PGA Championship carries major weight

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. - Can the golf season already be coming to an end? Or at least the really relevant part of it.

It seems like only yesterday that Jordan Spieth, the game's next great thing, was throwing away his chance at winning a second straight Masters on the final nine. The green jacket went instead to England's Danny Willett. While the pride of Sheffield was obviously deserving, the name didn't move nearly as many needles.

Can you say Charl Schwartzel?

That was 15 weeks ago. Since then we've seen Dustin Johnson finally win a major at the U.S. Open and Sweden's Henrik Stenson also get his first at the age of 40 by beating ageless Phil Mickelson in historic fashion at the British Open. That brings us to the fourth career-defining tournament, the PGA Championship, which begins Thursday morning at Baltusrol Golf Club.

Yes, we'll still have Olympic golf, for the first time in over a century, next month. Not that many of the world's top players are going to be playing in Brazil, for whatever reasons. And there's the FedEx Cup playoffs in the fall. So can anyone tell me who won that in, say, 2013? Figured. And since this is an even-numbered year, the Ryder Cup matches are after that, at Hazeltine in suburban Minneapolis, where the Americans might actually have a shot for a change if only because they'll be playing on home soil. Then again, the United States has still lost two of the last three times it didn't have to cross the Atlantic. And three straight regardless of geography, not to mention five of the last six. For those who continue to keep tabs.

The PGA is, of course, mainly regarded as the fourth major. Much like the Australian Open is in tennis. The Masters is Augusta National, a tradition unlike any other. The U.S. Open is the hardest tourney to win. Plus it's our national championship. The British Open is the oldest and is the world's championship. The PGA is the championship of its profession. Yet unless Tiger Woods (remember him?) or Spieth is trying to win their third major of the season, you can sometimes end up with a Keegan Bradley lifting the trophy at Atlanta Athletic Club in 2011 or Jason Dufner - the guy Bradley beat in a forgettable playoff - doing the honors two years later at Oak Hill. That happens at other majors too. It's just that when it does, you always have the next major to look forward to. When this one's over, spring remains a long way away.

Or maybe it's just that football season is about to start and everything else pretty much ceases to exist.

Anyway, this was the year that Spieth was supposed to continue dominating the way he did in 2015. We've found out it's not that easy. Which should make everyone have an even deeper appreciation of what Woods was able to do with all the expectations for over a decade. Jason Day, the defending champ, and Rory McIlroy, who won this in 2012 and '14, haven't been able to add to their major count thus far, either. So much for the Big Three. In their place we've had three first-time major winners, good stories all. But we could've had Spieth and Mickelson to go with Johnson, which would have been way better.

The PGA is being played two weeks earlier this year, because of the return to the Olympics, only two weeks after the British. So the logistics are a little different. How much if any that will matter remains to play out. But Mickelson, who hasn't won since the 2013 British, won his lone PGA right here 11 years ago. So maybe that's something, particularly after what he did at Royal Troon, which was shoot 17-under-par. It just wasn't good enough, because Stenson had an out-of-body experience.

The same thing happened to Spieth last August at Whistling Straits, when Day shot 20-under to beat him by three. You think Day thought of the PGA as being merely the fourth major? Ask Jack Nicklaus if he counts his five PGAs equally with his six Masters, four U.S. Opens and three British Opens. Or ask Arnold Palmer, who won seven majors, or Tom Watson, who's got eight, how they feel about not having a PGA. Maybe winning an Australian Open isn't the same as winning at Wimbledon. I'm not a tennis guy. But in golf I'm pretty sure a major is a major. And they all add up. And since this is the last chance for someone to get one this year, well maybe that gives it even more meaning.

It's the reason golf didn't really need to be in the Olympics. It already has four Olympics each year. You think anyone wouldn't trade a gold medal for a PGA? Nobody's going to remember how many golds Serena Williams ends up with, just the number of grand slam titles. That's legacy. And the PGA, no matter where some might feel it stands on the food chain, is a significant part of that.

Just ask the fellow who wins this week. Even if it's only, say, a Gary Woodland.

Baltusrol used to be a USGA-affiliated venue, hosting seven U.S. Opens from 1903 to 1993. Willie Anderson, who won four Opens in a five-year span in the early part of the 20th century, finished first here in the first one. Nicklaus, who won four Opens in 19 years, triumphed here in 1967 and again in 1980, after some had thought he was done being the man. Just in case, he went on to win the PGA two months later.

Sometimes, this stuff actually works out right.

@mikekerndn