The Year in Golf Young Guns Stake Their Claim

YOUNG GUNS OF 2020:

SEASON WRAP UP

Matthew Wolff tees off on the sixth hole during the third round at the 2020 U.S. Open

Bryson DeChambeau holds the trophy after his six stroke victory at the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

PHOTO: DARREN CARROLL/USGA

By Tom LaMarre

With Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson starting to fade, several of California’s young guns stepped up in the first two majors of 2020 that were postponed because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Bryson DeChambeau, 27, of Clovis in California’s San Joaquin Valley, earned his first major title when he ran away with the 120th U.S. Open by six strokes over Matthew Wolff, 21, of Agoura Hills at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Xander Schauffele, 26, of La Jolla and San Diego State gave California another player near the top of the leaderboard by finishing alone in fifth place.

In addition, DeChambeau is revolutionizing the game with his 350-yard-plus drives after putting on close to 50 pounds of muscle in the last few years.

“I think I’m definitely changing the way people think about the game,” said DeChambeau, who claimed his seventh victory on the PGA Tour since 2017 by winning the U.S. Open. “I think the next generation that’s coming up into golf, hopefully, will see this and go, ‘Hey, I can do that too.’

“I hope that inspires people to say, ‘Hey, look, maybe there is a different way to do it.’ Not everybody has to do it my way.”

In addition, Collin Morikawa, 23, of La Canada Flintridge and Cal claimed his first title in the Grand Slam events by winning the PGA Championship by two strokes at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

“I’m on cloud nine, I don’t know about you guys, but yeah, I’ve believed in myself since day one,” said Morikawa, who was playing in only his second major and claimed his third PGA Tour title since leaving Cal in mid-2019.

Xander Schauffele tees off on the second hole during the first round at the 2020 U.S. Open

“Any time you’re in the conversation of the greats, Jack, Rory (McIlroy), Tiger, no matter who it is, if you’re in that conversation, you’re doing something well. It doesn’t stop here. I’ve got a very good taste of what this is like, what a major championship is like.”

The PGA Tour posted on its Twitter page: “The California kid is the new star in the game of golf!” @Collin_Morikawa is the winner of the 2020 PGA Championship.”

DeChambeau and Wolff finished in a tie for fourth in the PGA, while Schauffele and Cameron Champ, 25, of Sacramento tied for 10th.

DeChambeau, Morikawa and Schauffele have taken up residence in the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings along with Patrick Cantlay, 28, of Los Alamitos and UCLA.

Shauffele has four victories on the PGA Tour in the last three years, including the 2017 Tour Championship, the WGC-HSBC Champions and the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions. He has finished second six times since that last victory and should break through again soon.

Cantlay outplayed second-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain and third-ranked Justin Thomas in the final round to claim his third PGA Tour victory the Zozo Championship at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks in October.

In addition, Cantlay won the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament in 2019, also finishing in the top 10 of two majors in 2019 and tying for 21st in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Wolff is the leader of the really young guys, having won the 2019 3M Open after leaving Oklahoma State, where he earned the 2019 Haskins Award as the best player in NCAA Division I golf. He is knocking on the door of the top 10 in the world rankings.

There are others, including Champ, who won the 2018 Sanderson Farms and the 2019 Safeway Open; Max Homa, 29, of Valencia and Cal, who captured the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship; Aaron Wise, 24, of Lake Elsinore, who won the 2016 NCAA Division I Individual title playing for Oregon and the 2018 Byron Nelson Invitational on the PGA Tour; Beau Hossler,

Rose Zhang with the trophy after winning the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

25, of Rancho Santa Margarita, who lost a playoff to Ian Poulter of England in the 2018 Houston Open; Patrick Rodgers, 28, of Stanford, who won on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2015 and lost in a playoff to Charles Howell III in 2018 RSM Classic, and Maverick McNealy, 24, of Portola Valley who tied the Stanford record of 11 victories set by Woods and tied by Rodgers, and last season posted three top-10 results including a tie for fifth near home at Pebble Beach.

In addition, John Catlin, 29, of Sacramento captured the Estrella Damm Andalucia Masters and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open on the European Tour in 2000 after winning seven times in Asia earlier in his career.

On the LPGA Tour, Danielle Kang, 27, of Westlake Village and Pepperdine moved into the top five of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings by winning the LPGA Drive On Championship and the Marathon Classic in August.

Kang has five LPGA victories in the last four seasons. “I mean, I won two weeks in a row, so that’s good,” said Kang, who captured the first two LPGA Tour events following the shutdown caused by the pandemic. “I’m really proud of all the work that I did during the off time, all the work that I did with Butch (Harmon) and all the workouts that I put in. “I really utilized that time, and I’m proud to come out during this quarantine and be able to execute my game the way I wanted to. That’s what I’m most proud of.”

Other winners on the LPGA Tour this year included Sophia Popov, 28, of Germany and USC in the AIG Women’s Open at Troon Golf Club in Scotland, and last year Bronte Law, 25, of England and UCLA won the Pure Silk Championship and lost in a playoff to Sei Young-Kim of South Korea in the LPGA Mediheal Championship.

In the amateur ranks, Rose Zhang, 17, of Irvine defeated defending champion Gabriela Ruffels, 20, of Australia and USC with a par on the second playoff hole to claim the 120th United States Women’s Amateur Championship in August at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

Zhang, who has committed to Stanford, also won the 2020 Rolex Girls Junior Championship at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and was named winner of the 2020 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the best woman amateur golfer in the world. A year earlier, Zhang was selected 2019 Rolex Junior Player of the Year by the American Junior Golf Association.

Mickelson turned 50 this year and showed this year he still has it, winning the Charles Schwab Series at Ozark National and the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, joining Arnold Palmer, Bruce Fleisher and Jim Furyk as the only players to win their first two starts on the PGA Tour Champions.

Lefty still plays on the PGA Tour, too, and as a tease for the 2021 season in California, he will make perhaps his final legitimate bid to complete the Career Grand Slam in the 121st U.S. Open on June 17-20 near his home in San Diego at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, where he has won three times as a pro.