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Getting Ready for the Masters

The calender says Spring arrived a couple of weeks ago. The weather man insists Winter is dead. Two snowstorms and a lot of cold windy weather leave me unconvinced, until I see the ads for the Masters on CBS. Now I believe the golf season is officially beginning in southern Wisconsin. Ever since I was a wee whippersnapper in the late 50’s the Masters has captured my fancy. Every April I’d watch the final four holes on television (that’s all they showed back just after dirt was invented) and pester my parents that I wanted a set of golf clubs. In the 50 some years since those days I’ve watched a lot of Master’s tournaments, taking away a sense of renewal, an anticipation of the coming season and the promise that all will be right in my universe. It matters not that my game may still suck, what matters at this time of year is that I will be able to play, to walk the course chasing a little white ball. Life at these times is great, and it all starts this week.

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The calender says Spring arrived a couple of weeks ago.  The weather man insists Winter is dead.  Two snowstorms and a lot of cold windy weather leave me unconvinced, until I see the ads for the Masters on CBS.  Now I believe the golf season is officially beginning in southern Wisconsin.  Ever since I was a wee whippersnapper in the late 50’s the Masters has captured my fancy.  Every April I’d watch the final four holes on television (that’s all they showed back just after dirt was invented) and pester my parents that I wanted a set of golf clubs.  In the 50 some years since those days I’ve watched a lot of Master’s tournaments, taking away a sense of renewal, an anticipation of the coming season and the promise that all will be right in my universe.  It matters not that my game may still suck, what matters at this time of year is that I will be able to play, to walk the course chasing a little white ball.  Life at these times is great, and it all starts this week.

I’ve read a lot about what the members of Augusta National should do to bring the roars back to the Master’s.  When Sunday afternoon gets to the back nine and someone is charging up the leaderboard.  Gary Player in 1978 beginning the day seven shots back, birdieing seven of the last ten holes,  shooting a 30 on the back for a 64 and a one shot victory.  Jack NIcklaus in 1986 going eagle birdie birdie from the 15th thru the 17th to post his own back nine 30.  We haven’t seen anything close to those fireworks since 2001 when David Duval shot 67 and Tiger Woods a 68 in the final round.

 

A lot of that has to do with Hootie Johnsonification of the course in response to Mr. Woods record setting performance in 1997.  Mr. Johnson added rough, trees, trees, a few more trees, new tee boxes for more length in an effort to protect par.  The changes seemed to have worked, but gone too is the fun of watching someone charge up the leaderboard on any given day.  I’ve heard that the poobahs of Augusta have begun de-Hootieing the course.  I hope so.  I don’t want to watch the US Open in April.  I agree with the USGA’s Mike Davis (the course setup guy for the US Open) when he says they need to get rid of the rough.  A golf ball can run a lot of strange places without long grass to slow it down.  And from strange places great things can happen.  Remember Seve Ballesteros? 

I think they could slow the greens some as well, if the goal of the changes were to have the shot value return to what it was intended, it makes no sense to me to have the greens running ridiculously fast.  Make it so the green will hold a six iron if players need to hit a six iron please.  I don’t know about you but I got tired of watching layups on holes 13 and 15.  Let’s also try and make things a little shorter in case it’s cold, windy, and wet.  75 should not be the winner’s score on Sunday, please. 

I know even without removing some of Mr. Hootie’s changes I’ll still be taking vacation at the end of the week to watch play.  I love this tournament, and will continue my love affair as long as Spring follows Winter. 

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WITB Time Machine: Phil Mickelson’s winning WITB, 2021 PGA Championship

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Phil Mickelson made history at the 2021 PGA Championship on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. At 50, he became the oldest player to win a major, breaking Julius Boros’s record. Starting the final round with a slim lead, Lefty faced tough competition from Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. He pulled ahead with key birdies and a standout 366-yard drive on the 16th hole. Finishing 6 under par and two shots ahead, Mickelson claimed his sixth major and second PGA Championship. Many saw his win as an inspiring comeback, showing that experience and determination can still lead to victory in professional golf — and, sometimes, age is just a number.

Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (6 degrees @5.5 , green dot cog)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (47.9 inches)

2-wood: TaylorMade “Original One” Mini Driver (11.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

4-wood (Sunday only): Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (16) (Thursday-Saturday), Callaway X21 UT Proto (19 degrees @20.5, 25), Callaway Apex MB ‘21 (small groove) (6-PW)
Shafts: (16) MCA MMT 105 TX, KBS Tour V 125 S+

Wedges: Callaway PM Grind ’19 “Raw” (52-12@50, 55-12, 60-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+

Putter: Odyssey Milled Blade “Phil Mickelson”
Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT Tour

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X (Triple Track)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

More photos of Phil Mickelson’s WITB here. 

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2026 PGA Championship betting odds

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

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GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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