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This may just be a 50-something whining about time flying too quickly, or it may be that the weather has just made it seem as if there has been no summer of 2009, but it hardly seems time for the PGA Championship.
At the beginning of the season, you would have received some strange looks if you mentioned that the traditional grouping of winners from the three previous majors of the year would include Angel Cabrera (Masters), Lucas Glover (U.S. Open) and Stewart Cink (British Open).
It's not that any of these players didn't deserve their titles. What's surprising is that this group doesn't include the names Tiger Woods, everybody's pick in major championships, or Padraig Harrington, who won three majors in the past two years.
That soon could change given Tiger's performance in winning the Buick Open a week ago, then again yesterday at Firestone. Tiger looked ready against Harrington, who also seemed primed until that Curly, Larry and Moe triple bogey on 16.
With Woods and Harrington grouped together again for the first two rounds at Hazeltine this week, it doesn't take a lot of guesswork to predict which group will be the focus, but as the trio of 2009 major winners illustrates, don't count out the unheralded guys such as the third wheel in Woods-Harrington, Part 2.
Rich Beem held off Tiger in 2002, the last time the PGA Championship was played at Hazeltine, and won by one stroke. Don't be surprised if there's a similar story written this week.
Advice from dad
One of the world's most renowned teachers of the game was on the bag of Canadian Tour rookie Jon McLean at the Roxul Jane Rogers Championship, which concluded yesterday at the Greystone Golf Club near Milton.
His caddie was his dad, Jim McLean, who has worked with many top names including Greg Norman, who McLean accompanied to Crooked Stick for the recent U.S. Senior Open. Despite dad's credentials and the fact that he was an outstanding player himself, Jon, 23, wasn't always open to suggestions.
Jon, who split his college career between Texas Christian University and Oklahoma State, chalks that up to typical father-son stuff as he was growing up, but adds that has all changed.
"We're pretty good. We've gotten better as I've gotten older, being able to listen and stuff," said Jon, who earned his tour card in March at Florida winter qualifying school.
As for dad, he says he just tries to be supportive and chips in when needed, but it's tough to go against natural instincts.
"I try not to be intrusive at all, but it's not always easy as a teacher to shut up," Jim said. "I've tried to make it a family trip up here. We have fun, some nice dinners. I try not to be too judgmental."
The short game
LPGA Tour player Alena Sharp headlines the field at this week's Canadian PGA Women's Championship being played tomorrow and Wednesday at Dundas Valley in her home town of Hamilton ... McLean says he has had discussions about opening one of his schools in the Toronto area, but hasn't found the right location just yet ... The Seaforth Country Classic, a Canadian Tour event, has a cool prize for fans who purchase an early-bird ticket for $20 before Aug. 20. That ticket will get them into every day of the event and earn them a chance to win a trip for two to next year's Masters, among other prizes. The tournament will be held Aug. 27-30 at the Seaforth Golf Club in Western Ontario. For ticket information, call (519) 522-0985.