The British Open

[ATL96Steeler]

I heard that the reason that Augusta National favors a draw is because that was the ball flight Bobby Jones used and he designed the course to suit his game.
I think the U.S. Open might be the easiest. There are a hell of a lot of scrubs who have won the U.S. Open and never were heard of again. When a tournament is set up so that par is the winning score that puts a whole lot of guys in contention since they can all shoot that.
As for Augusta, it has the smallest field and, as you said, you can learn the course because its the same one every year.

I can believe it...a lot of Nicklaus courses I've played favored a fade.

I didn't do a hard count, but just scanning the 1 major win grouping...it's looks like it's pretty close between the USO and British to have the most 1 major winners which makes since because they've been played more often. One thing that does jump out is just how long Jack's career was...'62 to '86 and only 5 have the career slam...pretty amazing as young as he his, Rory has a chance to be the 6th...I'm thinking that window has closed for Phil.

 

[Montalban]

I can believe it...a lot of Nicklaus courses I've played favored a fade.

I didn't do a hard count, but just scanning the 1 major win grouping...it's looks like it's pretty close between the USO and British to have the most 1 major winners which makes since because they've been played more often. One thing that does jump out is just how long Jack's career was...'62 to '86 and only 5 have the career slam...pretty amazing as young as he his, Rory has a chance to be the 6th...I'm thinking that window has closed for Phil.

If Koepka can control himself he could get there but I think McElroy might be to jittery to win a Masters. He wants it too much and we saw what happens last week when he wants something too much.
I think the hierarchy goes like this:
win a tournament
win multiple tournaments
win multiple tournaments in a season
win a Major
win multiple Majors
win all four Majors in a career
win all 4 Majors in a year

 

[ATL96Steeler]

If Koepka can control himself he could get there but I think McElroy might be to jittery to win a Masters. He wants it too much and we saw what happens last week when he wants something too much.
I think the hierarchy goes like this:
win a tournament
win multiple tournaments
win multiple tournaments in a season
win a Major
win multiple Majors
win all four Majors in a career
win all 4 Majors in a year

Yep...for him to have 4 majors this quickly is pretty incredible. Now we'll have to see how he handles being a star golfer with $200 million in endorsement deals like Rory and Spieth have done.

Koepka has to learn that regardless of whether he's playing with a slow player or not he has to stay patient. Clearly he was frustrated playing with a much slower JB Holmes who was also struggling with his game.

 

[Montalban]

Yep...for him to have 4 majors this quickly is pretty incredible. Now we'll have to see how he handles being a star golfer with $200 million in endorsement deals like Rory and Spieth have done.

Koepka has to learn that regardless of whether he's playing with a slow player or not he has to stay patient. Clearly he was frustrated playing with a much slower JB Holmes who was also struggling with his game.

I agree. Watching Koepka just "hit and walk" after bogeying the second hole was really discouraging. He needs to control his emotions.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

JB has cashed over $25 mil in career earnings so he should be okay, but I think the Sunday major pressure, high wind on Sunday and the high ball flight we not a good combination.

Must be nice to not give a shit about an extra $500K or so.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Must be nice to not give a shit about an extra $500K or so.

This ^^^^^^!!!!!

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Must be nice to not give a shit about an extra $500K or so.

As golfers, I'm sure it just got to a point where he wanted it to be over! We've all been there.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Yep...for him to have 4 majors this quickly is pretty incredible. Now we'll have to see how he handles being a star golfer with $200 million in endorsement deals like Rory and Spieth have done.

Koepka has to learn that regardless of whether he's playing with a slow player or not he has to stay patient. Clearly he was frustrated playing with a much slower JB Holmes who was also struggling with his game.

The last test for Koepka has yet to happen. We have to see how he handles it when the wins stop coming.
He has won 4 majors, so to me he owes us nothing and is playing with house money.

But the golf media loves to paint it as something broken when you stop winning.

Look at what they wrote about Jordon last week. "nearly 2 years" ...give me a break.

"What once seemed so simple isn't anymore. The former World No. 1, who won so quickly and so frequently early in his career, hasn't claimed a victory in nearly two years, not since a three-shot win in the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. That one, of course, is famous for his bogey from the practice range near the equipment trailers on the 13th hole of the final round."


And for God sakes, I love Ricky Fowler but will somebody step up and get on him for not winning a major yet.
Jordon is the biggest loser on the planet for winning 4 majors with a 2 year dry spell but Ricky can win nothing
and remain the media darling.

And we know why Ricky is protected. The order has come down from the PGA tour that Ricky is untouchable because
he is the gateway to the 8-18 year old demographic. They are the future for the PGA Tour ratings & revenue.



.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

The last test for Koepka has yet to happen. We have to see how he handles it when the wins stop coming.
He has won 4 majors, so to me he owes us nothing and is playing with house money.

But the golf media loves to paint it as something broken when you stop winning.

Look at what they wrote about Jordon last week. "nearly 2 years" ...give me a break.

"What once seemed so simple isn't anymore. The former World No. 1, who won so quickly and so frequently early in his career, hasn't claimed a victory in nearly two years, not since a three-shot win in the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. That one, of course, is famous for his bogey from the practice range near the equipment trailers on the 13th hole of the final round."


And for God sakes, I love Ricky Fowler but will somebody step up and get on him for not winning a major yet.
Jordon is the biggest loser on the planet for winning 4 majors with a 2 year dry spell but Ricky can win nothing
and remain the media darling.

And we know why Ricky is protected. The order has come down from the PGA tour that Ricky is untouchable because
he is the gateway to the 8-18 year old demographic. They are the future for the PGA Tour ratings & revenue.



.

I'm not thinking any of them owe us anything, but Koepka has a chance to be among the greats even moreso than he already his, but that's on him. By saying he only practices for majors tells me that he wants that acclaim on some level.

Spieth...I think when you come on to the scene like he did, when he did, the golf media was looking for that next superstar and he checked off most all of the boxes. IMO he never had the game to sustain that level of success, but in the golf media, what goes up, is followed going down.

Fowler...I think people equate major win success as the ultimate in golf and I'm sure Fowler does too, but somehow he's become a media darling without it. So my question is, what has he really done (on the golf course aside from the Players win) to warrant somebody getting on him because he hasn't closed the deal in a major?

 

[R.J. MacReady]

I'm not thinking any of them owe us anything, but Koepka has a chance to be among the greats even moreso than he already his, but that's on him. By saying he only practices for majors tells me that he wants that acclaim on some level.

Spieth...I think when you come on to the scene like he did, when he did, the golf media was looking for that next superstar and he checked off most all of the boxes. IMO he never had the game to sustain that level of success, but in the golf media, what goes up, is followed going down.

Fowler...I think people equate major win success as the ultimate in golf and I'm sure Fowler does too, but somehow he's become a media darling without it. So my question is, what has he really done (on the golf course aside from the Players win) to warrant somebody getting on him because he hasn't closed the deal in a major?

The answer is in your own unanswered question.

"but somehow he's become a media darling without it."

If you have been media darling for years for no reason, then maybe after so many years of not winning is more than enough of a reason for the honeymoon to be over.


.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

The answer is in your own unanswered question.

"but somehow he's become a media darling without it."

If you have been media darling for years for no reason, then maybe after so many years of not winning is more than enough of a reason for the honeymoon to be over.


.

That's just it...if you become a media darling without really doing much on the golf course, why should you stop being a media darling because of your lack of major win success when it was never based on that?

We're saying media darling, but a better term may be corporate sponsor darling. The golf media brings up the fact that Fowler doesn't have a major win, but when Fowler rakes in more off the course than several active players that have a major win and in some cases multiple major wins, that's proof that corporate sponsors don't really care about that.

Take Dustin Johnson for instance...he's not the most engaging personality, has had some off the course issues, the companies that want to line up with him are mostly golf related whereas Fowler doesn't have those limitations.