^Justin Harding Andy Sullivan QUESTION MARKS This cuts both ways. For golfers who have yet to scale to a position from which they can disappoint, they remain full of promise. On the other side of the ledger are talents, many of whom household names, who present negatively for any number of reasons. The doubt includes, but is not limited to, form upon arrival, course fit, history in majors, overall career trajectory and relative inexperience in the face of higher expectations. ARROW UP Ranked in order of Rob's confidence (* - former champion; ^ - debutant; 2008 BMW Championship finish) Si Woo Kim Rafa Cabrera Bello Charles Howell III Charley Hoffman (T60) ^Beau Hossler ^Joaquin Niemann Luke List Kiradech Aphibarnrat Danny Willett ^Paul Dunne Eddie Pepperell Shane Lowry Jamie Lovemark Chris Wood Hao Tong Li Dylan Frittelli Brian Gay (T13) Jason Kokrak ^Julian Suri ^J.J. Spaun Nick Watney ^Ollie Schniederjans Scott Brown ^Andrew Putnam Chris Stroud ^Andrew Landry Yuta Ikeda ^Mike Lorenzo-Vera ^Michael Kim ^Seungsu Han ^Jorge Campillo ^Adrian Otaegui ^Whee Kim ^Shugo Imahira ^Mikko Korhonen Troy Merritt (since winning the Barbasol Championship, had surgery to remove a blood clot in his left arm) *Vijay Singh (T44) *Y.E. Yang ARROW DOWN Ranked in order of Rob's confidence (* - former champion; ^ - debutant; 2008 BMW Championship finish) Matthew Fitzpatrick Pat Perez Kevin Chappell J.B. Holmes (T33) Emiliano Grillo Brendan Steele Daniel Berger Chesson Hadley Ross Fisher Jhonattan Vegas Cameron Smith Scott Piercy Sergio Garcia (T20) Patton Kizzire James Hahn Brandon Stone Alexander Levy *Martin Kaymer Bill Haas Ted Potter, Jr. Jordan L. Smith *Davis Love III ^Ryuko Tokimatsu *Padraig Harrington (T55) Satoshi Kodaira ^Shubhankar Sharma Jim Furyk (T3) ^Matt Wallace Chez Reavie (T33) ^Yusaku Miyazato Adam Hadwin (withdrew before the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a hip injury) *Shaun Micheel *John Daly Thomas Bjørn *Rich Beem DEBUTANTS The last five first-timers who weren't slotted in a previous grouping are ranked below. Unlike other tournaments and majors, the PGA Championship doesn't discriminate against the absence of experience. As a point of reference, 11 of the 75 who survived last year's cut were making their tournament debuts. Jordan L. Smith (T9) and Grayson Murray (T22) led the charge. Notables included Patrick Cantlay (T33), Bryson DeChambeau (T33) and Jon Rahm (T58). Ranked in order of Rob's confidence Aaron Wise Alexander Björk Ryan Armour Sungjae Im Brice Garnett SENIOR PGA Paul Broadhurst qualified when he won the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in late May. The Englishman, who will turn 53 on Aug. 14, missed the cut in the PGA Championship in both of his previous appearances (1997, 2006). He'll go into the record books as the last automatic qualifier via that senior major before the PGA Championship shifts to May in 2019. Next year's Senior PGA Championship will be held on May 23-26, the week after the next edition of the PGA Championship. PGA PROFESSIONALS Twenty PGA professionals are included in the field of 156 every year. Their national championship was conducted in June. In the last six editions of the PGA Championship, only Brian Gaffney (71st, 2015) and Omar Uresti (T73, 2017) survived the cut. Uresti is unique in that he also has Veteran Membership on the PGA TOUR, so he collected FedExCup points at last year's PGA Championship. He's back again this year. One of the most intriguing qualifiers is Michael Block, who is making his third appearance. With his son, Dylan, on the bag for the first time, Michael wound up advancing to Bellerive via a 9-for-5 playoff. He was raised and went to high school nearby. Ranked in order of Rob's confidence (@-current PGA TOUR member; %-former PGA TOUR member; # of prior appearances in parentheses) @Omar Uresti (3) Matt Dobyns (4) %Bob Sowards (9) Ryan Vermeer (1) Michael Block (2) David Muttitt (3) Danny Balin (4) %Matt Borchert (0) Johan Kok (3) Jason Schmuhl (1) Sean McCarty (0) Jaysen Hansen (1) %Craig Bowden (0) Marty Jertson (2) Brian Smock (1) Rich Berberian, Jr. (2) Craig Hocknull (0) Zach J. Johnson (0) … Note the inclusion of his middle initial. This is so as not to be confused with two-time major champion Zach Johnson. Ben Kern (0) Shawn Warren (0) NOTE: Graham DeLaet (back surgery), Bernd Wiesberger (wrist) and Lee Westwood (undisclosed) are not competing due to injury. After waiting seven years post-9/11 to host the BMW Championship in 2008, Bellerive's anticipation extended an additional day due to the impact of Hurricane Gustav. Thanks to the limited field, all four rounds were completed within three days for the traditional Sunday finish that yielded Camilo Villegas' breakthrough victory in wire-to-wire fashion. However, his winning score of 15-under 265 didn't reflect the bite the Bellerive had promised. The field of 68 in 2008 averaged 69.371 on the stock par 70. Targets off the tee played wider, thus surrendering more than nine fairways hit per golfer per round. Furthermore, the bentgrass greens, which are quite large but segmented, were also quite receptive as the field averaged nearly 12.5 greens in regulation per round. If you dove further to examine between the lines, the data not only would support those broad strokes, it would reveal even easier opportunities to score. So, it's not overstating to suggest that even the most patient of golfers and fans finally get to see what makes Bellerive tick. Thankfully, mostly favorable weather conditions are expected throughout the tournament. Warm and muggy St. Louis air will blanket the 7,316-yard layout. Wind won't be a factor. Not unlike Augusta National Golf Club, most of the holes at Bellerive that bend turn to the left. Only the 597-yard par-5 17th curves to the right. After navigating "The Ridge" – holes 14, 15 and 16 known for primo viewing locations – it's on the penultimate hole where the field of 156 will want to be in position to prevail. The par-4 18th ranked as the hardest in the 2008 BMW. It tips at 457 yards this week. With unfamiliar greens for most of the field, putting takes a back seat to total driving and proximity to the hole. Because of the size of the surfaces, great putters will have opportunities to shine, but they won't want to be lining up approaches from three-inch fescue rough that frames most sightlines off tees. Water hazards also are in play on eight of the holes. Put it all together and course management sits atop the list of priorities to capture the Wanamaker Trophy.<doc-sep>Did you know you can save your preferences across all your digital devices and platforms simply by creating a profile? Would you like to get started? Yes, I'd like to register/log in Not right now No, never ask again<doc-sep>Although Francesco Molinari picked up his maiden major title at the 147th Open Championship, it certainly was not a major surprise. Molinari arrived at Carnoustie as the game's hottest player with two wins and two runner-ups in his previous five worldwide starts, and teed off as a 25-to-1 pick — the same odds given to Tiger Woods, the man he took down in Sunday's third-to-last pairing. But now the time has come to examine the betting odds for the PGA Championship, which will be the year's final major one last time before moving to May in 2019.<doc-sep>
As the PGA Championship celebrates its milestone 100th edition this year at Bellerive, the major championship also says goodbye to its August positioning on the schedule. We’ve arrived to the final major championship of 2018. Come next year, and in years to come, the PGA Championship will be the second major championship wedged into its new spot in May. It’s also the 100th edition of the PGA Championship and the second time coming to Bellerive Country Club in Town and Country, Missouri, a St. Louis suburb. Bellerive last hosted the 1992 PGA as well as the 2008 BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup Playoffs event. The greens are bentgrass and fairways zoyzia. With chances for rain and storm, coupled with August humidity and traditionally soft PGA Championship greens, this week could yield some low scores. Par is 70 and the Rees Jones design measures 7,317 yards. The greens are rather large and the fairways are generous. There are ways to gain strokes with a long, high tee shot, but short players could get it done this week if their irons or putter heat up. The fairways are pretty big compared to other majors but aren’t massive, either. Stats I’ll keep an extra eye on are strokes gained approach, strokes gained tee to green, proximity, and strokes gained putting. Par-4 scoring also helps. The field is annually the strongest of the four majors and that’s no different this year. Barring a withdrawal later this week, everyone in the world top 86 are teeing it up at Bellerive. Poor Bernd Wiesberger, No. 87, is the highest-ranked player to not make it in the field. It’s a bummer that Joel Dahmen (seventh alternate) and Harold Varner III (ninth) are among those who look like they won’t sneak in the 156-player field. Really, though, everyone you want to see this week and more are playing. Other than the 20 PGA professionals who are in the field, along with some aging past champions (looking at you, John Daly), almost everyone’s got a shot at making some noise this weekend. I feel like I could make a legitimate case for about 20-25 players to win this week, but I don’t think I’d be done writing that until someone’s already hoisting the trophy Sunday. Here we go: