Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman split on PGA Championship predictions
The PGA Championship is up for grabs this week at Quail Hollow with CBS announcers Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman having differing views on who will win.
CBS broadcast partners Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman are at odds about the forthcoming PGA Championship showdown at Quail Hollow, as a robust field of 156 competitors vie for the Wanamaker Trophy.
Nestled in the broadcast booth near the iconic 18th green in North Carolina, both Nantz and Immelman will witness firsthand who claims the second major of the season. The event is shaping up to be especially enthralling following Rory McIlroy's remarkable Masters triumph just a month earlier.
With top talents like Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, and Justin Thomas entering the fray in excellent form, anticipation is high for an electrifying four days on the links. However, despite Quail Hollow's history of being friendly to emerging stars – as evidenced during its hosting of the 2017 PGA Championship and its annual PGA Tour event – Nantz speculates this week may see a young, ascending golfer steal the spotlight from the seasoned major winners.
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Despite McIlroy's string of victories at Quail Hollow, Nantz is throwing his prediction behind Swedish prodigy Ludvig Aberg to make waves and potentially establish himself as a new golf luminary in Charlotte. "If you look at the history at Quail Hollow, every once in a while there is a player who emerges there that maybe you say, 'Wow. Where did that come from? How good is that guy going to be?'" Nantz remarked.
"And I think through the years at Quail Hollow, I think of people like Rory. We knew he was a golf prodigy, but that was the first win that he had over here. Rickie Fowler's first win was there. Think of the Wyndham Clark win a couple years ago before he won in L.A. [U.S. Open].
"And factor that in with sometimes the PGA Championship will deliver us someone that you have a quizzical look at it at first and say 'Wow, that guy has that kind of ability?' They almost always seem to pan out as credentialed and prove to be a meritorious top-flight player.
"I'm going through the list at Quail Hollow. Justin Thomas's first of two PGA Championships in 2017. He was a very young player on the Tour when he won there. There is history here, where perhaps that is the storyline."
Nantz continued: "As much as we want to think it's Rory's playground, we think it might be Jordan [Spieth] going for the career Grand Slam, or Scottie is on a roll, if Ludvig Aberg won, it would make perfect sense to me right now. This would be the kind of place and time where it seems to happen. There is a big top-flight talent that's young and somehow he survives the Green Mile and a great field and emerges. And it's the launch of a superstar career. And I think Ludvig could be one of those examples."
Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, offered a contrasting perspective on the tournament. While acknowledging the long list of emerging talents like Joaquin Niemann and Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, among others, Immelman is betting on an experienced player to clinch the title this week.
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The South African anticipates that the winner will emerge from seasoned players such as McIlroy, Scheffler, DeChambeau, and others. "I hear exactly what Jim is saying. There are so many players that are kind of standing on the side of the road right now wanting to dip their toe out there and get into it," Immelman said.
"Aberg falls into that, we mentioned Niemann. The Hojgaard brothers have started to find a little form here in America. And then a whole host of guys I'm leaving out. Andrew Novak has been in brilliant form over the last four or five weeks.
"But the stars, all of the stars, are coming into this PGA Championship in such great form that I see the winner coming from that group of 10 players or so."
