We’re just a few days away from the start of the 2015 PGA Championship, and there are a handful of golfers that are poised to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy this year. Among those top competitors is Jimmy Walker, who’s had a late-career resurgence to support his chances of winning the final major of the season.
Does Walker have what it takes to finally win his first career PGA major tournament at the ripe-old age of 36? Read on as we cite three key factors on his way to victory at Whistling Straits. Don’t forget to also check out our previews for the tournament’s other top golfers in Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy right after this.
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Why Jimmy Walker Will Win the 2015 PGA Championship
Five Titles for Fighting
[sc:Golf240banner ]It took 12 long years and 187 starts before Jimmy Walker claimed his first PGA title in 2013. And since then, Walker’s had some Superman-like form, having won five titles in less than two years to date.
Those five titles actually fly under the radar too, considering all the attention this year centered on Spieth’s Grand Slam exploits, Woods’ continued descent into mediocrity and Rory McIlroy’s latest injury. But wouldn’t you know that his five career PGA titles have him in the same league as former World No. 1s Tom Lehman and Luke Donald? Those five wins also equal the output of other golfing greats like John Daly, Billy Mayfair and Jesper Parnevik.
Above all, he has more titles than some of the other more notable active contenders headed for Whistling Straits like Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and reigning PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer just to name a few. And again, all of his titles were won during just these past two seasons of play, which means that Walker might just be getting started filling up his trophy cabinet.
Major Upside
While none of Walker’s five titles are major titles, he’s had his fair share of success in the grandest of stages already. In 2014, he finished eighth at the Masters, ninth at the U.S. Open, and seventh at the PGA Championship.
Although his best finish at a major tournament this year is 30th-place at the Open Championship, Walker has still been in prime contention in a few other events thus far. Two of his five career titles have come from earlier this season (at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Valero Texas Open). He also has six top 10 finishes out of 19 events played – including two runner-up finishes at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Furthermore, only four players have as many title victories this season as Walker, and those are Spieth, McIlroy, Day and Bubba Watson – all of whom are favored over Walker himself to win the Wanamaker Trophy this week. Walker could very well upset all those big names that are overshadowing the rest of the competition if he can regain his majors form from back in 2014.
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Putting Things into Perspective
What’s Jimmy Walker’s recipe for success, you may ask? A large part of that recipe happens to be his phenomenal putting.
Walker is the best golfer this season when it comes to the greens; he leads all golfers in total putting (58.6) and strokes gained via putting (.882), and is also tops when it comes to the average distance of putts made at 82’ 10”. With such a clinical use of his putter, it’s also no surprise that Walker is one of the best at staying under par. He’s sixth in the PGA this season in birdie average amongst all golfers.
And if you think that Walker’s only got the chops for the short distance game, think again. He’s the third-best player this year in Par 5 scoring average at 4.51. Whistling Straits will have four Par 5 holes, and Walker will likely make up good ground during the 2nd, 5th, 11th and 16th holes of the tournament.
With a respectable winning pedigree under his belt, a well-rounded skillset and a recent mean streak for success, it would be hard to pass up on Walker as a +4,000 dark horse pick to win it all at the 2015 PGA Championship.
