Strange tale of good golfers gone bad

AS curiosities go, there are many when we concern ourselves with the level of golf that is on display here at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

The best of the best from PGA tours in both America and Europe dominate the 156-player field at the 93rd PGA Championship, yet before we entertain thoughts about those wielding the clubs, here is a strange one to digest.

When the PGA Championship was held right here in 2001, the dateline was given as Duluth, Ga.

Ten years later, same venue, same championship, same everything — only now the dateline is Johns Creek, Ga.

Go figure.

Then again, why bother? Irrespective of the name of this town or municipality, the season’s final Major championship has landed at a golf course that will crown a champion, no matter what anyone might think of the stage being used. Better to consider this: There are far more curious storylines involving these heralded pros, so why worry about the fact the dateline has changed.

Don’t believe it? Then start looking at any number of lists that measure how a guy has played for the season, and don’t be afraid to look from the bottom up. Do that for the American PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points list and get a load of who sits below number 125 and thus might not make the play-offs: Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, Pádraig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey and Angel Cabrera.

What’s more, there are notable names inside the top 125, but not inside the top 70, so their chances to play more than two play-off tournaments is a long shot. Geoff Ogilvy, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love, Anthony Kim and Graeme McDowell would be the players in question.

All told, we’ve just mentioned a dozen names, all of them PGA Tour winners, all but two of them Major champions, all of them struggling in 2011 and that begs the question: Why is so much bad golf happening to good players this year?

“It’s cyclical. It’s golf,” Hunter Mahan said. “You just can’t expect to play great every year. We just can’t do it. We’re too human.”

My guess is, Mahan believes that. Or it could be that he wants to believe it. But it doesn’t mean we should dismiss what took place at Atlanta Athletic Club in yesterday’s second round, which was a continuation of what has been a common theme this year — bad golf by good players.

For his part, McDowell took full responsibility.

“I drove the ball horrendously,” said the man from Portrush after making three double bogeys in a round of 78 that left him 10 over and a mile on the wrong side of the cut.

He has missed the cut in three of the season’s four Majors and hasn’t had a top 10 finish in a stroke play event since March.

“At some point you hit a wall and I’ve hit a wall hard this year.”

If so, chances are McDowell has recognised a few casualties sitting next to that wall with him.

Els, for instance. Once called ‘The Big Easy’, he is anything but these days because the game has seemingly beat him up. Now 41, Els’ better days are behind him but he’s still in possession of enough talent to make cuts and even contend. Somehow, however, he just can’t figure out how to do it.

Having played 10 holes in two under to improve to two over for the championship, the three-time Major winner bogeyed four of his next five holes and, at six over, Els missed the cut in a Major for the third time.

Ogilvy, like Els, couldn’t bear to talk after a second-round meltdown that continued his problems.

Having played 17 holes in level par on Thursday, the lanky Aussie still finished five over for the day because he hit two balls in the water at the par-three fourth, then three-putted for quintuple bogey. Fighting back to two over with 32 on the back holes, Ogilvy was on that number with four holes to play. The cut was within reach, only he doubled the par-four sixth, then bogeyed the eighth and ninth.

Miserable stuff for a wonderful player, but he wasn’t alone – not on this day and not in this season.