“Everybody’s going to say I’m coming back too early, but I’m being very careful.”
TULSA, Okla. – Bryson DeChambeau hasn’t played since he missed the cut in the Masters, posting 76-80, with the 80 being his highest score in a major championship in his career.
The 2020 U.S. Open champion has dealt with numerous injuries for nearly a year, among them a torn left hip labrum. And on April 14, he posted on Instagram a picture of himself in a hospital bed following left wrist surgery on the fractured hook of the hamate. He wrote he hoped to return within in two months.
Well, it could be a whole lot sooner.
DeChambeau, who registered to play this week, showed up at Southern Hills Country Club late Monday and, on what he called a recovery day, had a long practice session consisting of just chipping and putting.
What happens the three days leading into Thursday’s first round will determine if he plays.
“All is going well,” DeChambeau told Golfweek as he opened his left hand that revealed just a hint of a scar from the surgery. “Everybody’s going to say I’m coming back too early, but I’m being very careful.”
On May 14, DeChambeau posted a six-second video on social media ripping a driver into a net. A snapshot of the launch monitor showed 192 mph ball speed. DeChambeau, the winner of eight PGA Tour titles who has fallen to No. 22 in the world, said he hit balls all day in Dallas on Sunday.
“It’s a day-to-day thing,” DeChambeau said. “If I can’t go this week, I’ll play next week. If I can’t play next week, it will be a week-to-week thing.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if I get off to a nice start and play well this week.”
TULSA, Okla. – Viktor Hovland is relying on an interesting prep schedule ahead of this week’s 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club.
He didn’t play a PGA Tour event the past three weeks.
The World No. 6 has played just once since tying for 27th in the Masters, as he teamed with Collin Morikawa to finish in a tie for 29th in the Zurich Classic. Hovland decided he needed time away from the PGA Tour to get his game right.
“I spent the last three weeks really well,” Hovland said Monday at Southern Hills. “I was not very happy with my game the last few weeks. Not that it was that far off, but I was just doing a few more dumb mistakes than I normally do.
“So I was pretty motivated to get to work, and the last three weeks have been really good. I feel like my game is in a way better place. But at the same time, there’s always stuff to work on, but I feel like my game is good enough to really contend. I wouldn’t be surprised if I get off to a nice start and play well this week.”
The winner of six worldwide tournaments also isn’t concerned about his record in the majors. In seven starts as a professional, the 24-year-old has a career-best tie for 12th in last year’s British Open.
“It’s all about just trying to get better, and I feel like I’m on a very good trajectory,” he said. “I’ve gotten a lot better since I first turned pro, and if I just keep doing the things that I need to do and get better, I’m going to hopefully win some events. Sometimes you can play great and not win a tournament. So there’s a little bit of luck involved as well and I just try to control the things that I can control.”
He should feel in control at Southern Hills, having first played here as a sophomore for Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship. Since, he’s played the course a little more than a handful of times.
“I think it’s good. I remember there being a lot more trees the first time I came here. They have added a bunch of length and they have made it a little bit more open, but at the same time you still have to drive it really well out here. So from that aspect, I feel like it fits me really well. There’s no real faking it,” he said. “But you have to have a lot of good short game shots around greens because it’s all fairway around the green. It’s not just like rough if you miss the greens. So I think that kind of allows you to use some creativity around the greens.”
Hovland has played the course a few times in the past three weeks.
“One thing that’s kind of been the biggest difference is the last few weeks when I have been here, they have kind of top-dressed the greens and they have been very soft just to protect the greens headed into this week,” he said. “I think that’s the thing that I have to get used to the most, just seeing the ball bounce a little bit firmer, roll off some of the greens that it didn’t the last couple times I was here. I think that’s kind of the biggest difference.”
See what golf clubs and gear the top players at Southern Hills are using to win the 2022 PGA Championship.
TULSA, Okla. — The PGA Championship has returned to Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the first time since 2007 when Tiger Woods won in blistering conditions to take home his 13th major title.
At 7,365 yards and playing to a par of 70 over rolling terrain, with several elevated tee shots and green complexes lined with sharp slopes and collection areas, it is going to test every club in each player’s bag.
This week in Oklahoma, most golfers will not be making significant changes to their equipment. A major championship is not the place to search for lightning in a bottle, but many players will have the lofts and lie angles of their irons checked, and some may have their clubs regripped.
Below are photos that show the equipment that many notable golfers in the field at the 2022 PGA Championship are currently using.
Leading after 36 holes is the place to be in a major at Southern Hills.
It never hurts to get off to a fast start at a major championship, but it really matters at Southern Hills in Tulsa, site of the 104th PGA Championship, if history teaches us anything.
In a Q&A for the golf newsletter The Quadrilateral, Southern Hills club historian Clyde Chrisman noted that in all seven of the major championships the club has hosted as well as its two Tour Championships and last year’s Senior PGA Championship, the 36-hole leader has gone on to hoist the winner’s trophy.
“In fact, the only two who didn’t lead or share the lead after the first round are Dave Stockton and Tiger Woods,” Chrisman told Geoff Shackelford. “It’s not a course where someone has gotten hot in the last round or two and made a late charge to win.”
That’s a staggering stat. Ten events, 10 36-hole leaders win? C’mon, that just doesn’t happen.
During a CBS Sports media conference call, Jim Nantz gave a shout out to Shackelford’s Q&A and called the stat “jaw dropping.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that in my life. We’re going to crown a champion, folks, on Friday night, OK?” he cracked.
But Southern Hills, a Perry Maxwell design and perennial top-100 course, underwent a renovation by Gil Hanse and his partner Jim Wagner in 2018, and Nick Faldo, who played in his first U.S. major at Southern Hills at the 1982 PGA when Ray Floyd went wire-to-wire, termed it a new course.
“I bet that you one will change, it will be different,” he said. “Unless Scottie Scheffler is leading by six, oh, boy.”
“But there’s something to be said, you’d better go out and make hay early,” Nantz said. “That’s a history for it there.”
A history that includes World Golf Hall of Famers Tommy Bolt, Floyd, Hubert Green, Nick Price, Retief Goosen and Woods.
Here’s a look at the winning history at Southern Hills:
Take a scroll through photos of Tiger’s week at Southern Hills.
A “stronger” Tiger Woods was one of a few players to begin his preparation for the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Sunday, and the 15-time major champion was back on Monday.
Woods, who won his first major as a father at the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, is making his second official start since his single-car accident last year in California this week. The 46-year-old made the cut in his return to competition at the Masters last month and ultimately finished 47th after consecutive rounds of 78 on Saturday and Sunday.
Take a scroll through some of the best images of the week as Woods competes at Southern Hills.
The modern design duo focused on restoring the classic features of Southern Hills.
TULSA, Oklahoma – Perry Maxwell was an Oklahoma golf legend, a banker-turned-architect who designed dozens of courses in the Sooner State and beyond. Best known for his challenging, undulating greens, Maxwell worked – as either principal architect, collaborator or renovator – on many of America’s top-rated courses.
Augusta National, Merion, Crystal Downs and Prairie Dunes – each ranked in the top 15 among Golfweek’s Best ranking of classic courses in the United States – were among the beneficiaries of Maxwell’s touch.
His design tally, of course, includes Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, site of this year’s PGA Championship. Opened in 1936, Southern Hills has been host to a slew of championships ranging from the U.S. Women’s Open to the Senior PGA Championship and counts among its men’s majors four past PGA Championships (1970, ’82, ’94 and ’07) and three U.S. Opens (’58, ’77 and ’01). It sits at No. 1 among private courses in Oklahoma in Golfweek’s Best rankings, and it is No. 38 on Golfweek’s Best list of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S.
No. 12 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. (Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)
And thanks to 2019 restoration and renovation efforts by the architecture team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, Southern Hills will again display in full grandeur Maxwell’s brilliant routing and sometimes infuriating greens during this year’s PGA Championship.
“We’re excited about the work we did there,” said Hanse, who in recent years has become known as a go-to expert in restoring major-championship courses . “Perry Maxwell’s routing was absolutely brilliant. I don’t know how you could lay a golf course better on that piece of property. The variety, the character, just the way the holes seem to fit perfectly there. And the features, primarily the greens and how good they were and what interesting targets they were and the level of precision required to play good golf at Southern Hills – it struck us as being really, really high quality.”
Check out the photos of a recently restored Southern Hills Country Club heading into the PGA Championship.
TULSA, Okla. – The PGA Championship visits Southern Hills Country Club for the fifth time this week, giving the club a chance to show off a recent restoration by architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner.
Originally designed by Perry Maxwell and opened in 1936, Southern Hills is No. 1 among private courses in Oklahoma in Golfweek’s Best rankings, and it is No. 38 on Golfweek’s Best list of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S. The rolling layout has been host to four PGA Championships (1970, ’82, ’94 and ’07) and three U.S. Opens (’58, ’77 and ’01), among many other elite competitions.
Check out the photos below, some provided by the PGA of America (Gary W. Kellner) and the rest by Golfweek’s Gabe Gudgel and Jason Lusk.
Take a closer look at this week’s major championship host thanks to StrackaLine’s hole-by-hole maps.
TULSA, Okla. – Southern Hills Country Club, site of this week’s PGA Championship for a fifth time, was designed by Perry Maxwell and opened in 1936.
The course has been renovated multiple times by the likes of Robert Trent Jones and Keith Foster, and in 2019 Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner wrapped up work on a restoration that put much of Maxwell’s original intent back into the layout.
Southern Hills has been host to a slew of championships ranging from the U.S. Women’s Open to the Senior PGA Championship and counts among its men’s majors four past PGA Championships (1970, ’82, ’94 and ’07) and three U.S. Opens (’58, ’77 and ’01).
Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.
“I’ve exceeded my own expectations and I’m certainly not against that,” said Woods of his 13th major title in 2007.
It’s a topic worthy of debate on the 19th hole.
So order a beverage or two and dive into the storied career in major championships of one Tiger Woods. Tee up the question and have at it: rank in order of significance the victories Tiger Woods has collected in the majors?
What would top your list?
His transformative, earth-shattering, record-smashing win in the 1997 Masters, when he became the first player of color to win a green jacket?
His tour de force at Pebble Beach in the 2000 U.S. Open, a performance Phil Mickelson said was the greatest golf ever played?
His masterful waltz on the ancient ground of St. Andrews to win the 2000 Open Championship at the Home of Golf to become the youngest at age 24 to complete the career Grand Slam?
His down-to-the-wire victory in the 2001 Masters to become the first to win four consecutive professional majors, aka, the Tiger Slam?
His playoff win in the 2008 U.S. Open on a broken leg and trashed knee ligaments?
His win in the 2019 Masters following spinal fusion surgery?
That’s just six of his 15 major championships, and one wouldn’t be shunned from the 19th hole argument adding another to the list.
In fact, Woods himself would like to add one – the 2007 PGA Championship at sweltering Southern Hills Country Club in the Sooner State city of Tulsa.
In winning his fourth Wanamaker Trophy by two shots for his 13th victory in a major – at the time his winning clip in the game’s four most sacred championships was 27 percent – Woods achieved a personal milestone.
Coming a year after he won his first major at the 2006 Open Championship without his father by his side (Earl Woods had passed in May of that year), Woods won his first major as a father, as his daughter, Sam, was born in June of 2007.
The tiny Sam was with her mother and Woods’ former wife, Elin, in the scoring tent when daddy polished off his victory at Southern Hills.
“It’s a feeling I’ve never had before, having Sam there and having Elin there. It feels a lot more special when you have your family there,” Woods said afterward. “And it used to be my mom and dad. And now Elin and now we have our own daughter. It’s evolved.
“This one feels so much more special than the other majors. The British Open last year was different, but this one was certainly so special and so right to have Elin and Sam there.”
Survival of the fittest
Woods and his battered 46-year-old body have made a remarkable return to the game following a horrifying, high-speed, single-car crash north of Los Angeles in February 2021 that nearly cost him his life and almost led to amputation of his severely injured right leg, ankle and foot.
The winner of a record-tying 82 PGA Tour titles played the 2022 Masters in April, his first start in an official event in more than 500 days. After a stunning 71 in the first round that placed him on the first page of the leaderboard, Woods and his stamina gave way to the mountainous nature of Augusta National Golf Club as he wound up in a tie for 47th.
Following his final round, Woods said he would play in the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship in July at St. Andrews, where he has won the Claret Jug on two occasions. As for an appearance at Southern Hills on the 15th anniversary of his last win in the PGA Championship, Woods said he would try his hardest to make it to Tulsa.
The first time he played Southern Hills as a pro came in the 1996 Tour Championship; he finished in a tie for 21st, 20 shots behind winner Tom Lehman.
The second time came in 2001 when the U.S. Open descended on Tulsa. Woods was the overwhelming favorite, having won the previous four major championships. But an opening 74 knocked him eight shots out of the lead and he eventually tied for 12th, seven shots back.
The third time proved charming. He was the undisputed world No. 1 when he headed to Tulsa in 2007. He had four victories under his golf belt that year, including an 8-stroke romp the previous week at Firestone Country Club in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, and had finished runner-up in two of the first three majors.
Tiger Woods celebrates after winning the 89th PGA Championship at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Woods would be making his 50th start in a major championship, counting his amateur appearances. And Sam, his infant daughter, was in the world.
Woods had another slice of mojo to call on– August in Oklahoma is not for the timid. Upon arrival, the participants knew it was going to be a long, hot week at the 89th playing of the PGA Championship, and the forecast did not wane as temperatures hovered above triple digits the entire week.
It would be a survival of the fittest – and no golfer was in better physical condition than Woods, who was 31 at the time.
So, all was good – until the first round started. In an uncharacteristic, sloppy round, Woods made five bogeys and four birdies and signed for a 1-over-par 71. While that placed him six shots out of the lead set by Graeme Storm, and four shots behind John Daly, who spent most of his week at a nearby Cherokee casino, Woods knew there were 54 holes to play. In other words, time was on his side. And as it turned out, Woods tightened up his game and only made five more bogeys the rest of the tournament.
One of those came in the second round, but it didn’t much matter. Woods bounced back with a sizzling 63, which tied the course record set by Raymond Floyd in the 1982 PGA Championship. The 63 tied the lowest single-round score – at the time – in major championship history. He would have put his signature to a record-setting 62 if not for a cruel lip out on the 18th green on his 15-footer for birdie.
“It got me back in the tournament,” Woods said of the second round. “It wasn’t like I was out of the tournament, but I just felt that winning score this year was going to probably be around 4-, 5-under par and to go ahead and get it in one lump sum felt pretty good.”
The round took him from a 5-shot deficit to a 2-shot lead through 36 holes.
Arron Oberholser, who would finish fourth that year, said Woods just plodded along with “such horrifying precision.”
“The rest of us are made to fire at flag sticks in cases where normally we wouldn’t and therefore we make mistakes,” Oberholser said. “He’s the greatest in the world for a reason. He definitely is the greatest I’ve ever seen play without a doubt.”
Woods tacked on a 69 in the third round to increase his advantage to three shots.
“I accomplished my goal today,” Woods said. “My goal was to shoot under par and increase my lead. And I was able to do that today. So positive day all around.
“Only made one bogey today, which was good. And really kept myself out of trouble most of the day. Just try to keep hitting fairways and put the ball in the center of the greens and lag putt well. Try not to leave myself a second putt. The greens aren’t very smooth out there.”
Woods would be paired with Stephen Ames in the final round.
“It’s tough to play with Tiger, no doubt about it,” Ames said. “He’s relentless, constantly making great shots, making great putts.”
So how to do you beat him?
“I don’t know,” Ames added.
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‘I’ve exceeded my own expectations and I’m certainly not against that’
Woods took to the first tee that is perched high above the fairway and offers a nice view of Tulsa’s skyline in the distance for the final round knowing he had never relinquished at least a share of the 54-hole lead in any of his previous major wins.
He wouldn’t on this day, either. Woods kept up his “horrifying precision” to stay ahead of the pack heading into the inward nine.
Then things got interesting. Woody Austin, seeking his first major, and multiple major champion Ernie Els turned up the dial on the pressure. Woods, who led by five shots through eight holes, bogeyed the 14th and suddenly saw his lead fall to one shot over Austin, who had birdied the 11th, 12th and 13th, and Els, who had birdied the 13th and 14th.
But Mother Nature’s hot hand and the pressure cooker of a Sunday final round did not get to Woods, who bounced back from his bogey with a birdie on 15.
“I got off to a good start. And I was 2 under there through eight holes. Felt like I was in control of the tournament,” Woods said. “I knew that Woody was playing well, and Ernie was making a run. But 14 was a little mishap there. Three-putted that one and I felt like I gave all the momentum back to Ernie and to Woody.
“And just felt like, ‘you know what, I got myself in this mess, I need to go get myself out of it.’ And I just did serious yelling at myself going up to the 15th tee, just to get back into what I do. And I made that putt on there on 15, it felt great. Felt like I had the momentum again, and I was back in control of the tournament. And if I parred in I felt I would win the tournament. It turned out to be the case.”
Woods closed with three pars and put his signature to a 69 to finish at 8 under, two shots clear of Austin and three clear of Els.
“I think it’s great that Ernie and I didn’t let him just coast in,” Austin said. “I beat him today, but it doesn’t matter because he had four shots on me. He happens to be the best player in the world, but if you put any great player, any good player with a four-shot cushion, their odds are going to be pretty good. Especially when they happen to be the best.”
It was the second time Woods successfully defended a PGA Championship title – he did so previously when he won at Medinah Country Club in 1999 and Valhalla Golf Club in 2000. He won again at Medinah in 2006 to set up his defense at Southern Hills.
With his 13th major title, Woods tied the career total of Bobby Jones and took one more step toward catching Jack Nicklaus and his record-setting haul of 18.
“If you would ask me that 12 years into my career would I have had this many wins and this many majors, there’s no way,” Woods said. “I’ve exceeded my own expectations and I’m certainly not against that.”
Chasing Jack
The following year, Woods took another major step toward Nicklaus when he won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego in a playoff against Rocco Mediate to reach major No. 14.
Two days later he had surgery to repair his left leg and knee and he missed the final two majors of the 2008 season.
In 2009, he won seven times worldwide, but did not add to his major haul. He tied for sixth in the first two majors and missed the cut in the Open Championship. But he seemed back to his best form when he took a 4-stroke lead through 36 holes and a 2-stroke lead through 54 holes in the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National in Minnesota.
But Y.E. Yang shattered Woods’ cloak of armor by becoming the first to overcome a deficit in the final round to topple the man who was 14-for-14 in a major heading into the last 18 with at least a share of the lead.
Woods wouldn’t win another major for nearly 10 years.
Personal scandal and an assortment of injuries, the majority to his ailing back, kept Woods off the course and from advancing toward Nicklaus. Woods didn’t disappear – he won 10 times from the end of 2009 through 2018, becoming No. 1 in the world again in 2013. But with his deteriorating back and thinking his career was over, Woods had a Hail Mary operation in 2017 – spinal fusion surgery.
He built his body and swing back and became a major again. He won The Tour Championship in 2018 and also made his presence known in majors with a tie for sixth in the Open Championship in 2018 and a runner-up finish to Brooks Koepka in the 2018 PGA Championship.
That set up his stunning victory in the 2019 Masters to get to major No. 15. He won his record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title six months later in the Zozo Championship in Japan.
Nagging injuries and COVID-19 threw Woods off-kilter in 2020 and then the car crash in 2021 sent him to recovery once again. For three months he was bed-ridden. Then he slowly started to build back his body, and then his golf game, and returned at the Masters. There is hope again for his future in the game.
On Saturday night, however, the 2020 U.S. Open champ posted a six-second clip on social media.
When Bryson DeChambeau posted on Instagram that he had successful left wrist surgery on the fractured hook of the hamate on April 14, an appearance at Southern Hills for the 2022 PGA Championship seemed all but out of the question. At the time, DeChambeau said he hoped to return within two months.
The surgery took place at the Kettering Medical Center in Ohio, with hand surgeon Thomas Graham performing the operation.
On Saturday night, however, the 2020 U.S. Open champ posted a six-second clip on social media showing him taking a serious cut with his driver, leading to speculation that he might be considering an early return.
DeChambeau has been dealing with multiple injuries this year, another being a torn left hip labrum that began bothering him two years ago when he slipped on concrete during a speed training session. He said in April that he re-aggravated the injury at the Farmers Insurance Open back in January.
His hand began bothering him in November ahead of his exhibition match with Brooks Koepka.
And while it’s still improbable DeChambeau will return this week, the video with him registering a 192 mph ball speed shows he should be ready next month for the U.S. Open at Brookline. He’s likely looking to atone for his last start, as DeChambeau shot 76-80 at the 2022 Masters. His second-round score was his highest ever in a major championship.
DeChambeau, who has fallen to No. 22 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is still listed in the field for the PGA Championship, which starts Thursday in Tulsa. He’s still listed in numerous sportsbooks for the event, including DraftKings, where he’s listed at +6500.
