KPMG Els and MickelsonCHARLOTTE — They took turns waxing nostalgic about the old days, their initial encounter on the golf course coming 33 years ago. Ernie Els had made his first trip to the U.S. from his home in South Africa, then bested Phil Mickelson at the 1984 Junior World Championship in California. Little did they know it was the first of many, many times they’d be competing against one another in their future Hall of Fame careers.
“I remember a shot you hit in the final round on No. 3,” Mickelson said to Els at a joint press conference on Tuesday at Quail Hollow Club. “It was a par 5, and you had it about 20 yards short of the green, and you hit this little skipping, spinning wedge shot that checked up about a foot from the hole. That’s when I knew you were going to be a good player, because I had not seen anybody else at 14 hit that shot.”
Shown a picture of the duo from that day, Mickelson quipped: “It doesn’t seem that long ago from those days, but it sure looks like a long..

Icon Sportswire(Photo by John Bunch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)CHARLOTTE — The PGA Championship's Long Drive Competition was held on Tuesday and, thanks to constant rain throughout the week, the numbers posted were a far cry from the rockets launched a week ago at Firestone C.C. Nevertheless, there were still plenty of fireworks at Quail Hollow, and when the smoke cleared, it was Jason Kokrak who stood atop the score board.
Kokrak, perennially one of the tour leaders in driving, carried his tee shot on the par-5 10th 320 yards. Due to the aforementioned wet conditions, his ball rolled all of…one yard.
https://twitter.com/PGA/status/894932385787236352
Still, the 321-yard shot was good enough, besting Tyrrell Hatton by five yards for the title. Dustin Johnson came in third at 315 yards.
https://twitter.com/PGA/status/895024694180663298
The event was resurrected in 2014 after a 30-year hiatus, with Louis Oosthuizen, Anirban Lahiri and Byeong Hun An grabbing the crown the past..

Warren Little/Getty ImagesJimmy Walker looks on during a practice round prior to the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club.CHARLOTTE — In the year since his greatest triumph, Jimmy Walker has hit a lull. One that has left him—hopefully only temporarily—in limbo.
When the then 37-year-old Walker won the PGA Championship last August at Baltusrol, in wire-to-wire fashion with rounds of 65-66-68-67, it was the culmination of well paid dues. On and off the minor tours for several years, Walker finally made it to the PGA Tour to stay in 2007. But after seven years as a winless journeyman, he got his first victory in 2014, and then five more in quick succession. That the last was a major championship made the lean, 6-foot-2, sweet-swinging Oklahoman appear a classic late bloomer ready to move into the ranks of the game’s elite.
“I feel like I can do it. I can do it now. I can win a major championship,” Walker said after winning by a stroke over Jason Day last July. It was a mindset great..

Scott HalleranCHARLOTTE — John Daly was the first player on the PGA Tour to average more than 300 yards off the tee. The year was 1997, and Daly finished the season at 302 yards, seven more yards than that year’s Masters champion Tiger Woods.
Last week at Firestone Country Club, Rory McIlroy hit 52 of 56 tee shots 300 yards or more. This season, 40 players are averaging 300 yards or more off the tee on the PGA Tour, led by Dustin Johnson and his 314.3 average (though McIlroy would top the list at 318.8 yards if he played enough rounds to qualify).
More players are hitting the ball farther than ever, but being long is also becoming more integral to success.
Of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, 11 are averaging more than 300 yards. In 2000, five players in the top 20 in the world ranked in the top 40 in driving distance. In 1990, that number was just four, with more than a few players ranking well down the list when it came to distance.
“The power game is the new dir..

Ross Kinnaird(Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)CHARLOTTE — A spring-training game resembles a picnic more than our national pastime. When the Final Four hosts “open” basketball practices, fans are treated to an array of missed jumpers (damn those endless stadium backdrops) and a ton of standing around. Watching the NFL preseason constitutes as cruel and unusual torture. Yet, a practice round in golf is not just glorious. In many ways, it's superior than the actual event.
Calling shenanigans? Here are five reasons why attending a practice round trumps a tournament day.
Smaller crowds
Save for the Masters, practice rounds tend to be lightly-attended events. There are reasonable lines for concessions, merchandise and rest rooms. Though you can't get inside the ropes, you can walk alongside them unobstructed, drinking in a course panorama mostly unavailable during tournament days (more on this in a second). Moreover, while some tournament rounds double as social affairs, only ..