Stars have already arrived at 91st PGA Championship
Rich Beem signs autographs during a practice round for the 91st PGA Championship golf tournament at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The weather was simply gorgeous for the first practice rounds of the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., on Monday.
Padraig Harrington is the defending champion but the field includes 10 more former winners, including four-time champion Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, who’s won two Wanamaker Trophies. Woods, by the way, hasn’t won a major yet this season but has 14 for his career and is coming off back-to-back victories in the last two weeks.
They don’t start playing for real until Thursday, but many of the stars had already made their way to this beautiful piece of property by Monday. Woods played an early practice round and then attracted thousands to the driving range (including yours truly) just to watch him hit balls. Believe me, that was a sight to behold!
We spent the first day Monday re-learning the course, since it’s been seven years since Hazeltine last hosted a PGA Championship. Rich Beem won that year, coming out of nowhere to pass Justin Leonard and hold off a hard-charging Woods in the final round. They’ve made some changes to the course, but nothing major, and it all came back to me after walking the entire 18-hole layout.
This course is long and challenging, but if the weather stays the way it was on Monday, and you never know because we are talking about the midwest, there will certainly be some low scores. The national press throng won’t arrive until tomorrow, when Woods holds his first press conference, along with Beem and recently crowned British Open champion Stewart Cink (among others).
Be sure to check out my daily blogs through Friday. I’d love to cover all four rounds, but our Men’s City Championship finishes on Sunday, and that certainly can’t go on without me (just kidding).
Click here to see a photo gallery from practice rounds of the 91st PGA Championship.
Tags: minnesota, pga, tiger woods, vijay singh