PGA Championship 2011: 10 Golfers with the Most To Prove at Highlands Course
You never know what motivates a golfer. A missed putt. Maybe missing the cut at the last tournament.
In case of well-known stars, maybe it is letting the last major get away from them.
The last major of the golf season offers tour pros that chance to earn redemption, to prove they can still chase the younger crowd of golfers or that they can be a force next season on the tour.
Highlands in Atlanta will provide the stage and these golfers are the ones with more to say about their game than the others.
Nick Watney
1 of 10He is currently in the lead in points in the FedEx Cup. He has been a consistent golfer with the biggest win of his career coming at the WGC Cadillac Championship this season.
While he is 10th in the world rankings, his play in majors this season has not been stellar. He missed the cut at Congressional and Royal St. George. He was 46th at the Masters.
Watney needs a strong showing this week.
Paul Casey
2 of 10We hear his name quite often in the second tier of foreigners who are taking the game away from the Americans.
The British-born Casey is currently ranked 16th in the world and has been a solid, if not spectacular, golfer. He has 12 career wins professionally, but only one of them has come in America, at the Shell Houston Open in 2009.
Casey could break through toward the upper echelon of Europeans with a win. His best finish in a major this year was 38th at the Masters.
Sergio Garcia
3 of 10He finished ninth at the Open Championship and seventh at the U.S. Open. People are still waiting for the Spaniard to claim his first major title.
His last win on the PGA Tour was in 2008 when he claimed The Players Championship.
Winning a major title would finally prove the promise he showed when he first joined the tour in 1999.
He did finish second at the PGA in both 1999 and 2008.
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Jason Day
4 of 10He looks like the next young golfer to add his name to the list of major champions.
Day finished second at The Masters and the U.S. Open and the golf world took notice.
He is seventh in the world rankings right now. He finished 10th last year at the PGA.
He won the Byron Nelson in 2010, his only win on the American Tour.
Tiger Woods
5 of 10This one needs no explanation.
Drama, injury and whispers have plagued him all season.
He needs a strong showing since he is pain-free for the first time in months.
If the media drama and continued questions about his game can cease, he could make a statement this weekend.
Phil Mickelson
6 of 10You cannot have Tiger on this list without Phil.
There are whispers that he may not be able to win another major title. There are whispers that he gave away the Open Championship to his friend Darren Clarke.
Never count Mickelson out of the hunt in a major tournament. Currently ranked sixth in the world, he still has the game to compete with the younger crowd.
Lee Westwood
7 of 10He was the man to unseat Tiger Woods atop the world rankings. Surprisingly enough, he does not have a major title to his resume yet.
The last time he won on American soil was at St. Jude in 2010. He tied for third at this year's U.S. Open and tied for 11th at the Masters, but much to everyone's surprise, he did not make the cut at the Open Championship.
Westwood is easily one of the five best golfers in the world right now. He needs a major title to validate his lofty status.
Luke Donald
8 of 10He is currently the top-ranked golfer in the world, but like Westwood, he has no major titles to his resume.
The English-born Donald can put an end to that this weekend. He tied for fourth at the Masters this year and his best finish at the PGA was a tie for third in 2006.
He has 11 career wins to his credit.
Steve Stricker
9 of 10He is currently ranked as the best American golfer on the PGA Tour. Stricker has gone about it quietly. The 44-year-old just keeps moving along.
He has won twice this year on the tour at The Memorial and the John Deere Classic.
He tied for 18th last year at the PGA. His best showing at the event is a second-place finish in 1998.
Dustin Johnson
10 of 10Johnson is currently ranked eighth in the world.
Johnson is part of the crowd expected to take over for the Tiger Woods' and Phil Mickelsons of the tour, but has yet to win a major title.
He finished second in a tie with Mickelson at the Open Championship.
He has six professional wins since turning pro.
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