When we talk about a guy like Rory McIlroy, who is well positioned today to compete for a Major, it’s hard to believe that he hasn’t won one in almost nine years, since that PGA in 2014, when it was still played in August.
If you look closely at Tiger‘s career, it’s almost surprising that he was able to win fourteen Majors in twelve years, as well as needing eleven more years to score the fifteenth. Not even his countless physical problems could convincingly explain such an absurdity.
That a guy like Dustin Johnson only has two majors is against all logic. When he won the 2020 Masters it seemed like he wasn’t going to stop, that he had definitely found the way, but four months after sweeping Augusta (November 2020), he missed the cut in the same place (April 2021). Wow. He also has an opportunity this weekend in Los Angeles.
It also doesn’t seem reasonable in any way that Tom Watson was not able to win the PGA, the only Major he needed to conquer to enter the Grand Slam boys club. In 1978, in his prime, disputing and lifting the then unofficial status of World Number One from Nicklaus himself, he went out to play the last round of the PGA as a clear leader, with a five-stroke lead over his immediate pursuer… And he ended up losing it in a three-way playoff against John Mahaffey, who would only win that major in his career. Even in 2000, at the age of 51, Watson finished in ninth place in a PGA that Tiger took… It wasn’t going to be for him.
It’s a cruel joke that Phil Mickelson, winner of six majors, couldn’t find a way to sneak in as World Number One, even for a single week. Like that, by chance, even if it was pure coincidence…
In the same way, it’s almost grotesque that Colin Montgomerie, an efficient player if there ever was one, didn’t sing victory in any major, only added ten top ten in 75 participations, and that five of those top ten were second places…
For Patrick Cantlay, who some of us considered the top favourite this week, it’s getting tough. And what about Thomas? What the hell is wrong with Thomas?
If you look closely, it doesn’t even make much sense that Seve won ‘only’ five Majors. Everyone, from Palmer to Nicklaus, through Watson, simply knew that, in his prime, he was the best.
So, Jon, relax. This affair with the Majors is as cumbersome as any. A scandal of absurdity. Relax and give yourself two last rounds of solid golf in this US Open. Enjoy and savour every day your two victories in that US Open at Torrey Pines and in the last Masters. Charge against the wall that touches, as you always do. This, the charging, well looked at, is the exciting part.
