Better than nothing, that's for sure

Better than nothing, that's for sure

This week is the PGA Championship, the first major in men’s golf this year due to pandemic schedule changes. It will be quite odd to see the champion raising up the biggest trophy in golf with no fans standing behind him. Even though the tournament is in the San Francisco area, I think it will play more like a British Open than the typical PGA championship. It will be very unique weather with constant fog predicted. My favorites for the event will be Justin Rose, Jon Rahm or Rory McIlroy because they are used to playing in foggy conditions.

I usually have Tiger Woods high on the list of favorites, but not this week. Tiger hasn’t played very much. In six months, he’s has only played one tournament, and because of the damp weather conditions, I worry about his back. I usually don’t get my predictions correct, but I got lucky last week because my pick, Justin Thomas won in Memphis.

By the way, Brooks Koepka is trying to be the first to achieve a three peat in stroke play history of the PGA Championship. Walter Hagen won three straight PGA championships in the 1920s, when the tournament was in the match play format. ESPN has the first two rounds this year for the first time, then it’s on CBS on the weekend as usual.

The Phillies have started to play again. This week it is against the Yankees. They’ve only played three games so far after the virus scare with the Miami Marlins. The bullpen has got to get better if they have any chance to make the 16-team playoff format at the end of the September. The baseball season itself is still in a very precarious situation because the virus has also infected the St. Louis Cardinals. Their games this week have been postponed because 13 people in the organization have tested positive.

In some good news in the world of baseball, the Miami Marlins are playing games again with a makeshift roster. I hope I don’t have to continue to report every week that a different team has been affected by the virus, but we will see.

In the NBA restart, I have been amazed at the quality of the games so far. It doesn’t seem like the players have to play in a home court to excel and can perform in any kind of gym you give them. The 76ers had a rough first game, but they seem to be adjusting quite well. I hope this continues into the playoffs which are only two weeks away. Sadly, they just lost Ben Simmons for most of what is left of the season, due to a dislocated knee cap. Joel Embiid and the rest of the team will really have to step it up.

I hope everyone made it through Tuesday's nasty tropical storm. I know I will enjoy the milder temperatures this weekend. Stay healthy and safe.