Biggest Questions for Golf's Top Stars as Final Major Approaches

The 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, will begin August 13, when all the usual suspects are expected to challenge for this year’s Wanamaker trophy.

The oddsmakers have predictably put their faith in the likes of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson for the second major tournament in a row, despite the demons the two must have had to exorcise after their respective, painfully close misses in the last month.

But there are questions surrounding more big names than just Spieth and Johnson.

Will Rory McIlroy recover from his July ankle injury in time to tee off on the shores of Lake Michigan? Can Jason Day make the most of his pre-PGA Championship momentum? Can Steve Williams once again be Adam Scott’s lucky charm?

Let’s look at these questions in more detail as we get ready for the final major of the year.

Jason Day Is on a Roll…But Is It Enough?

Jason Day has nine top-10 finishes in majors over the last five years. He also has six top-five finishes in majors since 2011, but he has yet to claim one of golf’s highest honors.

Just in the past month, however, the Aussie finished tied for ninth at the U.S. Open and tied for fourth at the British Open. Add to that Sunday’s victory at the Canadian Open (highlighted above), and it’s starting to look like Day has some serious momentum in his favor.

Thanks to some recent historical recapping by Golf Digest’s Joel Beall, there’s every reason to believe Day’s pre-PGA momentum could lead him to the first major at Whistling Straits he so desperately craves.

Last year, Rory McIlroy won the British Open and Bridgestone Invitational on his way to the PGA Championship. The year before, Jason Dufner claimed his first Wanamaker (and his first major, period) at the PGA after finishing fourth at Akron. In 2012, McIlroy took fifth at Firestone and won at Kiawah before claiming his first PGA Championship title.

Though Day was visibly disappointed after missing the playoff at this year’s British Open, it was clear he had rebounded in both form and spirit this past weekend.

After the Canadian Open, he said, per BBC Sport, "It's just a really good feeling because whenever you win an Open championship of any country you're doing something good. For it [to] come after what happened last week, and to be able to hit that putt, I'm just over the moon right now."

Day currently sits as fifth favorite to win the year’s final major, per Odds Shark.

Will Jordan Spieth Rebound from Grand Slam Heartbreak (and Poor Putting)?

Jordan Spieth may have missed out on instant legendary status by coming one stroke short of a playoff berth at the British Open (highlighted above), but that actually has very little bearing on how he will perform at Whistling Straits in about two weeks’ time.

Unlike Dustin Johnson, who has nine top-10 finishes at majors but has never won, Spieth is not the kind of player who will let a little thing like narrowly missed immortality linger in the back of his mind and hinder his chances at another major.

At St Andrews, the 22-year-old from Texas immediately rebounded from six bogeys (or worse) by carding a birdie on the very next hole. In fact, over all four rounds, Spieth only failed to erase his mistake from the previous hole on three occasions: No. 14 in Round 1, No. 12 in Round 2 and No. 18 in Round 4, where he only managed par (which is still something of a recovery from a bogey anyway).

The real question about Spieth’s British Open is how will he rebound from a performance like five three putts in the second round to reclaim his normally surgical precision with the flat stick?

Well, for starters, Whistling Straits doesn’t have greens with their own zip codes like St Andrews, so that’s half the battle against three putts won already. Another bonus is that he likely won’t be dealing with pants warpingly gnarly winds that made the pros afraid to even ground their putters.

The No. 1 putter on tour has a wealth of extremely impressive pressure-putting performances throughout the year to fall back on, so there’s far more reason for confidence than worry.

Add to that his stated belief that, per Karen Crouse of the New York Times, “I struck the ball phenomenally well, I drove the ball as good as I’ve driven it this entire year, including the other majors,” and there’s a reason why Spieth is the current favorite to claim the final major of the year, per Odds Shark.

Will Rory McIlroy Be There?

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Despite what Darren Clarke’s joke at the Association of Golf Writers’ dinner at St Andrews a couple weeks ago may suggest, no one knows for certain when Rory McIlroy will be back on tour.

It’s old news that the Northern Irishman experienced a total rupture of the ATFL (ankle ligament) while playing soccer on July 4 and had to miss the British Open. Since then, though, McIlroy’s camp hasn’t exactly been live tweeting updates of his recovery, so the golf world has been forced to endure the silence.

Call it optimism, but we’re still operating under the assumption that the world No. 1 could be back in time for the PGA Championship.

Not long after news of the injury broke, "Dr. James Gladstone, co-director of sports medicine at Mt. Sinai, called in to Golf Channel's Morning Drive and indicated the recovery time would 'vary based on the severity of the sprain' and could be as quick as 10 days to two weeks or as long as six weeks," according to Brendan Porath of SB Nation.

If that timetable is to be believed, it’s reasonable to expect McIlroy could be healthy by August 13.

Once he confirmed he would skip the British Open, the Northern Irishman revealed his conservative approach to recovery on his Instagram account (h/t ESPN): “I’m taking a long term view of this injury and, although rehab is progressing well, I want to come back to tournament play when I feel 100 percent healthy and 100 percent competitive.”

However, according to USA Today (h/t Golf Channel Digital), McIlroy also sought rehab advice from Tiger Woods, so the world No. 1 may be sending mixed signals about how hard he plans to push himself to get back on the course.

Will Steve Williams Get Adam Scott Back on the Podium?

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Adam Scott reenlisted super caddy Steve Williams for the 2015 U.S. Open, and the decision paid immediate dividends. After settling for a modest tied-for-38th finish at the Masters, the Australian teamed up with Williams for a tone-setting fourth-place tie at the year’s second major.

The duo then followed up that finish by tying for 10th at the British Open, establishing serious credibility to contend at this year’s PGA. 

Whether it’s psychological, technical or mix of the two, Scott has found something extra at the majors with Williams on the bag.

It’s well known Williams gives players the confidence to take any shot—regardless of whether the decision turns out well or not—and Scott suggested as much when speaking after his bogey-free Round 2 at the British Open, per Golf Digest’s Geoff Shackelford:

"

It's one of [Williams’] great attributes…he gets a great feel for the moment and a feel for the shots, and he's obviously seen a lot of great shots around here and other places. Just to be clear that I'm not going to hit the wrong shot, we discuss it a little more because it is crucial out here. If you pick the wrong one, you can really end up in who knows where and then struggle.

"

After Williams confirmed he would sign on for the U.S. Open, British Open, Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship, Scott also revealed, per Ron Borges of the Boston Herald, “I had to go practice really hard so I was going to play as good as he’d expect.”

A player putting in overtime for his caddie? That’s an eye-catching relationship dynamic no matter which pro you’re talking about.

“He’s a huge factor in the way I’ve played the last few years,” Scott added. “I have to absolutely give him a lot of credit for that.” The belief is certainly there for the Australian to win at Whistling Straits—and his play at the majors so far this year isn’t far behind.

Can Dustin Johnson Escape His Painful Past?

Dustin Johnson’s history at major tournaments has been one of close calls and devastating moments of self-destruction. You don’t need to look any farther than his three putt on the final hole of the U.S. Open last month to get a sense of the tone of his career.

Since 2009, Johnson has finished in the top 10 on nine occasions. He’s managed to crack the top five on four occasions and been a runner-up twice. 

Back in 2010, the last time the PGA Championship was at Whistling Straits, Johnson birdied Nos. 16 and 17 before bogeying the final hole and entering the clubhouse tied for the lead.

At least that’s what he thought.

After review, Johnson was assessed a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in one of the course’s countless bunkers without realizing it was a bunker (showed in the video above at the 2:30 mark). He ended up tied for a frustrating fifth.

So far this year, Johnson has finished tied for sixth at the Masters, tied for second at the U.S. Open and tied for 49th at the British Open after the weather conditions and delays got the better of him at St Andrews.

The Pete Dye-designed Whistling Straits is also a links course with considerable waterfront exposure, like the Old Course, but the likelihood of seeing a repeat of the Open’s biblical weather conditions is not high, so at least Johnson can take solace from that.

The psychological side of his return to those eventful Wisconsin shores, however, is something he’ll have to endure, rain or shine.