Rory McIlroy e Jordan Spieth irons and ?sticks cross this week, for a great contest and to affirm who is the ?number one in the world of golf. The occasion of the challenge is the Pga Championship (August 13-16), fourth and last major of the season, which is played on the? Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a course with an "Irish flavor, a links par 72, 6800 meters long, signed by Pete Dye in 1998.??
Rory defends the title won last year and his position at the top of the world order of merit. Jordan comes on wings of two? majors won since April. Will the confrontation be direct in the first two days? of the competition and with them, for 36 holes, will there also be the winner of the Open? Championship, Zach Johnson.?? Is McIlroy back after many weeks off with a breakup? of the ligaments of the left ankle. Is it expected to be a little? rusty, but his strong motivation and great talent should? prevail over the weeks of rest. ??Spieth is hot, he also played last week at the Bridgstone ?invitational, but he hasn't appeared in great form and his performances, ?after the disappointment of St. Andrews, with a missed putt to go to the playoffs, ?seem slightly down. The show promises well though, because the? head-to-head confrontation raises the level of tension and competition.??
The field is naturally the maximum that can be expected: 156? players, 97 of the first hundred in the world order. After two laps there is the ? cut, for a weekend reserved for the top 70 and tied. In case of? tie at the end of 72 holes there are three playoff holes. If nobody ?prevails, we continue hole after hole "sudden death", the first one who makes a mistake? goes out.?? Francesco Molinari, the only Italian on the pitch, departs at 8,25am ?the first day and 13,40pm the second, with Gary Woodland and Marc Warren.? Last week the Turinese played rather badly and it's important that he put the disappointing result behind him and concentrate on this one? race, in order not to lose places in the Fedex ranking where, at the moment, it is number ?100. To access the 4 final tournaments, the very rich Playoffs, which ?will begin on August 27th, he must in fact remain within the first 125.?? The prize pool is stellar again this week: 10 million dollars,? 1,8 million for the first.??
Candidates to win, in addition to McIlroy e Spieth, are so many. Among these? Shane Lowry, the likeable 28-year-old Irishman who conquered the prestigious WGC Bridgstone on Sunday; Martyn Kaymer, who on this course won? the same major five years ago, in front of an astonished Dustin Johnson, is penalized for having touched one of the approximately one hundred bunkers scattered along the route. For Dustin himself, it could be time for redemption, after so many lost opportunities. Champion material, in the various departures, there is plenty to spare, think of Jason Day, Rickie Fawler, Adam Scott, Henrik ?Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose. In the end Tiger Woods, That? desperately needs a win to access the playoffs and for? deny those who consider it finished. Tiger is increasingly busy drawing? golf courses and to inaugurate restaurants, in fact a few days ago he opened his first restaurant in Jupiter. But, as he says, is he still too young? to retire, he hasn't turned 40, he might as well play golf and? you still try to do it right. Let's hope so. Long live coverage on Sky Sport starting Thursday evening at 20pm.
