PGA Championship
PGA Championship 2023: This Joel Dahmen tee shot either hit a sprinkler head or Oak Hill has the firmest fairways on the planet
As golf fans, we don't ask for much out of our major championships. Actually, who are we kidding, all we do is complain on a regular basis, and you can multiply those complaints by 1 billion on major weeks. However, there is one thing we can all agree on: firm-and-fast conditions are the bee's knees.
We were told we'd get exactly that at Oak Hill this week, and the frigid morning temperatures in Rochester, N.Y., which caused a frost delay, would only make the course that much firmer and faster when players eventually got on the course.
That said, the bounce Joel Dahmen's opening tee shot took on Thursday is simply TOO big of a bounce to not make you wonder if it hit a sprinkler head, or a plaque of some sort. The thing is, as far as we know, there is no plaque in the first fairway on Oak Hill's East Course. So the two options are sprinkler head, or Oak Hill post-frost delay has the firmest fairways on planet earth. See for yourself:
I mean ... it's just a preposterous bounce! Did that hit concrete? Dahmen himself will tell you he's not a long hitter, just ask him. He averages just a shade over 290 yards, ranking him 165th on tour. This tee shot traveled 329 yards on a chilly Rochester morning, and that bounce alone seemed to account for at least 29 of them. That damn ball took a trip to the moon after it hit the turf.
After watching this, suddenly the shorter, more accurate hitters off-the-tee might be very live this week. If they're getting those kinds of bounces and a ton of rollout, why can't they hang? Ryder Cup captains Zach Johnson and Luke Donald are already off to solid starts, as are Padraig Harrington, Kevin Kisner and Jimmy Walker. OK, OK, it's very early, but we're not ruling out the bunters yet after seeing Dahmen's mammoth hop at No. 1.
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