US Bank chances wide Open
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 US Bank Championship | Preview | 15 Jul 2009
For those not playing at the Open Championship field at Turnberry, the PGA Tour this week provides an alternative in Wisconsin.
The US Bank Championship in Milwaukee will be played at the Brown Deer Park Golf Club for the 16th consecutive year and despite the absence of the game’s stars a purse of US$4 million is still at stake.
The Brown Deer Park Golf Club was first built in 1929 when designed by George Hanson but underwent significant changes in the early 1990’s when Andy North and Roger Packard redesigned the layout.
The course is one of the shortest on the PGA Tour, totalling just 6,759 yards. The defending champion is Richard. S. Johnson, who defeated Ken Duke by one shot to win his first PGA Tour event last year.
Johnson led after the opening two rounds last year, the opening round of which had included a hole-in-one, before a third round of 70 had him one behind the lead. Despite two early bogeys, Johnson put together a final round of 64 to catch and pass Gavin Coles and Nick Flanagan who had led into the final round.
Matt Bettencourt was brilliant on the Nationwide Tour in 2008 winning twice late in the season and finishing as the leading money winner. It has taken him a while to find his feet at this higher level in 2009 but in recent weeks he has given every indication of having turned the corner. Any player capable of finishing 5th at the Memorial Tournament and 10th at the US Open has a great chance against this weaker field.
Tim Petrovic may still be agonising over a late double bogey at last week’s John Deere Classic which cost him a place at the Open Championship. It might yet prove to be a blessing in disguise however. While he has been somewhat inconsistent this season he has played well on occasions including when 5th last week and when 5th at Quail Hollow against a much stronger line-up than that he faces this week.
Kevin Streelman has played well in his last two events and the chances of his first PGA Tour win have improved significantly as a result.
Steve Flesch has played this event well finishing 5th in 2007 and 19th last year. He has struggled in recent weeks but a player capable of finishing 6th at the Masters this year has his chances in this field.
I think Cameron Beckman can go very close to winning this week. He has played well in each of his last two starts including when 7th in a very strong field at the AT&T. He has missed the cut in each of his last two visits to this event but don’t be surprised to see a big turnaround.
Like Streelman, John Mallinger has yet to win a PGA Tour event but there has been ample eveidence to suggest he will before long. Mallinger finished 3rd at the Players Championship in May and has played this course well at times including when 13th in 2007.
The Australians are here in force as they seek to advance their money list causes in the absence of several of their leading players across the Atlantic.
Nick O’Hern has normally been at the Open when this event is being played but he has slipped in the world rankings and does not have a start at Turnberry. This is not a long golf course and could well suit O’Hern. He has made his last five cuts this season and while not earth shattering his game appears on the verge of something special.
Peter Lonard has shown plenty of evidence in recent weeks that his game is on the way back. He finished 15th last week in Illinois and in previous weeks his ball striking statistics indicated that things were looking up. Lonard has not played this event often although he did miss the cut last year.
Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, Steve Elkington, James Nitties, Greg Chalmers, Nathan Green, previous runner up Steve Allan, Greg Chalmers, Stephen Leaney and Aron Price all get their chance.
