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Top stories from the PGA Championship

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Something weird was in the air at the 2014 PGA Championship. Well, it did rain a lot, so maybe precipitation was the culprit.

Rory McIlroy won his fourth major in some rather unusual circumstances, a fitting way to cap off a crazy week; Ian Poulter produced a blooper for the ages, Bubba Watson starred in a week long soap opera, Jason Day and his caddy played catch with a golf club and McIlroy proved he wasn’t going to let the trophy fall through his fingers…literally. Brandel and Nobilo happened, also.

Check out the top stories from Valhalla Golf Club this week at the 2014 PGA Championship.

Fighting Darkness

RickiePhil2

Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and PGA tournament officials made the decision to allow McIlroy and his playing partner (disappearing act, Bernd Wiesburger) to tee off before Fowler or Mickelson hit their second shots into the par 5, so McIlroy had the option to finish the hole if play was called due to darkness. Standard protocol when darkness ensues.

When Rory and Wiesburger hit their approach shots over Mickelson and Fowler’s heads, however, the latter were taken by surprise. McIlroy’s ball was nearly in the hazard, in the rough, on a sidehill slope, and I’m sure Fowler and Mickelson relished the opportunity to apply some pressure with an eagle or birdie. Rory was waved up by tournament officials, however, so he was able to hit his second shot without any added pressure from the group ahead.

Did this affect the outcome? Who knows. But the decision to let them play up left a question mark in some people’s mind.

Poulter… just a bit outside


Ian Poulter probably wants this one back. He decided that chipping the ball from the putting surface would give him the best opportunity at getting the ball down in two. Whoops!

He ended up making double-bogey on the hole en route to a 73 in round 2 and a T59 for the week.

What’s eatin’ ya, Bubba?

After Tuesday’s long drive protest, Bubba Watson wasn’t thrilled with Friday’s playing conditions or the PGA’s decision-making.

Screen Shot 2014-08-11 at 5.22.21 PM

And he let everyone know, including viewers at home, since most of his annoyance could be heard during Friday’s broadcast.

“Water on the clubface, bro … water on the clubface. I got no chance,” said Bubba to his caddy after missing the fairway.

According to reports, he complained to tournament officials about not playing “lift,clean and place.” Throughout his second round (72), as they played the ball down, he was heard verbally complaining using expletives. Four-letter words aren’t usually part of Watson’s vocabulary, but weird stuff is going on with Bubba these days, or at least it did the week at Valhalla. What gives Bubba?


He didn’t approve much of the spectators’ ability to follow directions, either. “Am I speaking English?” he asked.

For the record, he did apologize. Watson kept a good attitude all week on Twitter.

Screen Shot 2014-08-11 at 6.04.38 PM

Hand-eye coordination

Rory just can’t miss right now.

He won back-to-back majors, three tournament victories in three straight starts, and casually saves the Wanamaker trophy’s life. He’s on a nice streak.

Jason Day and his caddy, who tossed that perfect knuckleball, look like they’ve done this before. Although Day failed to make a strong run for the championship on Sunday, at least he saved par on this hole from the trenches.

In conclusion: Rory

It looked like Rory was going to fade into mediocrity on Sunday until he hit a 3 wood from over 280 yards to about six feet, and dropped the eagle putt to climb within striking distance. He said in a post-round interview that the shot was mis-struck; even when he misses, he can’t miss.

Click here to see what 3 wood he had in the bag.

Until further notice, Rory is the top story in golf. He’s won the last two majors, and will be going for the career grand slam come next April at Augusta — at age 25. He drives the ball straight and far. He’s the World No. 1 ranked player according to the Official World Golf Rankings and he’s leading the FedEx Cup Playoff standings. Any other questions?

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Todd

    Aug 12, 2014 at 12:25 pm

    Great finish, and a great win for Rory! Nice show of sportsmanship by Rickie and Phil — that goes a long way, I’d imagine.

  2. Chris

    Aug 12, 2014 at 9:57 am

    Might we see a Rory Slam?!?!?

  3. bradford

    Aug 12, 2014 at 7:43 am

    Yeah, best Sunday I’ve watched in a long while. Honestly, the implication that Rory may have double or triple bogeyed the last hole is a bit off. If he had lost at that point, it would’ve been due to darkness, and nobody wanted that.

  4. Pingback: Top stories from the PGA Championship | Spacetimeandi.com

  5. Rcalfo

    Aug 11, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    I loved it, Sunday was a great viewing experience, I was surprised they didn’t play lift, clean, and place on Sunday. If that’s not the time with fairways comprised of casual water everywhere, when should they play it?

  6. Martin

    Aug 11, 2014 at 9:15 pm

    The best finish in recent memory of a major, terrific television.

    Valhalla give up lots of birdies, but bites back just enough to make it fun to watch.

  7. Paul

    Aug 11, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    hahah @ jason day there

    that is the perfect throw and caught with no issue what so ever

    that’s not as easy as they made it look~!

  8. richard

    Aug 11, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    This was about as good as it gets in terms of drama in pro golf. Rare to see several of the best in the world all going at each other with no clear winner until the last hole. Rory is by far the best right now, and good to see Fowler keep us his consistent excellence. Other big story might be Phil’s return to form after about a year of pretty bad play. I hope he continues to play well, would like to see him win something this year. All in all a fantastic show, except for Bubba and Tiger.

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