PGA Picks - Will Questions Be Answered?

Rarely have we gone into the season's final major with so much uncertainty and so many questions looming.

• What's wrong with Tiger, and is this the beginning of the end?
• Can Phil Mickelson finally take over the World No. 1 ranking, or will Wisconsin native Steve Stricker claim the top spot in his home state?
• Is Tiger a lock for the Ryder Cup team? If not, will Captain Cory Pavin use one of his four picks on a player desperately trying to find his game?
• Remember Sergio Garcia? Just two years ago, the 30 year old Spaniard was contending for the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills and would have won a FedEx Cup Playoff event if Vijay Singh hadn't drained a 40 ft putt to force extra holes. Now he's planning on taking two months off after this week. Isn't it a waste of time to even play this major?
• And most importantly, as we prepare for the 92nd PGA Championship, are there really over 1200 bunkers at Whistling Straits? And if so...why?

The answer to that last question is perhaps the easiest. Yes there are. Because the course was built over an abandoned air field on the shores of Lake Michigan. The place was already pretty sandy. And mainly, because course architect Pete Dye thought it would help present a stunning visual display. From what the players have said all week, it appears he was right.

The other questions are a bit more perplexing. Yes Tiger is struggling and finally admitted at his Tuesday press conference that he's at a low point. But this is still a guy who has been in contention at some point in every major this year. It seems silly to call Tiger a long shot to win any golf tournament, but coming off last week's abysmal performance at the Bridgestone, I don't hear too many experts picking him to win, or even contend for that matter. But if his putter somehow gets hot, the winds begin to swirl over the shores of Lake Michigan, and Tiger can manage to pull together his focus for these next four days, he might pull the shocker of the year.

But with Tiger looking more like me out there than the Tiger we're used to, and Mickelson looking like anything but the guy who won the Masters in April, will we see the trend continue of first time major winners this year like McDowell at the U.S. Open and Louis (Louis) Oosthuizen at the Open? I think we just might.

Here are my PGA Championship picks:

• 1st Round Fizzle -- KJ Choi - That's right, "Polar" Choi has a habit of showing up in big time events, only to fizzle away on the weekend. He'll lead after round 1, but slowly move back to the middle of the pack.
• Darkhorse -- Darren Clarke - Clarke has been playing well in Europe this season and is hungry for a major. He'd also desperately love to win this tournament AND play himself on to Europe's Ryder Cup team. Look for some good golf out of DC.
• Contender -- It seems Rory McIlroy is the poster child for this category at every Major he plays in from now until he wins one. He loves playing links-style courses and could shoot a low score like he did in the first round of the Open at St. Andrews. If conditions get tough and scores stay around par, fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington could be a threat come Sunday, especially with his scrambling skills and hot putter as of late.
• Winner -- A man who's been in contention for almost every major the past two seasons, and a recent winner of the 3 Irish Open, Ross Fisher will continue the trend of first time major winners and hoist the Wanamaker Trophy Sunday evening by the the shores of Lake Michigan. If his driving and putting are on like they were at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club two weeks ago, Fisher should be able to strategically plod his way around the dunes and fescue of Whistling Straits and become the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 1996 to win a major and the first ever to win the PGA Championship.

Now, tell me your picks...