My brother George and I are always throwing around questions on our beloved addiction. Here’s a few we chatted about recently.
- Is the MASTERS the best major.
George: It is a unique Championship but I’m not sure it’s the best. It’s certainly the most telegenic of all the majors, of all golf tournaments. And it often produces high drama and must see TV on it’s final Sunday. The simultaneous familiarity and exclusivity of the club/Course makes it a fan favorite.
But it’s not the best major. It’s a fabulous track, inspired by The Old Course, and a manicured beauty to behold. And it’s first position in the major lineup is a real advantage.
But it’s not Links Golf, the true game. It’s a course that, by design, excludes most of it’s players from winning. It’s run by a modern oligarchy that is visionary in terms of growing the game and it’s brand but thinks it’s OK to dictate to golf commentators and on course announcers which words can be used to describe it and the action. We could go on.
Jeff: This is like asking which child is your favorite. A tough one for sure. Each major has their own appeal for me and The Masters never ranked on top from my vantage point….until now. The U.S. Open was always my top major as the USGA tried to “identify the best golfer, not humiliate him.” But their missteps of late have tarnished what used to be the most difficult week in pro golf. Now it’s a borderline shit show.
The PGA Championship always boasts the strongest field among the majors but their previous spot as the last major as the season wound down and their lack of a real hook to draw fans in may have hurt their appeal. The move to May this year should help them feed off the Masters buzz and their ability to set up a course that is more fair than punishing has them making the USGA look incompetent.
The Open Championship was atop my major list for a very long time now. Two reasons separate The Open from the rest: It’s links golf, real links golf and my favorite to play and watch. And the fact that I live on the east coast and the Open takes place early in the morning and the Claret Jug gets handed to The Champion Golfer of the Year in the early afternoon, letting me run out for a quick post Open round is the best.
But I have given this much thought and my ranking has changed. All the majors have their own identity but the one advantage the Masters has is the same course each and every year and to me that makes memory after memory after memory on the same holes each and every year. No one can match that no matter how many time they play the Old Course, Pebble Beach or The Black. Augusta National is the ace in the hole here and The Masters wins this one.
- Will Rory get over this MASTERS and win one eventually?
G: Yes. I don’t know when but I’m a believer. He made some progress this year in finding a new method and approach to the mental side of the game. Last year he was whistling in the dark after the third round, maintaining that the pressure was on Reed and not him. It was on him, and it remains there.
Making history ain’t easy even if Tiger Woods makes it look that way.
Rory has a new process. He understands that he needs to practice the process and success flows from that. That’s not the way for everybody, not for Tiger or Koepka, but it’s a way, a good way, for Rory to ha doe the pressure of achieving the career grand slam. He can’t pretend it doesn’t exist- he did that last year and he claimed out. He didn’t achieve it this year but it shouldn’t crush him. If we can believe what he’s said, he’s taken it in stride and will continue to follow the process.
J: I truly think that Rory will join the most exclusive club in golf…and soon. But then I thought Phil Mickelson would have won his U.S. Open by now and the Jets would have a dozen Super Bowl rings by now.(50 years and still waiting Jets.) Rory is one of the most likable players in golf and his recent revealing admissions to his new-found mindfulness has not only made him more human it may just well be the salve to heal those Augusta National wounds. He’s 29 and recently has taken control of his life, that may sound odd but a young Rory let outside forces determine his way in life for a few years. No longer, he’s married, settled, confident with his choices and comfortable with himself.
He knows winning the Grand Slam is important to him but it isn’t the end all. He won’t be defined by it and that’s key to letting go of the pressure and freeing himself up for his best golf and best life.
- Tiger or Jack?
G: The story isn’t quite complete so we’ll go with a provisional answer. It’s Jack and that’s a fact. We judge them both, we judge all golfers by their major tally. 18, 19 and 9. 46 top three finishes for Jack.
Tiger has a line of 15,6 and 4. That 25. Not quite up to Jack’s mark in any way but the story continues.
From a character standpoint, there’s no contest. Who’s the man you want your son or daughter to model themselves after?
There are plenty of arguments to be made, both sides, and I’ll grant that Tiger’s 2000-2001 run is the most dominant golf that’s been played in my lifetime. Yet it doesn’t make him the greatest.
J: We agree here: It’s Jack Nicklaus…The GOAT! At least until Tiger ties his record at 18. It doesn’t matter if Tiger is 50 when he does it, if he does, until he gets to 18 there is no question. Then the debate can start. Another major to get him to 19 and the debate is over. Two points you made are so valid. Tiger was for the most part of his career the most dominant winner ever. He won at a 23% clip and no one, not Jack or anyone ever approached that.
And on the subject of their character…Jack wins hands down. The new Tiger is showing signs that make him more human and less terminator but he has 23 years to make up for. Not going to happen.
- DJ, Koepka, Xander- best career at 40?
G: This is the toughest to answer. DJ has a bunch of wins in the bank and is a definite HOFer when he’s old enough to be eligible. I’ve got to think that having a single major win when his gym rat bud has three is a burr in his saddle. No holes in his game, great work ethic but he seems unable to peak for the majors and, we should remember, he’s got substantial major related scare tissue. Pebble this year will be big, every one has crowned Tiger already, a win there for DJ would increase the angle of his career trajectory.
Koepka is an iceman, or a zombie, or some next step evolutionary being, who doesn’t seem effected by the pressure of majors. Hell, he should have won Sunday. His major win percentage is 60% which is nuts. Can he keep it up? Don’t bet against him. 
X man is a bit of a throwback. Smaller stature but still a big hitter he resembles JT in the explosiveness of his game as well as the close father/son née coach relationship. If the powers that be crawl back some distance from the golf ball in the next few years, I think that would favor the shot making ability of Xander.
I hate picking guys I don‘t take a personal liking to but I’ve got to go with Brooks Koepka.
J: To me it is all about personality here because I think all three will have a house full of hardware at 40. DJ and Brooks are in the Hall of Fame right now and surely will grab a bunch more wins and maybe a few majors the next decade. But for me, it’s Xander and it’s all about personality. He’ll ride that easygoing, grounded attitude to the HOF too.
In my opinion DJ is dragged down by his mate Paulina Gretsky who is the Kim Kardashian of the WAGS… ugh! And Brooks acts like he is carrying chips on his shoulders the size of Redwoods. Lighten up Brooks, it’s one thing to play the bad boy, the loner, the me against them routine. It’s another to be a douche.
Xander has that “open” factor that I gravitate to. Like Spieth, Rickie and Rory and so many of the young players today they are honest and open to the media. They all get it. They give of their time and provide actual answers not programmed BS fed them by their handlers. And the kid has got some game, major golf game at that. Four PGA Tour wins and a second at Augusta last week. He is fun to watch and a great story.
- Best player without a major?
G: Most folks like Rickie for this left handed compliment. I’m a big Rickie fan and I hope he’ll be a major winner someday. I think he will but he might have to spend many more years in the wilderness, sort of a California Sergio expedition.
Jon Rahm gets a lot of nods, as well. Great driver of the ball, aggressive approach, good hands. Temperament seen as a downside but you need fire to be great.
My pick is the Xman, Xander Schaeffle. Humble kid, always learning, surprising everyone in the game with his skills and nerve. Has two big wins in his four in two years on tour. Bigger things coming. He breaks out of this category before either of the others.
J: Another tough one. The top seven ranked golfers in the world all have at least one major win. The next five are still looking for that win in descending order: Bryson, Xander, Rickie, Rahm and Casey.
Prior to the start of this season the answer may have been Bryson who had such a hot streak at the end of 2018. Xander already has two PGA wins this season and sits in second on the FedEx Cup Points list and may be the “hottest golfer without a major.” Rahm, while showing unlimited potential has yet to win over here this season. And while Paul Casey has found his game again after going AWOL for two years he hasn’t been playing at his best for long enough for him to qualify in my eyes.
The winner(?) here is Rickie. And that is based on his longevity. He has spent the longest time among the top ranked golfers in the world and watched most of his contemporaries walk off with major hardware. So he gets the nod here not based on his current game but rather his seniority. He’s 30 years old and previously that would be entering the prime of his golfing years. But that was before Spieth and JT and all the youngsters started playing like veterans when they were golfing infants.
Rickie has been in the mix and in our faces for so long he has to be considered the best player without any major wins.
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