2010 PGA Championship | Wei Under Par

Aug

12

2015

DE-RAKE GATE: DJ’s bunker controversy five years later

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Championship

Rewind to five years ago when the PGA Championship was last held at Whistling Straits. What do you remember more clearly? Martin Kaymer hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy after beating Bubba Watson in a four-hole playoff? Or Dustin Johnson pushing his drive way right on the 72nd hole and his ball ending up in a sandy area — which had been trampled by thousands of fans and even splattered with trash — where he grounded his club and received a two-shot penalty that took him out of the playoff? Probably the latter, unfortunately.

The 2010 PGA Championship essentially ended in controversy, confusion and dismay — it was one of those majors where it will always be more memorable for how it was lost, rather than how it was won.

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#2010 PGA Championship, #2015 PGA Championship, #Bunkergate, #Dustin Johnson, #Whistling Straits

Aug

19

2010

Dan Jenkins on Golf’s Youngsters, Tiger and the Infamous Yang Tweet

By Stephanie Wei under Interviews

I sat down with Dan Jenkins for an interview in the media center at Whistling Straits last Sunday — his 206th major, a record that will never be broken because “among other things, there won’t be golf writers someday!” — as play was getting underway. When I showed up, he was looking at the giant leaderboard in the front of the room and rifling through the names, deciding who would make the best winning story to write. “Rory [McIlroy] and Dustin [Johnson]. I guess Nick Watney. That’s about it,” he said. In other words, we didn’t want to write about anyone else.

Before I walked away, Mr. Jenkins imparted some words with me I’ll never forget, including a few pieces of advice. First, meet his daughter, Sally (pictured above). Then, he encouraged me to keep pushing through the industry and hoped I continued to cover golf. He said I needed to do two things: Listen to those who have been doing this for a long time (and know what they’re doing — in other words, be very discriminatory), and read — and not just his books.

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#2010 PGA Championship, #Arnold Palmer, #Ben Hogan, #Dan Jenkins, #Jack Nicklaus, #Tiger Woods, #Twitter, #Whistling Straits, #Y.E. Yang

Aug

11

2010

PGA Champions’ Dinner: Korean Edition

By Stephanie Wei under General

It’s PGA Championship tradition that the defending Champion hosts a dinner soiree of other players that have had the honor of hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy. On Tuesday night, Y.E. Yang made history as the first Asian-born winner to select the menu for the Champions’ Dinner. No, kimchee wasn’t the only dish served. So then, what Korean delicacies were devoured?

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#2010 PGA Championship, #Kimchee, #PGA Champions' Dinner, #Whistling Straits, #Y.E. Yang

Aug

10

2010

The Normally Sedentary Media Challenged to Stand, Walk

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Championship

When I checked in at the media center on Monday morning, the second order of business — after I was given the always nifty ID badge (and an armband this week!) — the nice lady gave me a pedometer. Each media member gets one to wear and it tracks the number of steps you take (or don’t). At the end of each day before 8PM, you fill out a form with the front desk to record your daily total. There is a daily prize given to the least lazy and most active person as well as cumulative prizes to those who dared to trek across the grueling artificial dunes, the infinite bunkers and masses of fescue at Whistling Straits.

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#2010 PGA Championship, #Pedometer, #PGA of America

Aug

6

2010

Here Are Your PGA Championship Round 1 & 2 Pairings

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Championship

Oh, if we only knew seeing Tiger Woods agonize in the jaws of defeat would actually be a common sight less than a year later, it wouldn’t have been such a novelty to watch Y.E. Yang celebrate with such glee on the 72nd hole at last year’s PGA Championship. In the spirit of morbid humor, Yang and Woods will play the first two rounds together at Whistling Straits. They’ll be joined by two-time PGA Champion Vijay Singh.

5 Comments

#2010 PGA Championship, #Tee Times, #Tiger Woods, #Vijay Singh, #Whistling Straits, #Y.E. Yang

Jul

2

2010

Tiger Officially Enters PGA Championship

By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

Apparently Tiger Woods is a man of his word. As he promised earlier this year, he’s continuing to send in his entry forms to tournaments with plenty of notice. In fact, he was among one of the first four players to enter the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. The other three were Masters champion Phil Mickelson, US Open champion Graeme McDowell and two-time PGA champion Vijay Singh, who won the 2004 PGA Championship three-way playoff when it was last played at Whistling Straits.

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#2010 PGA Championship, #Graeme McDowell, #Phil Mickelson, #Tiger Woods, #Vijay Singh, #Y.E. Yang