Southern Hills Country Club, 7,556 yards, par 70, in Tulsa, Oklahoma will host the 104th edition of the PGA Championship. This is the 5th time Southern Hills has hosted the PGA, with 2007 being the last where Tiger Woods defeated Woody Austin by 2 shots. Southern Hills has also hosted 3 U.S, Opens.

So, impressive venue. Phil Mickelson is the defending champion, having won last year at Kiawah Island, S.C. over Brooks Koepka, at 50 years old. But Mickelson opted not to play after his, to say the least, controversial comments to author and sportswriter Alan Shipnuck last fall that were published in February endorsing the Saudi League led by Greg Norman, now called LIV Golf. He said the PGA has “obnoxious greed” and made many incendiary comments while acknowledging the Saudis are psychotic, the same guys who featured 16 of the 19 terrorists in 9/11 and killed an American journalist, but saying he wanted to create leverage with the PGA. I don’t know what else the PGA can do to make FIGJAM happy. He’s made $800 million by his association with the PGA Tour, though Shipnuck notes in his new biography on Mickelson he lost $40 million in gambling debts and a book coming out next year by gambler Billy Walters is going to make it even worse for Hefty. So, good riddance not having that lightning rod playing.

They asked Tiger Woods about Mickelson’s no show. And Woods said he’s sorry he can’t be there, but there are major philosophical differences with the way Woods views competing in golf and the bay Mickelson does. Woods talked about legacy in the game, making history, being compared to the greats of the past. Of course, he’s done extremely well financially also, but Mickelson is going for the shallow money grab that is Norman and the Saudi league. I like what Tiger had to say. Mickelson’s an idiot quite frankly.

On to this year’s second major.

The weather is interesting.

Thursday, 91, sunny, winds 17 MPH

Friday, Mostly sunny, 88, Winds 19 MPH

Saturday, 65, scattered t storms, 36%, so not a massive chance, winds 15

Sunday, 70, winds 12 MPH.

Wind a huge factor this weekend on a fast, slick course with quick fairways and quick greens, though rain Saturday, though not a huge chance, could soften it a little.

TV

Thursday-Friday, 1-7 PM CT, ESPN

Saturday-Sunday, 9 AM-12 PM CT, ESPN; 1-6 PM CT, CBS

ESPN+ will also be broadcasting each morning of the tournament with coverage all day. Joe Buck has moved over to ESPN along with Troy Aikman to call NFL games and will handle the ESPN+ duties for the PGA. Not sure if Joe has the call for ESPN, but it’s likely.

Key holes,

No.2, 500 yards, Par 4. Tiger Woods drove it 358 yards this past Sunday on this hole. Demanding tee shot, fairway slopes right to left. Approach is a mid iron to a well-bunkered green.

No.5, 656 yards, Par 5, One of only 2 par 5’s on the Par 70. The longest hole on the course. Bunkers on both sides of the landing area and trees make it a difficult tee shot. The stream on No.2 cuts in on the right side of the well-bunkered, undulating green.

No.!2, 456 yards, Par 4. A signature hole at Southern Hills, which Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer called one of America’s great par 4’s. The slight dogleg to the left features a tee shot to a blind landing area on a fairway sloping to the left. The green moves left to right and is protected by bunkers short, left and long. A creek is short and to the right. This is a real thinkers’ hole.

No.14, 230 yards, Par 3. The green on this long par 3 is surrounded by 6 bunkers. The prevailing wind is right to left toward the out-of-bounds, which runs along the entire left side of the hole.

No.18 491 yards, par 4. The closing hole is so difficult that Tiger Woods is the only major champion at Southern Hills to par the 72nd hole. The dogleg left to right requires a tee shot that finds a plateau on the left side of the fairway. The elevated green is well-bunkered and slopes hard to the front. Retief Goosen, Mark Brooks and and Stewart Cink had a comedy of errors on this hole at the 2001 U.S. Open. All 3, with chances to win, 3 putted from 15 feet. Goosen and Brooks went into a playoff the next day which Goosen won. One of his 2 majors. The other was the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in New York.

The Playoff format this year, if there is one, is a 3 hole aggregate on 13, 17 and 18, and if there’s no resolution, a sudden death playoff on 18, 13, 17 and 18.

Odds

Scottie Scheffler, 11/1, Won the Big 12 championship here in 2015. Like his chances.

Jon Rahm, 11/1, Tee to green he’s extraordinary, but his putting can hold him back.

Rory, 14/1, Just the fact that he showed up in the Tuesday press conference in a Nike workout shirt makes me think he’s not going to win.

Justin Thomas, 14/1, Possible. He’s playing pretty well, but can he get over the hump and win another major. He puts a lot of pressure on himself.

Collin Morikawa, 16/1, Hasn’t played that great lately.

Dustin Johnson, 18/1, not seeing it.

Jordan Spieth, 20/1. Playing well right now, but will he miss another 4 foot par putt to blow the tournament. Another guy who puts enormous pressure on himself and everybody around him.

Cameron Smith, 20/1. His catastrophic quadruple bogey at No.12 at Augusta National may still be lingering inside of him. Not seeing it.

Patrick Cantlay, 20/1. Not playing super right now, but with his putter, he’s got a shot.

Xander Schauffele, 22/1, shot 61 last Sunday at Byron Nelson to finish third, but does he have what it takes to win a major.

Hideki Matsuyama, 28/1. I give him a shot, but the putter is always a question mark.

Shane Lowry, 30/1, Colossal blowup at the RBC Heritage. He’s an excellent player, but I’m not seeing it this week.

Will Zalatoris, 30/1, Really fine young player, but his putter can be problematic.

Brooks Koepka, 35/1, not seeing it.

Joaquin Niemann, 35/1, Possible. Stellar player.

Tiger Woods, 50/1, I am seeing this. He’s hitting it a ton. I saw him chipping on Monday on the Golf Channel and he looked superb on a course that demands great chipping. If his putter is working, major number 16 may be in the offing.

Winner

I’m still thinking Tiger may do this. He’s in a great place mentally, and looks as powerful as ever. But, I’m going another route and taking the 25 year old from Dallas. He’s won 4 of the last 8 tournaments he’s played in, including the 86th Masters, he’s calm, a superior putter and outstanding ball striker. The Texas Longhorn will do what his fellow Longhorn Jordan Spieth did in 2015 and that’s win the first 2 majors of the year.

Scottie Scheffler