BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. - This year, the pairings in majors are finally getting the thought put into them that they deserve.

That Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson pairing at the U.S. Open helped bring out more tournament prehype than golf’s ever seen. The PGA of America didn’t have that option obviously with Tiger resting his knee while flipping through yacht catalogs. But they’ve done the next best thing in this week’s PGA Championship - otherwise known as the major without any buildup.

No, the PGA of America’s leadership didn’t do something lame like trying to cobble together a limp Tiger-less top grouping of No. 2 Mickelson, No. 3 Padraig Harrington and No. 4 Vijay Singh. (Like anyone wants to watch Phil throw up all over himself in another major anyway.) Instead, they went completely new school. They tried to get golf a little hip (yes, it’s OK to laugh at the absurdity of that, but that still doesn’t diminish the results).

The most interesting threesome set up for the first two rounds at Oakland Hills is clearly the grouping of Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas. This is your TV threesome, this is your attention grabber. Golf’s finally trying to push its young guns. Sergio isn’t really all that young any more, but he can still project youth. Especially in golf.

For more on this hip hype group and the latest reporting live from the PGA Championship stay tuned to the front of WorldGolf.com for regular stories and full columns every morning and this blog throughout the tournament.

Permalink 5 comments