by tony dear
Y
outh, it seems, is no longer wasted on the young, at least where the group of golf’s bright young things are concerned. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Sam Burns and, to a lesser degree, perhaps Daniel Berger and the strangely difficult to categorize Jordan Spieth all appear to be living their best life right now. And it is fun to watch. The precise reason for the trend isn’t clear, but a couple of obvious and wellknown factors are evidently at play. U.S. collegiate golf, which allows talented young players to compete against each other regularly on great courses, has produced world-class players going all the way back to the first Inter-Collegiate Golf Championship in 1897, and especially since the NCAA became involved in 1939. Add to that the Tiger Woods influence which posits that experience can be overrated and if you’re good enough you’re old enough, and the result is a steady stream of golfers ready to take on the world shortly after graduating from their chosen school. Woods won three U.S. Junior Amateur titles before entering Stanford, two U.S. Amateur trophies while he was there and one shortly after leaving. He won his first PGA Tour event a few months later, a second a couple of weeks after that, a third at the start of 1997 and, in April of that year – seven months after turning professional - his first of five green jackets and 15 majors. Woods was an historical talent of course, but watching him 10
succeed so young was an inspiration to so many who came after him and who realized they didn’t require a decade’s worth of professional experience to win the game’s most prestigious tournaments. The Woods effect has snowballed in recent years, meaning the world’s top10 is now packed with players under 30 years of age (eight at the time of writing, including Scheffler, who rose to No. 1 after four early-season wins capped by his rout at The Masters). Morikawa and
GOLF OKL AHOMA • 2022 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Scottie Scheffler Cantlay are two of the most impressive, and a pair we expect to give Schefffler a run for his money at Southern Hills. By the end of last season, Morikawa, like Scheffler just 25, had already won two majors, a World Golf Championship and three other big-time tournaments. A 2019 graduate of California-Berkeley, he has a poise, nerve and quiet assurance very few people of his age
Illustration by Chris Swafford
Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay are three of the least demonstrative players among golf's current crop of young stars. But they could be ideally suited to Southern Hills.
Photos courtesy of PGA of America
the field 2022 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP • MAY 16-22
The quietest young guns
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