2009 PGA Championship: Don't Expect the Unexpected

The 2009 PGA Championship is as over as last night’s dinner.

Why?

Tiger Woods is 14-for-14 when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead in a major championship.

Not to state the obvious, but this means that Woods has never lost a major championship when playing in the final group on Sunday afternoon.

Sure, three-time major champion, Padraig Harrington, is just two strokes off the lead.

But, lets not forget that Harrington’s three major victories came without Woods in the picture.

Woods finished 12th at the 2007 British Open and was never really a factor in the event, and he was not even in the field at the 2008 British Open and PGA Championship.

Harrington has only gone head-to-head with Woods once in recent years—last week—where he recorded an eight on the 16th hole when holding a one-stroke lead.  On the clock or not on the clock, Harrington put up an eight on the 16th last week while Woods calmly birdied the hole.

Y.E. Yang taking down Tiger Woods at the 2006 HSBC Champions in Shanghai has become almost golf folklore.

Did it really happen?

Is it just a myth?

How did it all go down?

Well, Yang did indeed defeat Woods at the 2006 HSBC Champions, however, they were not playing in the same group when it happened.

Y.E. Yang has never contended at a major and players with the unfortunate luck of being paired with Woods in the final group on Sunday are nearly averaging a score of 74 while Woods is averaging just over 69.

Is it such a stretch to say so long to Y.E. Yang before he even tees it up this afternoon?

Lucas Glover, Ernie Els and Henrik Stenson are all within five strokes of Woods.

You have to believe that Glover and Stenson have already caught their lightening in a bottle this season and it’s very unlikely to happen twice.

Els was right on Woods’ tail for a while on Saturday afternoon, before bogeying his last three holes—not the type of finish that bodes well for his chances of making a move on Woods this afternoon.

The fact of the matter is that those other names appearing behind Woods on the leaderboard are virtually irrelevant.

When holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead at a major, has Tiger Woods ever not gotten the job done?

Of course, there’s a first time for everything.

Just don’t expect that first time to happen this afternoon.