CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You like taking the backroads? You can make a 100-mile drive, most of it on two-lane highway, from the par-4 18th hole of the Quail Hollow Club to the par-4 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2, where the U.S. Open was decided last year. That’s when Rory McIlroy closed with a Father’s Day bogey, and Bryson DeChambeau made a gutty sand-save par to win his second U.S. Open. On Sunday, this 103rd PGA Championship could be decided on the spectacular closing hole. It’s a short par-4, for Bryson, Rory & Co. It’s a good par-5 for the rest of us. The divide has never been greater.
It was a gorgeous Saturday night here, with long shadows and a drying breeze. That is, it was gorgeous for Scottie Scheffler, leading this tourney by three. It was gorgeous for Alex Noren, the former Mac O’Grady disciple, who will play with Scheffler in the final twosome. It was semi-gorgeous for the wildly interesting, slightly kooky DeChambeau, who, after a bogey on 16 and double on 17, made a 3-wood, 8-iron, long chip, short putt 4 on 18 to finish at five under and not totally out of it.
Hard to say what kind of day it was for McIlroy, who made the cut on the number on Friday, had a long, long day in the office on Saturday and exited stage right after signing for a 72 (T49). He marched past a small group of reporters looking for a wee morsel and an answer to a not-very-complicated question:
Why did you change drivers this week?
The forever question: WWBJD?
(What would Big Jack do?)
But, really, it’s no biggie. Without getting mired in the whole thing, this is a perfect storm of eked news and a possible nonconforming driver (McIlroy’s) and a deep silence (McIlroy’s) turning this into more than it is. Nobody is suggesting that McIlroy did anything wrong. It appears — it seems! — he was told early this week, during a practice round, that his driver was nonconforming. A conforming driver can become nonconforming through regular use. The face becomes too thin, the trampoline effect becomes too great. All you have to do is replace it. No big whoop.
As is the case of all storms, this one shall pass, too.
The ordinary golfer does not understand trampoline effect or coefficient of restitution or characteristic time, all things elite pros, playing that other game, often are intimately familiar with. One of my golf buddies said Saturday night, “I need more trampoline effect with my driver.” Sorry, guy. At our clubhead speed? Not gonna make any difference. We play the bunt game. Small ball.
Back to the tourney. Maybe Scheffler is going to go so low in Sunday’s fourth round that he’ll be able to make a 5 on 18 and still win by two. That would be kind of a shame but also semi-predictable, as this event, for any number of reasons, has felt more like an ordinary (but nice!) PGA Tour event than a major championship. The slow rounds in threesomes over the first three days has a lot to do with that. So has the long, soft course. And our familiarity with it, as the PGA Tour makes an annual stop here.
Secretive nature of driver testing in pro game raises sticky questions
But to anybody who does make a 5 on 18 on Sunday, let’s bear in mind that it would actually play as a demanding par-5 for the overwhelming majority of us, the slice-it-220 off the tee crowd who would have a modest chance of two-putting a green that has multiple tiers and is Stimping at 13ish. Let’s not even talk about advancing it out of the rough. ’Cause that might not happen at all without getting hurt.
DeChambeau, who knows a thing or two about playing with 90-shooters, was asked for how he would advise such a player just trying — trying — to make a par on the 490-yard, uphillish hole. He was asked how the ordinary golfer could play it for a 5.
“For a 5? Hit and hope,” he said good-naturedly. “Take a break for two weeks and quit. I don’t know. It’s impossible.” He described a tee shot, a second shot, a third with an iron (optimistic) that actually fetches the green, two putts from there. Yes, where he hit 3-wood, 8-iron.
Now 5 might be all Scottie Scheffler needs Sunday night on 18, but right now we don’t know and can’t know. That’s why they play and why we watch. They play a game with which we’re not familiar, every last one of these touring pros.
The club pros will tell you that. There were 20 in the field, all quality players. Not one made the cut. You can’t get lucky and shoot 143 for two rounds, one over par, and make the cut on a course like Quail Hollow. Rory shot 143. The way his Saturday went, he might have wished he took one more shot in the first two rounds. But these players, most of them, are hardwired to give every shot all they’ve got.
Sometimes you win, as McIlroy did at Augusta. Sometimes you place, as McIlroy did at last year’s U.S. Open. Sometimes you T22, as McIlroy did at least year’s PGA Championship, at Valhalla. The best players have long careers. McIlroy, Scheffler and DeChambeau are destined to have long careers.
Scheffler’s three rounds this week: 68-68-65.
DeChambeau’s: 71-68-69.
McIlroy’s: 74-69-72.
What we would give for one 74.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@golf.com
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