OUT OF BOUNDS
By Gary Van Sickle
Wouldn’t it be a miracle if this happens in 2020?
I
’m not going to make predictions about golf in 2020. (Hold the applause, please.) Those things have an annoying habit of not coming true. Instead, here are things I’d like to see happen in 2020 to make things interesting.
The Genius Bar This is last call for a miracle. Phil Mickelson gets a chance to achieve karmic justice and finally land his great white whale — the U.S. Open — when it returns to Winged Foot. You know what happened there in 2006. Mickelson had the Open in his back pocket. Then he hit driver off the 18th tee into the left trees and tried a heroic recovery shot through the trees that ended in a disastrous double bogey and Geoff Ogilvy winning. Mickelson famously concluded, “I am such an idiot,” and nobody argued. Mickelson turns 50 in June and still needs an Open to complete the career Grand Slam. The upside: He won at Pebble Beach last year at 48. The downside: After the Masters, he didn’t have a top-50 finish. The stats say his vaunted short game disappeared. He ranked 180th in scrambling, 139th in strokes gained putting and 183rd in putting from 8 feet. That’s not the Lefty we used to know. That said, Mickelson plays his best in majors when we have no expectations for him. Well, they’ve never been lower. Would I bet a dime on him to contend at Winged Foot? No. Would I like to see it? Yes, it would be like an inane Hollywood script, only real. If he pulled it off, he would be the opposite of an idiot.
Two-time two-timer Tiger Woods turned 44 in December right after tying Sam Snead’s all44 | AZ GOLF Insider | PREVIEW 2020
time victory mark of 82 in Japan and then looking like the best player on either team at the Presidents Cup. Maybe you’ve got Tiger Fatigue but some of us would enjoy seeing history made, like Woods become the first to win back-to-back Masters twice. Then, it would be delightful to watch the chaos if he won the year’s second major, too — the PGA Championship at Harding Park, where Woods captured
moment after golf had to scramble hard to stay in the Games. I’d love to have open qualifying, not world rankings, determine this year’s U.S. Olympic golf team so amateurs would have a chance, however slim, at a medal.
Skort and sweet The inaugural Augusta Women’s Amateur was so compelling, I want to see the ladies play more than just the final 18 holes at Augusta National Golf Club. Let these amateurs tee it up for all 54 holes at Bobby Jones’ storied track. They’re good enough as Jennifer Kupcho showed with her stellar 67. And how about starting any playoff at Amen Corner (the 11th, 12th and 13th holes)? America and I want more golf at our favorite holes.
Chip shots
a World Golf Championship event. No biggie going to Winged Foot: Woods would be hunting a Grand Slam AND be within one of tying Jack Nicklaus and his record of 18 majors. The TV networks would die for that. I’m sure we wouldn’t mind, either.
Golden moment The Olympics will take place in Tokyo this summer and chances are good that Woods will be on that U.S. team. But even if he’s not, expect these games to get a lot more attention than they did the first time around in Brazil two years ago. Rory McIlroy, who skipped the Rio Games, has committed to play, as has the defending gold medalist Justin Rose. It’s already shaping up to be a golden
Let’s see Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy take their budding rivalry into the majors over the next decade (since Woods can’t last forever … or can he?). Koepka scored a major and a Rory beatdown in Memphis; McIlroy won The Players and knocked off Brooks to win the FedEx Cup and Player of the Year. Whose serve next, gents? … Here’s hoping Matthew Wolff, the rookie from Oklahoma State with the unique golf swing, wins again. I’d enjoy hearing the same swing experts who dismissed Jim Furyk’s unusual arc explain why Wolff’s action won’t work while he keeps beating guys. … I’m hoping Patrick Reed makes the Ryder Cup team because, after the near-debacle in the Presidents Cup, I can’t get enough of those awkward moments he keeps creating. n
Gary Van Sickle writes about golf from his office in Pittsburgh. Read his weekly columns on morningread.com. www.azgolf.org
