Commenter Spencer, a passionate golf fan, offers his thoughts on this weekend’s PGA Championship. And he didn’t pick Sergio Garcia this time!

The PGA Championship (just PGA from here on out) is a cute little tournament where all the top guys show up to a top-notch course for a cool trophy …i.e. it’s no different from any of the WGC events or the Players. The Wannamaker Trophy is pretty pimp, don’t get me wrong, but is there any real prestige about this tourney? Any buzz? People look forward to the British and US Opens and the Masters every year, but who in their right mind says, “I JUST CANNOT MISS THE PGA?!?!?!” And this is a problem…but I’m here with a solution.

Bring back Match Play.

The PGA, historically, was a Match Play tournament, and it fills a need that the PGA desperately needs, a format that differs from the regular stroke play events that dominate the landscape. Why do we need another stroke play event held on courses that aren’t as cool as the US Open courses and not different enough like the British Open rota? Bring back Match Play and the PGA gets a shot of adrenaline. It’s so fucking easy it’s ridiculous they haven’t made the switch years ago…hell, they shouldn’t have even changed it to begin with.

There’s some good news for this tournament, however. The US Open, while sweet, wasn’t the US Open this year. The course was relatively easy when compared to the normal US Open fare, and while it was exciting and riveting entertainment, it just wasn’t THE US Open. But the schedule makers were smart this year – realizing that Torrey wasn’t the hardest test, they smartly decided to hold the PGA at Oakland Hills.

The Course: “You play a course like this and you want to beat it. Each hole has to be played differently. You play one hole one way with one type of shot and the next hole may play almost the opposite way. It offers a continuous challenge. I’m not a machine, only a golfer, and Oakland Hills was designed for some kind of super golfer that I’ve never seen yet.€ – Ben Hogan.

There are many types of American golf courses: brutes like Oakmont and Bethpage Black, historic venues such as Shinnecock and Augusta, stadium courses like TPC Sawgrass – they’re all cool in their own way. Oakland Hills, in comparison to the instantly identifiable links above, is about as nondescript as it gets. It’s a pretty boring course with not much going on in the way of scenery or distinguishable features, no doglegs or other design characteristics like last year at Southern Hills. But what Oakland Hills lacks in aesthetics, it makes up for in difficulty.

Oakmont and Augusta are the hardest greens in golf, and yet Oakland Hills’ greens can be considered equals in terms of sheer ridiculousness. It’s hard to get the ball close because you’re hitting in long irons, and that means there’s going to be tons of giant, swinging putts quite similar to Oak and Augusta.

Players to Watch: I’ll tell you who’s not going to win it…Paddy Harrington. Why? Because he’s not really THAT good, how’s that for starters? Sure, he’s a multiple major champion and a genuinely cool dude who actually talked back to me and my buddy at last year’s Bridgestone Invitational, but he doesn’t have the overall game of other Euro’s like Sergio and Lee Westwood.

So who to look for? Guys who are long off the tee. Great putters are not necessarily going to have an advantage here because they tend to be shorter hitters. Rollercoaster greens somewhat level the playing field, and to some, it’s easier to read greens with a lot of break instead of level greens with subtle movement.

-Vijay Singh: One of my all-time favorite golfers who’s riding a hot streak after his win at the Bridgestone against an all-world field. His game is tailor made for this course and a win wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

-Sergio Garcia: I’m not picking him this week, just so you know, but his game fits this place pretty well and he’s bound to break through at some point…he just has to right? He’s too good NOT to win a major.

-Stuart Appleby: He’s another long hitter but he just can’t put together a solid final round in a major to save his life, but he’s been so successful at Augusta, and the greens are eerily similar, that he’s going to be somewhat comfortable here.

-Adam Scott: I’m not being sarcastic here, despite the fact I’m not a fan of his game at all. He’s got as good a chance here as any other player in the field and he’s never had success in a major and I just have a hunch he’ll be in the mix at Oakland Hills.

Yes, I realize these are big name players, but frankly, I have no idea whom of the second tier is really suited for this course. Maybe Hunter Mahan or Sean O’Hair? Meh. Mickeltits Mickelsucks. Boo Weekley hasn’t been playing well and neither has another favorite of mine, Bubba Watson. Just call it a gut feeling that there’s gonna be big names all over the leaderboard come Sunday and a sprinkling of little guys who nobody will see coming.

What to Watch For: The cool thing about the PGA is that it’s all about the players, not the course, as opposed to the Masters, US and British Opens. As in any major that’s not the Masters, finding fairways is key, and even in the Masters, there’s no rough to worry about. This will be a fun tourney with a lot of drama on the back stretch, but I hate to be a spoiler, it’s not going to be that different from any WGC event. Let’s just move on.

My Pick: He looked beat at the end of the Canadian Open and was obviously worn down last week in Akron, but Anthony Kim is my pick here. He’s as creative as Tiger with woods and irons, is a surprisingly good putter for his age, and when he gets more experience playing the types of courses that constitutes the cream of the PGA crop, he’s going to be a legit Tiger rival. He’s that good.

I don’t think the short game is going to come into play like it would at a course with crazy mounds around the greens which is why AK is my pick. That and he has cajones. I look at the courses he’s won at this year and both are quite similar to Oakland, long and challenging, and both are high profile which makes me believe he won’t be intimidated when it comes down to Sunday.

This is his coming out party…try and catch it because this is the next big star on the PGA Tour (well, he’s already one of the more visible players on tour and he’s been a pro for a year and a half and is just 23.) Seriously, he’s as close to Tiger as you’re going to get, and to be honest, I truly believe he’ll be the guy to give Eldrick a run for his money. So, if for no other reason than to see a dude with insane game tear apart a world class field, and maybe announce himself to the golf-lay public as a major, major star, because to golf aficionados like myself, he’s already a must-see player.