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Aussies target drought-ending PGA glory

3 minute read

Forecast conditions at the 103rd PGA Championship should suit the eight Australians in the field for this week's major at Kiawah Island.

MARC LEISHMAN.
MARC LEISHMAN. Picture: Matt Roberts/Getty Images

Australia's contingent at the PGA Championship say conditions couldn't be more perfect for one of them to break a near six-year major championship drought for the men from Down Under.

The forecast at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course foreshadows a hard and fast course with tricky coastal winds in what is being billed as one of the most wide-open major championships in decades.

Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Matt Jones, Cameron Davis, Lucas Herbert and Jason Scrivener are in the field this week aiming to be the first Australian major winner since Day's record-setting PGA success in August 2015.

But they'll have their work cut out as the depth of field has produced a plethora of contenders.

The bookmakers can't find a single-digit favourite in the 156-strong field that includes 99 of the world's top 100.

Smith and Leishman come into the week having recently won as a duo in New Orleans and both thrive in conditions like those present at Kiawah.

"I know I can hit the shots that need to be played and when you execute those the results come," Smith said.

"I play my best golf when I can be creative and this course demands that.

"I think all Aussies should feel confident in these conditions."

Leishman has a reputation as a wind specialist and knows the opportunity to go to the next level is right in front of him.

"I couldn't draw up better conditions for my game," he said.

"It is the best chance I'll get in my career to win one of these so hopefully I can get myself close when it's on the line Sunday

Scott and Day, Australia's most recent major winners, have given up top billing to Smith and Leishman but still believe they can recapture past glories.

"The guys who get their eye in there's opportunity for good scores but for the guys who struggle, which is always the way at majors, there are probably going to be big scores on the board," Scott said.

Many pundits list 2012 champion Rory McIlroy, who recently won for the first time in 18 months, as the favourite.

The four-time major winner romped to an eight-shot win nine years ago at Kiawah.

"I feel like I'm a different person and a different player," McIlroy said.

"I played great here last time, obviously, and won my first PGA and my second major, but just because I did that doesn't mean that I'm going to find it any easier this week than anyone else."

American Jordan Spieth is on the cusp of greatness.

At 27 he needs a PGA Championship to close out a career grand slam - to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to have managed the feat.

But Spieth says he's not thinking about it. Yet.

"As we get into the weekend, if I'm able to work my way into contention, it's something that'll obviously be asked and come up, and it's something that I certainly want," he said.

"I want to win this one as badly as I ever have."

Others on the first line of betting include Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas and world No.1 Dustin Johnson.

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