– Saturday 15 July 1922. More than a century ago. On that distant day, the third and fourth rounds of the 26th edition of the US Open were played at Skokie Country Club (Glencoe, Illinois). It was still the time when this tournament, like the Open, was played over just two days, with two rounds of 36 holes each day. After the third round, five golfers were in contention for the victory in the final 18 holes of the afternoon…
Two of them were the co-leaders after 54 holes: Bill Mehlhorn, born in 1898 in Elgin, Illinois, a few miles west of Skokie Country Club; and Bobby Jones, the young amateur from Atlanta whose game and charisma were causing a sensation, who was only twenty years old and had already come close the previous year, at 19, to winning the US Open. Just one stroke behind them would start a veteran Scottish player, John Black, born in Troon in 1879. Additionally, there was a great champion like Walter Hagen, who was already a well-established figure at that time, having won the Open (1922) at Royal St. George’s a few weeks earlier, and was three strokes behind the co-leaders. Not to forget another young contender, four strokes behind the co-leaders, Eugenio Saraceni, born in New York in 1902, a few days before Jones, and the son of Sicilian immigrants, much better known today and then by his stage name, Gene Sarazen.
Sarazen would clinch the victory, finishing with a birdie on the 18th and delivering the best score in history up to that point in a major’s fourth round, a stunning 68. Bobby Jones, after making a bogey on the 17th, finished just one stroke behind, in second place.
– They didn’t know it, but that hot summer afternoon an eternal record was set, one of those that cannot be broken, likely irrelevant at the time, but which has gained prestige over the years, as Gene Sarazen, born in February 1902, became the first major winner born in the 20th century, in his century. Bobby Jones, by the way, would be the second to achieve it, with his victory in the next edition of the US Open, in 1923.
Since that Saturday, 15 July 1922, 102 years, eight months, and a handful of days have passed, and we are still waiting for the first player born in the 21st century to win a major and inscribe their name alongside Sarazen’s, waiting for a third to join this exclusive club in a century, and so on until the end of days (or golf, which seems much more complicated), century after century.
– Indeed, no player born from 1 January 2001, the start of the 21st century, has yet been able to win a major. Also, for the record, no one born in the year 2000, nor in 1999, nor in 1998 (Morikawa, born in 1997, is the benchmark to beat right now) has done so.
– Could it happen this coming week, in the 89th edition of the Masters? It could, of course. But the 21st century doesn’t have that many representatives at Augusta National, to be honest. Specifically, only nine born from 2001 are participating in this Masters, and none, at first glance, is an undisputed favourite, although there are some very interesting names. For example, Tom Kim (born in June 2002), who will play the Masters for the third time this coming week and already boasts a 16th place in 2023 and a 30th place in 2024.
There are also the Hojgaard brothers, the Danish twins born in March 2001. Nicolai is playing the Masters for the second time and finished in a notable 16th position last year. Rasmus is making his debut at the Georgia colossus. Additionally, we have the Americans Akshai Bhatia (January 2002) and Nick Dunlap (December 2003), who are not exactly minor names. And, of course, four amateurs born in this century, among whom stands out the Spaniard Josele Ballester (August 2003), winner of the US Amateur in 2024 (the other three young amateurs are Justin Hastings, Noah Kent, and Hiroshi Tai).
– Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones were, without a doubt, true prodigies of precocity, perhaps the first great successors, especially Sarazen, of the great legend, Young Tom Morris, who won the first of his four Opens at 17. In fact, in the history of men’s golf, we only find four players who won their first major before turning 21: the aforementioned Young Tom Morris and Sarazen, as well as John McDermott, who won the US Open in 1911 before turning twenty, and Francis Ouimet, who won the US Open in 1913 just after turning twenty.
To bring it to a more recent perspective: Tiger won his first major, the Masters in 1997, at 21; Jordan Spieth had also turned 21 when he donned the green jacket in 2015; and Rory won his first major, the US Open in 2011, at 22. As you can see, precocity among major winners has been a truly scarce value throughout the history of golf, regardless of the era, so it’s not necessary to demand too much from the young men of the 21st century…
– It is also a very intriguing (and peculiar) exercise to delve into the birth years of the 233 players who have so far managed to win at least one major. It’s not that complicated to create a curious map of the ‘vintages’. Which year has produced the most major winners and victories? For example, Sarazen and Jones, both born in 1902, each contribute seven victories, which must be added to the one achieved by Billy Burke, also born in 1902, a year that thus ends with a balance of three winners and fifteen victories in total. Not bad at all, but it’s not the best harvest in history…
– The year in which the most major winners were born and which, in addition, has the highest number of victories to date, is 1957. That year, Nick Faldo (six majors in his record), Seve Ballesteros (5), Nick Price (3), Payne Stewart (3), Bernhard Langer (2), Mark O’Meara (2), Jeff Sluman (1), and Wayne Grady (1) were born. For a total of eight major winners and 23 victories.
– 1912 also fares well. That year, no less than Ben Hogan (9), Sam Snead (7), Byron Nelson (5), and Jim Turnesa (1) were born, for a total of four winners and 22 victories.
– The vintage of 1993 stands out, among other things because it is still active. Born in that year, at least six players have already won a major: Jordan Spieth (3), Justin Thomas (2), Bryson DeChambeau (2), Xander Schauffele (2), Cameron Smith (1), and Wyndham Clark (1). We’ll have to see if more join and if, over time, they are capable of threatening the 23 victories of 1957… For now, they have eleven, which is not bad at all.
– A twist of fate: in 1935, only one major winner was born, but it was Gary Player, with his nine victories. In 1940, the same thing happened: only one major winner, but it was Jack Nicklaus, with his 18 victories as a sublime contribution. And in 1975, the same, only one winner, Tiger Woods, with his fifteen titles.
– These are the years that have produced ten or more major victories and their winners:
1870. Harry Vardon (7) and James Braid (5), for a total of two winners and twelve victories.
1892. Walter Hagen (11) and Cyrill Walker (1), for a total of two winners and twelve victories.
1902. Bobby Jones (7), Gene Sarazen (7), and Billy Burke (1), for a total of three winners and fifteen victories.
1912. Ben Hogan (9), Sam Snead (7), Byron Nelson (5), and Jim Turnesa (1), for a total of four winners and 22 victories.
1929. Arnold Palmer (7), Peter Thomson (5), Dow Finsterwald (1), Don January (1), and Bob Goalby (1), for a total of five winners and fifteen victories.
1940. Jack Nicklaus (18).
1957. Nick Faldo (6), Seve Ballesteros (5), Nick Price (3), Payne Stewart (3), Bernhard Langer (2), Mark O’Meara (2), Jeff Sluman (1), and Wayne Grady (1), for a total of eight winners and 23 victories, the best harvest in history to date, both in the number of major winners and in the total sum of their victories.
1969. Ernie Els (4), Retief Goosen (2), Ángel Cabrera (2), Paul Lawrie (1), Michael Campbell (1), and Shaun Micheel (1), for a total of six winners and eleven victories.
1975. Tiger Woods (15).
1993. Jordan Spieth (3), Justin Thomas (2), Bryson DeChambeau (2), Xander Schauffele (2), Cameron Smith (1), and Wyndham Clark (1), for a total still in progress of six winners and eleven victories.
