Photo from Google Images
Golf’s second major of the year, the 103rd PGA Championship, started Thursday from the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
This is the second time golf’s only all-professional major championship was held at Kiawah. Located between the beautiful city of Charleston, SC and the Atlantic Ocean, the island is tucked away in the Low Country. This southern escape is raised above the dunes to give players an unobstructed view of the breathtaking coastline from every hole. With limited shade on the course, the coastal breeze is the only form of air conditioning; just be careful what you wish for. The course was designed for the wind to taunt you. There can easily be an 8-club difference for the same hole depending on the wind’s direction and speed. After all, the course was built right after Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989 to host the 1991 Ryder Cup.
This Pete Dye course was built to move as the sand blows and the land matures with the force of the ocean. The fluid course has continued to change with time even though the greens have remained perfectly manicured. The fairways lined with marsh, sand is everywhere and the wind controls the course, but you are never alone. Gators are everywhere on the island. Most stay hidden in the marsh, some like to sunbathe and some like to play in the sand. Just look at who wanted to play as Jason Scrivener’s took his second shot on the par-4, sixth hole.
— Andy Molitor (@AndyMSFW) May 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/andymsfw/status/1395387786367221777?s=10
Now, he/she might be a little gator, but all gators are bad- especially the ones from Florida. And where there is one little gator, there is bound to be two big ones close by.
The last time the PGA Championship was played at Kiawah, Rory Mcllroy took home the Wanamaker Trophy in 2012. In time, a lot has changed since 2012 for Mcllroy, but we are all just glad that change included a haircut. Jordan Spieth seems to be the popular favorite as he tries to become the sixth man to complete golf’s Grand Slam by winning all four majors. Remember when both Mcllroy and Spieth were teed-up to become the greatest golfers we have ever seen? Womp, womp. Golf is both physical and mental. The Ocean Course is going to expose you inside and out. The pressure to win again is too much for Mcllroy and Spieth. In other words, sorry, not sorry, Dad!
After round one Brooks Koepka, two-time PGA winner, is the only big name in the top of the leader board. (No one cares about Phil, Dad.) Koepka holds the longest streak of opening rounds in the 60’s at the PGA Championship. Today’s round made six straight in the 60’s. He just had knee surgery and looks like he hit up a few southern buffets, but he still shows up for majors and shows no mercy.
Dustin Johnson, the number one golfer in the world, is back in his home state of South Carolina and he is playing for a major he hasn’t won yet. DJ finished in second place by two strokes in the 2020 and in the 2019 PGA Championship. If you know me, you know I’m always team DJ and winning the PGA Championship in South Carolina would just mean more to him. But he can’t put anymore double bogeys on his score card if he wants to still play on Sunday. The great thing about DJ is that he walked off the course and left the bogeys on the 18th hole. Friday is new day for round two and DJ tees off at 8:44am.
It only makes sense that a female was involved in the course design. You can thank Pete Dye’s wife, Alice, for the stunning views of the coast when trying to manage the wind, the gators and the hot sun and sand. Every day the Ocean Course presents new unknown challenges and in pure female fashion, Alice made those challenges look beautiful.