The final major of the year starts tomorrow. The one that gets too little respect, in contrast to the first one, which gets too much. Even I think that the golf season is essentially over after the British Open, but that’s mainly because I’m starting to get amped for the college football season.
The question, as usual, is who is likely to win. For the past three years, predictions have been pointless. A different player has won each of the last 12 majors*. The last six have been won by a first-time major winner. Given the parity that exists in men’s golf today, the answer to the question, Who is the best player to have never won a major, is, Everybody.
At the top right now, we have Luke Donald, a consistent player, but not an intimidator, Lee Westwood, who always finds a means of getting in his own way, Adam Scott, who might finally be coming into his own, and Jason Day, who keeps coming close so often that he has to have learned how to break through.
Personally, I would like to see Westwood take the trophy. I’m a sucker for the comeback story. Here is a guy who was the Next Big Thing for a few years and whose game just collapsed. He worked his way back with a swing that is the antithesis of the cookie-cutter swings on the Tour today. It looks homegrown (though it’s not) in the way he just seems to rear back and whack it. Through all his disappointments in recent majors, he has never complained or made excuses. That means a lot to me, too.
The Championship will be played on the Atlanta Athletic Club course, the site of two memorable major wins. The first one was when Jerry Pate won the U.S. Open there in 1976. He came to the 72nd hole with a slim lead and a 5-iron to a pin next to water. Commentators were discussing whether he should go for it or lay up. I thought to myself watching on TV, “If he wants to be a champion, he’ll hit the 5.” He did, and won by two over Al Geiberger and Tom Weiskopf.
The next one was the PGA in 2001, when David Toms came down the same fairway and had the same dilemma. His tee shot was farther from the green than Pate’s was and I was thinking. “If he doesn’t lay up, he’ll throw it away.” He chose to lay up, then pitched over the water to eight feet and sank the putt to beat Phil Mickelson by a shot.
I should be a Tour caddy.
The course will be 254 yards longer this week than in 2001, with all but 33 of the additional yards being added to the first four and last four holes. The 6th hole has a pond fronting the green that is new. It will reign in long hitters when the hole plays as a 425-yard par 4, and be a risk element when the hole plays at 296 yards.
Jerry Pate hit his 5-iron on an 18th hole hole that measured 460 yards. David Toms’s 18th was 30 yards longer at 490. This weeks it will be 507 yards long, with more trouble around the green than before. If you play a drinking game where you have to down a shot every time someone goes for the 18th green in two, you’ll finish the day stone sober.
The weather forecast is for low 90s heat and near-60% humidity. There will be a lot soaked shirts by the third hole.
This one could be fun. I’ll be watching. When it’s over I’ll be heading to Pre-Snap Read for the last three weeks before the college football season starts. FedEx Cup? Are you kidding?
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*In order, staring with the most current winner: Clarke, McIlroy, Schwartzel, Kaymer, Oosthuizen, McDowell, Mickelson, Yang, Cink, Glover, Cabrera, Harrington. Note: only three Americans in the bunch.