Major Meltdown & Golf’s Global Warming

Another year of major championship golf is complete and Tiger Woods is no closer to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 professional major titles. Tiger last won a major in June of 2008 when he defeated Rocco Mediate in an 18 hole playoff at the U.S. Open.
Jack’s once impregnable record looked certain to be eclipsed by Woods. Tiger’s assault on reaching 19 majors has been halted quicker than his vehicle was stopped by a fire hydrant on an early morning drive last November. Will Tiger ever return to his once dominant position “Best Golfer of the Universe”? Or has Tiger been given a dose of Swedish “Kryptonite”?
Tiger has twice gone 10 major tournaments in succession without a victory. The interesting part is what happened after that dry spell. Tiger would win 5 of 6 majors from the USPGA in 1999 through the 2001 Masters. After the second dry spell Tiger would win 4 of 8 majors from the 2005 Masters through the 2006 USPGA.
Where’s Lefty? Where did Phil Mickelson go after his win at Augusta? Yes Phil was third at the U.S Open, but his performance during the Open Championship and the USPGA was not up to his usual standard. Tied for 48th at The Open Championship and 12th place at the USPGA is not nearly good enough for a player seemingly destined to become #1 in the world.
Another strange happening this week was the tirade by Sergio Garcia. Sergio lost the plot in one of the 1000 plus bunkers at Whistling Straights. Sergio took more swings at the bunker than a five year old child trying to knock down a piñata blindfolded. Tim Finchem can punish Sergio by having him rake all 1000 bunkers by hand before returning to the PGA Tour. See you at Augusta amigo.
All negative this week you are saying? Time to change direction.
Things are heating up on the “World” stage of golf. Major winners from all corners of the globe have created an interesting time to be a golf fan. Many nations now have someone to cheer for at every tournament.
Golf’s presence on the world sporting stage will be enhanced with golf’s inclusion the 2016 Olympic Games. Northern Ireland, South Africa, Germany, Argentina and South Korea all have a major champion within their borders during the past two years.
The list of countries with high finishes at the Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the USPGA is impressive. USA, England, South Korea, Northern Ireland, France, Columbia, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, Australia and China all had players crack to the top ten.
A recent look at the world rankings furthers this point. Fourteen different countries are represented in the top 40 in the world rankings as of August 8th. Golf truly has become a global game.
Gord McGarva has been playing golf for over 31 years and could not believe what happened at the conclusion of the USPGA this past Sunday. More about that next week.