Arnold Palmer's Guide to Majors 2014 (UK Edition)

Arnold Palmer’s Guide to the 2014

chasing glory after second masters win

mickelson relishes muirfield triumph

Arnold Palmer

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the king gives his ruling

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ja s o n du fn e r

Laid-back and now the PGA Champion

j ust i n ro se

English star conquers Merion

2014 Masters Review / Pinehurst, Hoylake & Valhalla / Bobby Jones / Majors Greatest Shots

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ENJOY TWO LONG DRIVES

Hertz celebrates the anniversary of a thirty-year relationship with Arnold Palmer, proudly embracing our role as an Associate Sponsor of the 2014 Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard, and Exclusive Car Rental Partner of Kingdom Magazine and the Kingdom Cup.

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Arnold Palmer foreword

I B:11.12”

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T:10.87”

t’s my great pleasure to welcome golf fans all over the world to the fourth annual edition of Arnold Palmer’s Guide to the Majors. This publication was born out of my love and affection for the game’s four Major championships, not to mention my long association with them, and I hope it will prove to be as enjoyable and informative a read as the three previous editions.

Back in 1960, I bounced an idea off my sportswriter friend Bob Drum of a modern Grand Slam comprising the U.S. and British Opens, the Masters and the PGA Championship.

Given that the amateur championships of the United States and British Isles were no longer regarded as Majors, it seemed to me that the game at the highest level needed to have four peak moments during the season that stood out by comparison with all other tournaments. Drum agreed and with the push he gave it, the modern Grand Slam was born.

To have the world’s best players teeing it up together at least four times a year is a remarkable achievement, considering the diverse commitments and numerous commercial pressures that continually eat into their time.

Yet it is at these four championships that the media spotlight glares most brightly and that weaknesses and strengths in a player’s game are most clearly illuminated.

Even though the United States remains the epicenter of tournament golf, and the last three Major winners have all been Americans, it is an indisputable fact that the game is now realizing its global potential.

Golf’s imminent return to the Olympics, at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, is bound to generate interest within countries previously indifferent to the sport, and it’s surely only a matter of time before more great champions emerge from the Far East and South America, possibly even from northern Africa and eastern Europe.

Turning to more short-term matters, Bubba Watson’s decisive victory at the Masters has set up the rest of the 2014 Majors to a tee. Even though Tiger Woods has recently been sidelined after back surgery, I expect the competition at Pinehurst, Hoylake and Valhalla to be as fierce as ever.

With players of the quality of Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Jason Day and young Jordan Spieth on the prowl, along with Bubba and our other reigning champions, Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson and Jason Dufner, how could it not be?

But given the strength of the support cast these days, these supremely gifted players cannot possibly expect to have things their own way. Far from it. All three of these courses demand mental discipline, strategic thinking and skilful shotmaking, and lapses in concentration will be punished by any number of hungry and ambitious professionals.

These days, my golfing activities mostly involve hitting balls rather than playing in tournaments. However, my passion for the Majors remains undimmed and I hope some of this passion rubs off on you, our readers. Accordingly, I’d like to wish golf fans everywhere a wonderful time watching and following the Majors of 2014.

Yours in Golf,

Arnold Palmer 009 the majors 2014

Contents Arnold Palmer Interview

The King looks forward to an exciting summer of Major-championship golf

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Majors Scenesetter

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Bubba Watson

How golf’s landscape has been reconfigured by the emergence of Jordan Spieth

Fot the second time in three years, the swashbuckling left-hander prevails at Augusta

2014 Masters Review

Bill Elliott reflects on a tournament that delivered many lasting memories

Masters 80th Anniversary

It was back in 1934 that Bobby Jones unveiled the world’s most glamorous tournament

Review of the 2013 Majors

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Our writers recall the events of last summer at Merion, Muirfield and Oak Hill

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Justin Rose

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Phil Mickelson

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A former child prodigy came gloriously of age last June on the outskirts of Philadelphia

One of the greatest final rounds of modern times secured the Claret Jug for Lefty

Jason Dufner

‘Laid back’ doesn’t begin to describe the dude with the Wanamaker Trophy on his mantlepiece

Greatest Shots Part 3

The last decade of the 20th century was a showcase for inspiring moments

Payne Stewart

Nearly 15 years on, the 1999 US Open champion at Pinehurst is remembered

Pinehurst Hole-by-Hole

One of America’s greatest courses has been revamped in time for the US Open

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Hoylake Hole-by-Hole

Eight years after its conquest by Tiger Woods, Royal Liverpool again hosts the Open

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Valhalla Hole-by-Hole

For the third time in 18 years, the PGA of America will stage its flagship event in Kentucky

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Editor

Publisher

The Atlanta attorney who might just have been the greatest golfer the world has ever seen

Art Director

Contributing Writers

Major Qualifying

Designers

Five to Follow

VP Operations

Bobby Jones

A ‘how to do it’ guide to the criteria that need to be fulfilled if you want to play in a Major

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A quintet of competitors who (we think) have a better chance of Major glory than most in 2014

Player Pen Pictures

Thumbnail sketches of the credentials on offer from a selection of the other leading players

Polo Ralph Lauren

The latest fashion lines from one of the world’s leading purveyors of lifestyle apparel

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Matt Fitzpatrick

The US Amateur champion from England is finding his feet on the professional stage

You’ve Got to be Kidding

Relive some of golf’s more bizarre rounds with the likes of Maurice Flitcroft and Tommy Nakajima

Golf in Wales

Celtic Manor and Royal Porthcawl are preparing to stage big events later this summer

LPGA Majors

Ladies’ professional golf actually has one more Major than the men’s game

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Paul Trow

Leon Harris

Matthew Halnan Kieron Deen Halnan

Joe Velotta

Directors

John Halnan Steve Richards

Executive Assistants

Carla Richards Birute Markeviciute

Advertising Sales

Jon Edwards Andy Fletcher Dean Jacobson Sam Krume John Parr Deric Piper

Founding Contributor Arnold Palmer

Enquiries

Advertising: ms@tmcusallc.com Editorial: jh@tmcusallc.com Subscriptions & copy sales: joe@tmcusallc.com

Golf Travel

From Ireland to Turkey, editor Paul Trow takes us around a few of his favourite golf retreats

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2015 Major Venues

The old and the new. Watch out for Chambers Bay, Whistling Straits and St Andrews next year

Major Statistics

A roll call of every Major ever held, all the way back to the first Open in 1860

Last Page

The PGA Grand Slam of Golf returns to Port Royal Golf Course in the idyllic island of Bermuda

Matthew Squire

Clive Agran Robin Barwick Ross Biddiscombe Colin Callander Iain Carter Tony Dear Bill Elliott Andy Farrell Mark Garrod Bob Harig Adam Hathaway Karen Kay Paul Mahoney Peter Phyllisen Jack Ross Dave Shedloski Tony Smart Reade Tilley

Contributing Photographers Historic Golf Archive Patrick Drickey/ stonehousegolf.com

Getty Images Leon Harris John Mummert Evan Schiller Giuseppe Velotta

Special Thanks

Pete Bevacqua Cori Britt Christine Corbett Mike Davis Peter Dawson Ron Driscoll Kelly Elbin Dwight Gayle Doc Giffin Kerry Haigh Pete Kowalski Greg Midland Matt Shaffer Liz Shoemaker

TheMajorsOfGolf.com

TMC

USA

© 2014 TMC USA, LLC Reproduction without permission is prohibited. The articles appearing within this publication reflect the opinion of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publisher. The contents of advertisements and advertorials are entirely the responsibilt y of advertisers. No responsibility is taken for unsolicited submissions and manuscripts.

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USGA Foreword

T

he United States Golf Association is excited about the history that will be made at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club with the 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open Championships taking place on the same course in consecutive weeks for the first time. We are truly thinking of it as two championships, but one event.

Pinehurst No.2 has an outstanding legacy that includes professional and amateur championships dating back to the early 1900s, including the North & South Amateur for men and women. It has hosted two U.S. Amateurs (1962 and 2008), the 1989 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 1994 U.S. Senior Open.

However, Pinehurst clearly established itself as one of the game’s great championship venues during the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Opens. Payne Stewart’s clinching 18ft putt on the 18th hole to hold off Phil Mickelson and a starstudded leader board in ’99 is one of the indelible images in the game’s history. Michael Campbell exemplified the essence of the Open with his two-stroke victory over Tiger Woods in ’05. Campbell earned his spot in the field through international qualifying in the first year in which it was instituted, helping to expand the game’s global reach.

As the U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst for the third time in 15 years, the players will encounter a new-look No.2, which, paradoxically, is more like the old-look No.2.

Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have beautifully restored the course to architect Donald Ross’s original design. It’s hard to believe you could make Pinehurst No.2 any better, but that’s exactly what Bill and Ben have done. In particular, the removal of Bermuda-grass rough in favor of native sandy areas presents a unique test and offers the potential for exciting recovery shots. It also significantly lowers the water usage for Pinehurst No.2 and encourages sustainable maintenance practices.

I cannot think of a better site for these unprecedented back-to-back championships. The USGA is extremely grateful to everyone at Pinehurst and the entire Sandhills region of North Carolina for welcoming the world’s best male and female players to the treasure that is No.2.

We at the USGA are proud of our long and fruitful relationship with Arnold Palmer, who has done so much for the game, and are delighted to support this 2014 edition of Arnold Palmer’s Guide to the Majors.

Mike Davis Executive Director United States Golf Association

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R&A Foreword

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n behalf of The R&A, I am delighted to welcome the publication of the fourth edition of Arnold Palmer’s Guide to the Majors.

Arnold has been an enthusiastic supporter of The Open Championship for more than half a century. Back in 1960, The Open was far from the massive global sporting showcase it is today and only a handful of the leading American players took the trouble to travel across the Atlantic to take part.

But Arnold’s decision to try to add the Claret Jug to his victories at the Masters and U.S. Open earlier that season can be seen in hindsight as the catalyst that triggered renewed interest in The Open amongst his contemporaries on the PGA Tour. We owe him a great debt.

He narrowly missed out to Australia’s Kel Nagle on that occasion, but he only had to wait a further 12 months to fulfil his destiny and become Open champion at Royal Birkdale and then, for good measure, he made a successful defense of the title at Troon in 1962.

Since then, nearly all of the game’s leading players have lifted the Claret Jug—Nicklaus and Player, Thomson and De Vicenzo, Trevino and Miller, Weiskopf and Watson, Norman and Faldo, Ballesteros and Woods, Els and Harrington, to name but a few.

High on that roll call of champions, of course, is Phil Mickelson, who produced a marvelous final round to claim his fifth Major title at Muirfield last July. Phil’s victory was just reward for a great player who has shown unstinting loyalty to The Open over the past two decades of an illustrious career. Being a Californian, links golf perhaps does not come naturally to him but he has persevered and now plays this form of the game as well as anyone.

Now our thoughts turn to the 143rd Open Championship over the wonderful Royal Liverpool links at Hoylake from July 17-20. Back in 2006, The Open returned to Royal Liverpool after a hiatus of 39 years and the whole occasion proved a resounding success. The weather was glorious, the galleries were at record levels and the quality of golf, especially from the eventual champion Tiger Woods, was nothing short of spectacular.

Every Open Championship is packed with drama and outstanding golf, and I’m certain we can all expect more of the same this time around. In the meantime, may I extend my best wishes to the players, volunteers and fans, all of whom will once again play an invaluable part in what is sure to be another vintage summer for golf’s Major Championships.

Peter Dawson Chief Executive The R&A

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PGA Foreword

F

or the PGA of America and our Professionals who teach and grow the game each day, there is much to celebrate as the PGA Championship returns to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Fourteen years after a most dramatic playoff, Valhalla will once again host the strongest field in Major championship golf at a venue the PGA is proud to own.

What’s more, we will recognize the 50th anniversary of the PGA Championship victory earned by Louisville native Bobby Nichols, whose wire-to-wire triumph in 1964 at Columbus Country Club stood as the Championship’s lowest 72-hole total for 30 years.

Valhalla Golf Club is hosting its third PGA Championship, with the first won by Mark Brooks in a sudden-death playoff over Kenny Perry in 1996.

Four years later, in the first three-hole, aggregate-score playoff in Championship history, Tiger Woods and Bob May dueled throughout the final round and into the playoff.

Both played brilliantly down the stretch in regulation, each shooting 31 on the back nine. The drama was heightened in the playoff, with Woods sinking memorable par saves on the final two holes to be able to raise the Wanamaker Trophy for a second time.

In the process, Woods made even further history by becoming the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to capture three major titles in one year. He also became the first player to win consecutive PGA Championships since Denny Shute in 1936 and ’37. (Tiger went on to do it again, in 2006 and ’07.)

Over time, some changes have enhanced the Jack Nicklaus-designed Valhalla layout, both in advance of the 2008 Ryder Cup played there and in preparation for the 96th PGA Championship this year.

Mr. Palmer, a PGA member himself, has always been a strong supporter of PGA professionals. So, we are delighted to continue to invite the leading 20 finishers in our PGA Professional National Championship to join the world’s best players in the world each year in the PGA Championship.

We are enormously proud that the PGA Championship is the only all-professional Major championship, and we are honored that Arnold continues to use this publication to spotlight all four of our game’s Majors. We look forward to the culmination of yet another Majors’ season at Valhalla, where defending champion Jason Dufner and the rest of the game’s best players will be looking to create even more sporting history.

Peter Bevacqua

Chief Executive Officer The PGA of America

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Arnold Palmer’s Guide to the 2014

Drop in for the latest news and extended features on Major golf championships and register free for exclusive previews

themajorsofgolf

Anticipating another phenomenal season of Major championships, Arnold Palmer sat down with Reade Tilley in his Bay Hill office to reminisce, and give his perspective on today ’s top tournaments, players and issues

Q : Did the recent Golf Channel documentary Arnie do a good job at capturing your life?

A P : They didn’t get everything—they’d be here forever.

They couldn’t do that. But it was good, they did a good job. I thought so.

Arnold Palmer Interview

Q : Are there any similarities between Bubba Watson and yourself as golfers?

A P : We both use clubs and have arms! [Laughing] No, the only similarity that you would say is he has a sort of a go get ’em! style, which is somewhat the way I always played. If there was a possibility of making it and I was confident, I’d go for it. And he does that.

Q : He claims he’s never had a lesson…

A P : First of all, I’m not saying Bubba isn’t telling the truth but you’ve got to look at that with a grain of salt.

[He must have] got some instruction along the way that at least told him what he had to do and where he had to go to become a player. There’s no one who ever played golf without a bit of instruction.

Q : Do you think certain players are over-instructed?

A P : I do. I think some people playing the game have been over-instructed and continue to seek advice that’s not really worthy of what they’re trying to accomplish.

Proper instruction about the game and its etiquette, about how to conduct yourself and how to play—all this contributes to your knowledge of the game and playing better golf. My father gave me all my instruction and it was very valuable to me, still is today.

Q: With regard to your role as honorary starter, along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, how did this year’s Masters go?

A P : It went very well, as it always does. We had our warm-up session and we all three hit fairly good drives off the first tee. It brings us together and it’s a good thing for Augusta and for the galleries. They seem to enjoy it very much.

Q: When did you first meet Bobby Jones?

A P : When I went to Augusta the first time, in ’55. I got to know him a little better through the years until he passed away. I spent numerous times talking to him.

One time he said to me, ‘Arnold, I’ve got to talk to you a little bit about the game. I’ve watched you enough now at Augusta and seen you play and putt, and I’ve decided that if I ever had a putt between 5ft and 15ft, and my life depended on it, you’re the one that’s going to putt it for me.’ I remember that because what he said was so important. It made me feel pretty good.

Q: Once Tiger Woods has recovered from his recent back surgery, how does his future look?

A P : A lot depends on how he conducts himself in the future, on and off the golf course. He has a huge responsibility from now on in his life. We all talk about

Q : After seeing his performance at the Masters and the Players, what’s your take on Jordan Spieth?

A P : He looks like he’s going to be a great player.

He’s got all the necessary ingredients to becoming a very fine player. How that works out and the kind of instruction he’s getting is really up to him, but thus far it looks very good. Obviously he’s a pretty smart thinker on the golf course. He has applied himself to the game and as he matures he should get better.

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Honorary Masters starters Player, Palmer and Nicklaus

King’s

Arnold Palmer playing in the curtain-raising Par-3 competition before this year’s Masters

Arnold Palmer Interview

Counsel

‘Tiger’s getting up in years.’ Hell, he’s still young and he has a lot of time to play golf. How he handles that, and how it’s accepted by the public in the years to come, is vital to him and to his career—and to the overall game of golf. So it’s very important that he carries himself as a gentleman and conducts himself as a gentleman in the years to come… very important.

Q: Did you ever have a serious injury while on Tour?

A P : Fortunately not. I’ve had some injuries that maybe put me off for a week here and there, but nothing that had a dire effect on my life or my game for the duration.

Q: Considering a player’s overall lifetime career, is a temporary injury or a little time off a big deal?

A P : Maybe sometimes we make too much of the time we take off because of injuries or sore muscles.

[But] being careful of how you handle an injury or how you handle its repair, and of course making the time to give yourself recovery periods and not rushing it, are very important.

Q: I imagine there’s a lot of pressure on an injured player to get back in the game?

A P : A lot of people push too fast to get back on the course or to get their game going again, really before they should. They rush it too much.

Q: Is it a problem if Phil Mickelson never wins a US Open?

A P : [Chuckling] Well, I guess I could answer that pretty well. I’ve never won a PGA and is it a major problem?

No, it’s not a major problem—but it is a problem. [For] those of us who haven’t won what we think we should have won, it’s always a hurt. [For me], it’s a little bit of a hurt not to have won a PGA. Of course you always look for reasons or excuses as to why you didn’t win an event, and I think that’ll be the case with Phil. He’s been so close so many times and it’s never happened, and the longer it goes without happening the greater the possibility of it not happening. [It was the] same thing in my case with the PGA. I finished second numerous times, was in position to win a couple of times, and it never happened. There were circumstances that helped prevent my winning the PGA, my timing for getting to play in the PGA in the early days, the five years that I had to wait [to become eligible]. Phil can probably think of a lot of reasons why he hasn’t won the Open, and as long as it goes on and doesn’t happen he’ll think of more things. That’s just life, the way it is.

A P : I think Pinehurst No.2 is one of the best golf courses we’ve ever played on the PGA Tour. The original Pinehurst No.2 was very natural, and over the years I played it numerous times and really liked it. Then they changed it. They tried to ‘modernize’ it.

Originally there was no rough, it was all pine cones, pine needles, slopes and run-offs. Then they grew rough and took a lot of the run-offs away and changed the greens a little with the turf on them. That, to me, was a mistake. Now they’re back to much the same as it was in the beginning. The rough is eliminated and it’s [back to] pine straw and pine trees. [It] will play better and be more of a test.

Piinehurst No.2 has been restored to something closer to its original design

Q: How well did you know Payne Stewart, who won the US Open there in 1999 and died tragically in an air accident only a few months later?

“There were circumstances that helped prevent my winning the PGA”

Q: What’s your opinion of Pinehurst No.2, this year’s US Open course?

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“Pinehurst No.2 is one of the best golf courses we’ve ever played on the PGA Tour” A P : He used to live here [at Bay Hill] and I knew him, I would say, pretty well. He would come by the office to see me once or twice a month to get my slant on how he was doing and we would talk together about the game. He played quite often in the shoot-out here over the years as well and he won our tournament [the Arnold Palmer Invitational] back in 1987. I liked him a lot and it was very sad what happened to him.

Q : The US Open is charting new territory over the next three years with visits to Chambers Bay in Washington and Erin Hills in Wisconsin. What do you know about these layouts and do you approve of this move?

A P : I don’t know those courses personally, but they have roll-offs, undulations that are sometimes very dramatic and deep, penalizing sand traps. That’s part of the mystique of going to a different golf course.

Q : It seems there’s a trend toward holding tournaments at more classically styled golf courses…

A P : I think that’s a good thing.

Caddie Tip Anderson gazes admiringly as Arnold Palmer drives off during his last Open in 1995

Q: In the Open Championship and other European tournaments, Tip Anderson almost always caddied for you. Why didn’t he ever carry the bag for you in the States?

A P : He wouldn’t fly. No, he never flew. He always drove or took the train. And he caddied for me in Europe every time I played because he could get there without flying. When it came to the fact that he’d have to fly, he never showed up.

Q: Peter Dawson will step down next year as chief executive of the R&A. How do you assess his performance?

A P : Peter Dawson is one of the great men of golf. He has helped make the game better during his tenure at the R&A. So do I personally like him? Very much!

His conduct of the Open Championship has been fantastic. His contributions to the betterment of the game generally have been outstanding, and very well accepted—as they should be.

Q: The PGA Championship offers spots to more members of the top 100 in the world rankings than the other three Majors. Does this make it the best of the four Majors? Should the other Majors pay more attention to the world rankings?

A P : There’s something to be said for that—it’s certainly something that could be looked at. It may

Peter Dawson will step down as chief executive of the R&A next year

“It [the PGA Championship] may have the most competitive field of the four Majors”

have the most competitive field of the four Majors.

They represent every professional in the game, and that certainly has to be accounted for.

Q: Do you think the PGA Championship should persist with its policy of including the leading 20 players from the PGA National Championship in the field?

A P : You’re talking about the club pros who play in the tournament. Certainly, since it’s the PGA Championship, run by the PGA, they deserve recognition. Whether it’s overdone or not is probably the only question I would have.

Q: Are the Majors stronger today than they were 50 years ago?

A P : Much stronger. The players are stronger, their abilities are greater and there are more of them.

Q: What’s your take on the World Match Play Championship in Europe?

A P : I went to the first World Match Play Championship [in 1964, which he won] and I thought it was interesting that they had brought back the match play format.

It created an added interest and uplifted the game internationally. The bottom line is the World Match Play Championship was a great idea and, through the years, has been pretty well accepted.

Q: It’s moving around a bit: Spain, Bulgaria, and now back in England at the London Club…

A P : It’s very good. The fact the game of golf is becoming more international should be given its due by moving [events like this] around the world. The Olympics going to Brazil is good. [It] will get more attention worldwide and improve the game.

Q: What are your thoughts on Brazil’s Olympics preparations?

A P : At best they’re late.

Q: With golf growing globally, should they add a Major overseas?

A P : Currently, I think that would be a mistake, but eventually that’s probably going to happen. [Then] you’re going to have to make a decision on how you select golf tournaments to be Major championships.

It has to start much the same as Augusta did or the US Open. I’m not sure what the qualifications for being a Major are going to be. Certainly the field is one—you’re going to start and stop with the people who play in a Major. The Open Championship [being played in] Europe, Japan, China… Eventually you’re going to have to look at certain qualifications. One is going to be geographic; what’s the geographic status for a Major championship? We will see important golf tournaments [increasingly] spread throughout the world, so [perhaps] a Major for Asia [and] a Major for Europe other than the Open Championship. That’s all going to take a lot of thought and consideration.

Q: So it won’t be as easy as a simple conversation like the one between you and Bob Drum that led to the creation of the modern Grand Slam?

A P : Well, that conversation would do well in certain areas today. That was a good one. That worked out very well. H

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River There’s a young man in full flow on the PGA Tour and ever yone’s talking about him. Even though Jordan Spieth can’t drink alcohol legally, he has an old and sober head on his shoulders. None the less, he’s certain to be an intoxicating presence at this year ’s remaining three Majors. Paul Trow ponders when his time will come, and who might get in his way

of

Once in a generation, if the sport in question is so lucky, a phenomenon emerges to capture the imagination of both the public and the media. Golf, blown away by Tiger Woods’ explosion onto the scene nearly two decades ago, has been waiting patiently ever since.

Now that patience looks to have been rewarded with the delivery of a superstar barely out of his cradle, bubble-wrapped and express-dispatched direct from Central Casting.

Jordan Spieth is a clean-cut, straighttalking, young Texan, but his star is far

from ‘Lone.’ He is without question a star for Everyman, so polished and universallyappealing have been his performances on the game’s most exalted stage since last July when he became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in 82 years.

Spieth celebrated the end of his teenage years on July 27, 2013, but two weeks earlier he had already confounded the sport and its pundits by winning the John Deere Classic in Illinois in a playoff against former Masters champion Zach Johnson and Canada’s David Hearn.

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Jordan Spieth tees off at the 3rd hole of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass during this year’s Players Championship

It was not that he was an unknown or anything like that. This was no Tin Cup crawling out from under a stone for 15 minutes of fame. Spieth, a two-time US Junior Amateur champion, had tied 16th in the HP Byron Nelson Classic, aged just 16. He was also a member of one of the strongest American Walker Cup line-ups ever assembled in September 2011, two months after his 18th birthday. That the team lost to GB & Ireland over the windswept, rain-lashed links of Royal Aberdeen could hardly be laid at Spieth’s door as he won both his singles matches.

Just over a year later, with nothing further to accomplish in the amateur game, he turned pro, halfway through his sophomore year at the University of Texas. Clearly his classroom in Austin lacked the allure of Augusta National, TPC Sawgrass or Pebble Beach.

Yet it surely wouldn’t take a college professor to calculate that the young man had made an appropriate and extremely astute decision. In his first 37 starts on the PGA Tour, Spieth finished in the top10 15 times and in the top-25 on a further nine occasions. His earnings during that window of opportunity passed $7 million and, accordingly, he is now comfortably ensconced in the single-digit department of the world rankings.

The proof that he’s here to stay is self-evident, though not to be found so much in the John Deere Classic victory, more in what he’s accomplished since. Five weeks later, he found himself in another playoff, at the Wyndham Championship, but lost this time to fellow youngster Patrick Reed. Did this knock him out of synch? Did it, heck! Ties for fourth and second in the Deutsche Bank and Tour Championships respectively during the FedExCup playoffs set the seal on his 2013 campaign. And he was quickly into his stride in 2014, finishing second

Spieth, front row, far right, and his 2011 US Walker Cup teammates

Masters debutant Spieth came agonizingly close to eclipsing Woods as the youngest winner of a Green Jacket

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to Dustin Johnson in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, tying fourth in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and reaching the quarter-finals of the W GC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

Heady stuff, we all thought, for a mere tyro, and how well he spoke when it came to relections in public upon either a great round or something not so great, even the odd display of petulance or inexperience. Rudyard Kipling’s words about triumph and disaster really do apply to this kid.

What came next, though, we certainly hadn’t bargained for. In April, Masters debutant Spieth came agonizingly close to eclipsing Woods as the youngest winner of a Green Jacket. All that stood between him and that precocious achievement was the force of nature otherwise known as Bubba Watson. Seven holes into the final round, and holding a two-shot lead, Spieth had Augusta National

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Spieth and Martin Kaymer share a happy moment at Sawgrass

by the throat. Then Watson, the 2012 winner, dug deep into his memory bank as Spieth wobbled, due mainly to his lack of familiarity with Bobby Jones’ brainchild. A few inspired birdies from the swashbuckling left-hander, not to mention some admirable hard grinding down the stretch, put the boy in his place, but only just.

What struck neutral observers, more even than the sublime golfing skills on parade, was the consummate charm and sportsmanship with which Spieth honoured Watson during that final round. Indeed, he could have been Mr. Jones himself, from the sepia-tinted 1920s, playing hard in the heat of battle but forever meticulously observing the essential courtesies towards his opponent— the niceties that to this very day make golf the greatest of games.

In the end, Spieth’s tie for second with Sweden’s Jonas Blixt (another newcomer with enormous potential) must have been a huge disappointment given his stratospheric position with just 11 holes to go. But there were no tears, understandable though they would have been from an adolescent in such a highly-charged situation. Older, far older, than his years, he simply regrouped and gave a commendably solid performance the following

week when he tied 12th in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town.

After taking a short break, he pitched up to TPC Sawgrass. The Stadium Course, home to the Players Championship since 1982, was another hurdle Spieth had not previously straddled. But guess what… he was sharing the lead on 12-under-par after 54 holes without a single bogey on his card. In the Sunday gloaming, wire-to-wire leader Martin Kaymer stumbled across the finishing line and Spieth, whose putter had gone colder than the ice buckets in the clubhouse, tied fourth with Justin Rose. Again, though, the abiding impression was the extent to which Spieth went out of his way to encourage Kaymer and the pleasure he clearly took from his German playing partner’s ultimate triumph.

Since turning pro, Spieth has

There were no tears, understandable though they would have been from an adolescent 032

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been ticking boxes, very much as Hercules must have done as he tackled his mythical 12 Labours. He was playing all these great courses for the first time and finding a way to play them on the hoof, not only with the future in mind but the present.

It seems that Spieth, despite his tender age, has everything in perspective, not just in terms of golf but life as a whole. When he returns to the family home from his travels he always has a key-ring from the place he’s been for his special-needs sister, Ellie, whose school he often attends as a volunteer. In his spare time, he likes to go fishing, plays the piano, proves he’s mortal by failing his first driver’s permit test, shoots basketball left-handed, and listens avidly to country music. And he’s a big supporter of his 6ft 6in younger brother Steven who’s heading to Brown University this fall on a basketball scholarship.

In tournament media centers, it has long been recognized that, whatever fate throws at him, Spieth is generally unfazed but also unafraid to acknowledge when he’s fallen short of the incredibly high standards he’s already set himself.

Now, it’s a big call to say that a player with just one tournament victory to his name to date will one day challenge Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 Majors, but there is an inescapable feeling throughout the game that Spieth is the real deal and will go all the way.

Nicklaus was mature beyond his years when he burst onto the firmament at the age of 22 by winning the US Open at Oakmont, Arnold Palmer’s back yard. Back then, he spoke and behaved like a much older man. It’s eerie how Spieth, unlike Woods in his youthful pomp, echoes the Golden Bear in his mannerisms, his deliberation and his thoughtfulness.

The main difference between Young Jack and Spieth is that the

galleries love today’s Boy Wonder whereas back in the early 1960s Nicklaus was resented because he was seen as a chubby and unwelcome upstart daring to usurp the King’s throne. Whether the support of the galleries will play a part in the unfolding of Spieth’s career, very much as it did when Palmer and Woods were on a roll, remains to be seen, but there’s no denying the fact that he’s supplanted Rory McIlroy as the game’s No.1 pin-up boy.

Not that McIlroy has gone away or anything like that. Indeed, it would be a huge surprise if the Northern Irishman, who has just turned 25, is not a significant contender this summer at Pinehurst, Hoylake or Valhalla.

Having won the 2011 US Open at Congressional and the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, the world lay at McIlroy’s feet. But following a questionable, though financially-lucrative, switch to Nike at the end of 2012 he struggled with his game throughout most of last year. Factored into that equation were his apparently up-and-down relationship with the tennis p l a y e r , Caroline Woz n i a c k i , to whom he’s now officially engaged, and the ongoing fall-out with his erstwhile management company which is due to be resolved in a Dublin court later this year.

But McIlroy is made of stern stuff and one of the recurring themes of his still nascent career is his ability to bounce back from adversity. Who could ever forget his implosion when leading the

At 14 Major wins, Woods is still four titles short of Jack Nicklaus’s benchmark 2011 Masters by a country mile? And who could ever forget his brilliance two months later as he cantered to victory in the US Open with the rest of the field, frankly, absolutely nowhere?

McIlroy’s form in 2014 has been interesting because a pattern to his play is clearly emerging. At both the Masters and the Players Championship, he needed to hole a putt on the 18th green to make the cut and then proceeded to tie eighth and sixth respectively. On neither occasion was he in contention, if truth be told, but it was nevertheless a remarkable display of ability at a time when everyone else was struggling with the weekend pin positions.

Both McIlroy’s Major wins have been achieved by an eight-shot margin and the feeling persists that if he gets a fast start in any of this year’s remaining Majors he could be hard to catch. Back-door top-10s are not what he’s ever been about, but today they signify a resilience that might have been lacking a couple of years ago—whatever the circumstances, he now keeps pressing even though the main prize is beyond his grasp.

No preview of this glorious, forthcoming summer of golf would be complete without reference to Woods, still, at the time of going to press, the world No.1. No one, least of all the man himself, has any idea when he will return to the fray, or what state his game will be in after the back surgery he underwent in March. At 14 Majors, he is still four shy of the aforementioned Nicklaus benchmark, but his record at recent Majors when, generally, fully fit has not been convincing. His best chance last year came at the Open at Muirfield when he went into the final round two shots off the pace only to close with 74—immensely disappointing, especially as the Claret Jug was clutched by the fast-finishing Phil Mickelson, not McIlroy tied eighth at Augusta in April for his best Masters finish

exactly his bosom pal. The fact that Woods has won Majors at both Royal Liverpool (the 2006 Open) and Valhalla (the 2000 PGA Championship), though, should be incentive enough if, or rather when, he does decide to jump back into the saddle.

Injuries seem to be a recurring theme of the 2014 golf year thus far, especially amongst the likely challengers. For instance, the two finalists in that enthralling WGCAccenture match Play Championship final at Dove Mountain in Arizona back in February, Jason Day (the winner after five extra holes) and upcoming young Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, have been largely sidelined since.

Day has a recurring thumb problem while 23-year-old Dubuisson is struggling with a shoulder strain. In the case of both protagonists, this has been disappointing because their head-to-head in the desert conveyed a clear signal as to how strong the younger generation has become over the period of Woods’ apparent decline.

But challenging for Majors is not just about youth. The roll-call of candidates for the game’s highest honours has never been richer, or more crowded, as exemplified by the fact that 23 of the last 33 Major winners have been different players. Rarely in the game’s history has there been so much diversity at the top level.

These candidates, in no particular order, include Adam Scott, the heir apparent to Woods’ No.1 mantle in the world rankings, Watson, definitely on a high from his Masters triumph, both Johnsons, Zach and Dustin, the hardy perennial Jim Furyk, who keeps coming back for more punishment or success (depending on how you view it), the resurgent Sergio Garcia and Rose, fresh from his US Open success at Merion last June and now, seemingly, running into form.

Adam Scott will surely be a factor in this year’s Majors

Of all Mickelson’s US Open near misses, 1999 at Pinehurst must have hurt the most Rose’s fellow (though Majorless) Englishmen—Ian Poulter, of Ryder Cup fame, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald—are also champing at the bit in the hope that their time hasn’t passed them by.

Jason Dufner, scintillating winner of the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, is sure to be in the mix at some stage, as is the man who beat him in the PGA Championship playoff at Atlanta Athletic Club in 2011— Keegan Bradley. Others also not to be ignored are the wonderfully consistent Matt Kuchar, winner at Hilton Head this year, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who ended 2013 by pocketing the FedExCup and Race to Dubai in stunning fashion, and 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell.

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The big question, though, with the most popular potential outcome, is whether, after six second-place finishes, Mickelson can finally complete his personal ‘grand slam’ at the US Open when it returns shortly to Pinehurst No.2—the course where he appeared to have Major No.1 wrapped up back in 1999 only to let it slip down the stretch to the late, great Payne Stewart.

He certainly had other things on his mind that week—wife Amy was about to give birth to daughter Amanda—but, at the same time, he couldn’t have anticipated the inspired putting of his adversary over the closing holes.

Of all his US Open misses, 1999 is perhaps the one that hurt Lefty the most. Admittedly, he wasn’t much happier at Merion last year, he is man enough to acknowledge that Rose’s time had come, and deservedly so.

One thing is certain over the next three months, golf fans are in for a fantastic treat. Mickelson, McIlroy, Watson, Scott—you name them—they’re all in pole position.

The game is changing, but the two names that are bound to dominate our thoughts, for different reasons, are Woods (can he still?) and Spieth (when will he?). H

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Masters Champion

The dip in form that followed Bubba Watson’s victory at Augusta National in 2012 spilled over into last year. But the flamboyant, long-hitting left-hander has hit the ground running in 2014.

Robin Barwick charts his journey to a second Green Jacket

Happy hour: Watson celebrates his second Masters victory with caddie Ted Scott

erhaps the chef in the Grill at Augusta National Golf Club had stopped taking orders, or perhaps Bubba Watson just needed a change of scenery after a week surrounded by Green Jackets and pink azaleas. For whatever reason, just hours after he’d won his second Masters in April, Watson celebrated in a way no previous champion had done before—by taking two tables in the Waffle House on Augusta’s Washington Road.

The Waffle House, part of a chain of fast-food joints with plastic seats and laminated menus, is located on a stretch of road that has few redeeming features. As they sat down, Watson Tweeted a ‘selfie’ of himself, his wife

Angie and their friends Judah and Chelsea Smith. The post immediately went viral, with 16,550 re-Tweets.

At least he didn’t wear his Green Jacket to the Waffle House. The members of Augusta National, across the road, would have been grateful for that. “I’m not big on fancy food, and wearing a tie is not really comfortable on me,” admitted Watson a few days later, having banked a winner’s cheque for $1.62 million. “So for me it had to be the Waffle House, and who doesn’t love Waffle House? It’s good ole cooking, so I had two grilled cheese sandwiches and smothered hash browns.”

It was in keeping with what Watson served up at the 2013 Champions’ Dinner, when tradition dictates the defending champion selects the menu. Watson offered Caesar salad, followed by grilled chicken breast

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with green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese, served with cornbread, and for dessert, confetti cake with vanilla ice cream. Arguably, this was a step up from the burgers and fries that Tiger Woods stipulated a few years ago, a choice that fellow former Masters champion Bernhard Langer described as “unnecessary.”

Exchanging the gracious hospitality for which Augusta National’s clubhouse is renowned for the quite different delights of the Waffle House, though, is a paradigm of Watson’s life. This 35-yearold from Bagdad, Florida, likes to keep things simple and unsophisticated.

His golf swing looks unsophisticated too, with an uncultured brute of a lefthanded swipe that looks as if it should slice every tee shot not just out of bounds but out of state.

But the fact is when Watson’s

Rob Carr / Getty Images Spoî ¸t

Masters Champion

Masters at the Double

Watson waves to the patrons after receiving his second Green Jacket from 2013 champion Adam Scott

on his game, as he undoubtedly was at the 2014 Masters, this self-taught approach yields exquisite results.

Ask Jordan Spieth, the 20-year-old Texan with a textbook swing who lost pace with Watson during the final round at Augusta. Spieth, who will surely have his day in the sun soon, aptly describes Watson’s typical drive as a “slinging slice.” Watson himself calls them “slap cuts,” adding, “they get out there pretty far, though.”

Watson’s swing, coupled with the occasionally rash course-management decision, highlights how far removed he is from the stereotypical Tour golfer. It also explains his appeal to the galleries and why he is such a favourite at Augusta National. The patrons at Augusta dote on their champions, but in Watson they can also identify with a golfer who doesn’t swing picture perfectly, like Spieth or Adam Scott, the 2013 winner.

His unpredictability makes for gripping

off I knew it was cutting a little too much. I started breathing again once I heard the clapping and roaring.”

Many patrons identify with Watson simply because he’s from the south. His home town, in northwest Florida, is less than 400 miles from Augusta. He also attended the University of Georgia, making him a ‘Bulldog,’ just like thousands of annual pilgrims to the Masters. Then there’s his background. He hails from a poor family and has weaved a classic sporting tale of rags to riches. No wonder Watson says it how he sees it, no wonder his emotions are all turned inside-out, no wonder there are buckets of uncontrollable tears in victory, and no wonder a lot of golf fans consider him a ready-made people’s prince.

“You’ve got to think about where I’ve come from,” says Watson. “My mum had two jobs to pay for my golf and my dad worked in construction. When you think about that and where I am in my career, and where I am with my young family, you realize how great it was for me to win the Masters. It’s an accomplishment for a guy named Bubba, with my upbringing. It was as if my career was complete after that first win. You know, I do everything my way. I learned the game my way and I figured it out my way, and when I won the 2012 Masters, it just took me a little longer to get my mental focus back.”

Watson rode the crest of a wave in 2012.

“ Think about where I’ve come from.

My mum had two jobs and my dad worked in construction”

entertainment. Take that outrageously hooked wedge from the pine straw to the right of the 10th fairway during the playoff against Louis Oosthuizen in the 2012 Masters. The ball was 163 yards from the green yet Watson shaped it virtually 90 degrees around trees and a TV tower to finish 15 feet from the hole. Two putts later, he was the champion. It was exhilarating, historic golf under extreme pressure.

Another shot from the unexpected came on the 13th tee during his final-round duel with Spieth at this year’s Masters. Aiming down the iconic 13th fairway, which bends to the left around woodland, bountiful azaleas and Rae’s Creek, Watson cut off more of the corner than he intended. Yet such is his prodigious distance, his drive found the fairway—admittedly via a deflection off a branch—fully 366 yards from the tee. He was left with only a wedge to the green on this potentially treacherous par-5. “Bubba’s drive on 13, I’ll never forget,” said Spieth. “I thought it was out-of-bounds, 70 yards left, yet it turned out to be perfect. Ultimately, hats off to him.”

“I’m not very smart,” Watson adds. “That wasn’t the line I really wanted to go on. I’ve hit it there a few times before. When the ball took

Watson, left with son Caleb, hits a massive drive off the 13th tee at Augusta National

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Bubba Watson USA

Born: 5 November 1978 Turned Pro: 2002 Major Wins: 2 (Masters 2012, 2014) Professional Wins: 10

living.” Of course, it’s easy to rejoice when you have a second Green Jacket, you’re ranked fourth in the world and have a realistic chance of becoming No.1 in the near future.

However, while he has a huge fan-base, he also divides opinion. Twitchy and intense on the course, Watson’s behaviour is not always joyful. His religious beliefs have led him to decry homosexuality as a sin, and in the heat of battle he occasionally off-loads on his caddie.

Watson’s caustic comments to Scott were caught on microphone during the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. After he’d blown the final-

040 the majors 2014

round lead by dunking his ball in a lake short of the green on the par-3 16th, and dispatching his second ball over the green from the drop zone, Watson turned to Scott and snapped: “So you’re telling me that’s the right yardage?”

It transpired Scott had persuaded Watson to take 9-iron for his original tee-shot, instead of 8-iron, but as every Tour golfer knows, the ultimate responsibility for club selection lies with the player, not the bag carrier.

“If you have a brother, you’re going to knock heads with him sometimes,” Scott admits.

“We’re all human beings, we’re all individuals. Is there anybody you spend a lot of time with you don’t knock heads with? Of course not! I’m very thankful I have a job with Bubba. He’s a great guy. I think a lot of people misunderstand Bubba.

The more you get to know him, the more you’re going to care about him. He’s got a great heart, but he’s different. A lot of people take that the wrong way, but I love that about Bubba.”

While many people struggle to work him out, it sometimes seems he’s trying to figure himself out too. But like him or love him, or not; agree with his views, or not; his unpredictability makes him an intriguing character. One day he’s shooting 83 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and then withdrawing, citing allergies, the next he reveals he’s joined the exclusive Orlando club. He has also recently bought a residential retreat at The Greenbrier Sporting Club in West Virginia, a regular PGA Tour stop, saying. “We decided this was the perfect place for us... and I look forward to creating lasting memories with my family here.”

As someone “not big on fancy food,” Watson might not relish the responsibility of hosting another Champions’ Dinner in April 2015. It will be alright on the night, though. If he’s lacking inspiration, he can always consult that Waffle House menu. ★

The Greenbrier Spoting Club

Apart from the Masters win, he became a father when he and Angie adopted their new-born son, Caleb. He earned over $4 million in prize money, finished fifth in the FedExCup rankings and had a season’s scoring average of 69.63. Once the Masters euphoria had faded, he struggled to maintain his form in 2013, tying 50th at Augusta, enduring his first winless season since 2009 and sliding to 44th in the FedExCup. “At the same time we had adopted my son, so I was learning to be a dad and learning to have a Green Jacket. They were two big things to adjust to,” says Watson, who graduated to the PGA Tour in 2006 after three years on the Web.com Tour. “It just took me a little time, but I kept working hard. Finally I got adjusted to it and here we are with another Green Jacket.”

A devout and vocal Christian, Watson was referred by his friend and church pastor Judah Smith—of that Waffle House ‘selfie,’ right—to a passage from the Bible, Philippians 4:11: ‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.’ The words definitely struck a chord. Ted Scott, Watson’s caddie for both his Masters wins, says: “As a kid, Bubba dreamed about playing golf on the PGA Tour and in the Masters. He has won on Tour and won the Masters, so why don’t you just go ahead and rejoice? I can tell you, last year was rough with the pressure of Bubba trying to prove himself, but this year his attitude’s been great and it’s been a lot of fun to work for him.”

“What I’m trying to do is go back to being a kid again and just rejoicing,” confirms Watson, a regular member of the PGA Tour’s Bible group that’s also attended

by Spieth. “When you hang your head because you shot 80 in the last round of a tournament, you need to remember that it really doesn’t mean anything. I have to look at where I’m at in my Jerry West, NBA life, where I’m at legend, joins Watson in my career, and on the 1st tee of the Old White TPC course remember how lucky at The Greenbrier I am to play golf for a

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Well into the final round at Augusta National in April, a 20-year-old kid had one arm inside the Green Jacket.

Then his fidgety playing partner pulled a few strings and the fitting shuddered to an abrupt halt.

Bill Elliott looks back on an unusual but thought-provoking Masters

Bubba Watson in action from No. 12 tee during Sunday play at Augusta National

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It

Robert Beck / Sports Illustrated

began with a thunderstorm

and a washedout Monday. It ended with a becalmed lap of honor over the closing holes from a man who at times struck Augusta National with his own brand of lightning.

Bubba Watson is a one-off. Fidgety, selftaught, a golfer with a swing that seems to contain more moving parts than the average engine, he doesn’t just like the Masters… he loves it.

He’s not alone in this adoration of the old Technicolor Georgia dreamscape, of course he isn’t, but the way the course curves, the way it swoops then climbs again, the fact that the only straight line is to be found as you wander along Magnolia Lane towards the clubhouse that sits as if awaiting Rhett Butler’s arrival, fits Watson’s unique eye.

This was his second Green Jacket and the way he played, the manner of his victory, suggests that there may be more to come.

Then again, Jack Nicklaus said he expected Seve Ballesteros to beat his own record of six victories. The Spaniard came up four short.

The fact is you never know what the future holds, especially where a player like Watson is concerned. There’s no predictability about a golfer who, three shots ahead with four holes to go, chooses to smack a 6-iron through trees at the 15th. This is the sort of careful strategy that took the Light Brigade down the Valley of Death, not the clever stuff that wins Major titles.

For Watson, however, it worked. Such bravado remains both his strength and his eternal weakness. “It’s a freak show out there at times. No other way to describe it,” said his caddie, the admirably patient Teddy Scott. “I asked him on the last tee if he was from Mars because so much of what he does is alien stuff.”

When it works, as it did this April, it is strangely wonderful. Trouble is, of course, Watson is never really certain when the muse is going to sit on his shoulder and the

inspiration flood into his twitching muscles.

What he does know is that sooner or later he will cry about something, anything.

For him, this 78th Masters actually began a day earlier than that aborted, sodden Monday practice round. The day before, Augusta hosted a drive, pitch and putt contest featuring some of America’s finest young golfers with ages ranging from seven to 15.

These kids had all competed fiercely to be there and their thrill was increased when Watson unexpectedly appeared amongst them, shaking hands and congratulating.

It was a typical spontaneous gesture from a man who is clearly in touch with his own inner child, a golfer who plays the game both deadly serious and for fun. He is Phil Mickelson with bells on even if he has yet to pull on the cloak called vivid charisma.

This time round, victory came early.

Precisely, it came at the 12th hole, that devilish, short par-3 that teases and taunts, blesses and curses those who come to pay homage to its cunning.

First, though, this Masters Sunday reversed itself. Until recently, the front nine at Augusta has been something of a mystery, a treat denied to television viewers and handed instead to those fortunate enough to have tickets to the tournament. Those of us who have wandered amidst the pines and azaleas know the many twists and turns of the outward half, know also that this is the stretch

where a man must avoid the many pitfalls lying in wait.

‘Grind it over the front nine, try to make hay over the back nine’ has been the mantra of almost every Masters played. Tiptoe, then dance. Not this time… this time, Watson quickstepped across these nine holes. For a time, his playing partner, Texan prodigy Jordan Spieth, danced to an even louder tune. Threeunder par through seven holes, last year’s star rookie on the PGA Tour stood on the 8th tee two strokes ahead. Unable to legally order an alcoholic drink until July 27, he was on line to become the Masters’ youngest ever champion.

That moment, however, was as good as it got. By the time he teed up at No.10 he was two behind The Great Twitcher. Bogeys at 8 and 9 to Watson’s brace of birdies set the abiding tone for this final round. Watson was decisively ahead and never let go of his advantage.

When Spieth crumbled towards the

ground as his ball spun back into the water at the 12th, it was all but over. When Watson crunched a 366-yard drive towards the 13th green, it was over. Amen and good night, thanks for watching. It meant a strangely muted climax, the remaining holes played not in silence but missing those grenades of sound when the patrons roar their approval of a birdie here, an eagle there. “Nobody caught fire I guess,” said Watson, and he was correct.

Eventually, Spieth tied for second with Jonas Blixt, the new Swedish hero who is fast establishing himself as a genuine contender.

What did ignite was Watson’s putter.

On Saturday he had looked fallible, a man unable to connect thought with deed when he moved his putter. It meant 33 putts and a growing feeling that he was in some sort of dramatic decline. As if! On Sunday he was back in control, ten single putts meaning a total of just 25 as he strolled his way to becoming the 17th golfer to win more than one Green Jacket.

It would be facetious to reduce the Masters to the minor role of a putting contest but, really, in the end this is what it is. Play Augusta without a single three-putt and the strong chance is that you will return a decent score. There is a challenge in the placement of a drive and then the target for an approach shot but the bigger challenge is holding both line and nerve on greens that annually examine a man’s sanity.

Certainly this 2014 Masters offered a course that was fast and running after several days of high temperatures and sunshine that had taken care of those early, softening downpours. Some critics thought the occasional pin placement was verging on the silly and that watching accomplished golfers trying to work out the line of a 6ft putt likely to break at least three feet made for uncomfortable viewing. To do so, however, is largely to miss the point. The first of the year’s Majors is both a garden-party celebration of life and the old game, but it is also the year’s most severe test of a player’s nerve. By contrast, the US Open examines consistency, the Open tests imagination while the PGA Championship more often than not takes a

Victor y came early.

Precisely, it came at the 12th hole, that devlish, short par-3 This missed par putt on the 8th halted Spieth’s final-day momentum

Becoming the oldest Major champion remains a dream for Jimenez

least among the joys on offer were the performances of three men in their fifties.

Fred Couples, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Bernhard Langer reaffirmed the thought that surely someone soon will break the mark left by Julius Boros when he won the PGA’s Wanamaker Trophy, aged 48, back in 1968.

Couples contended for three and a bit days as he traditionally tends to do while Jimenez finished fourth and Langer tied

For the second Major in succession, Jonas Blixt mounted a serious challenge

Final Scores (US unless stated; par-72) 280 Bubba Watson 283 Jonas Blixt (Sweden) Jordan Spieth 284 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 286 Matt Kuchar Rickie Fowler 287 Lee Westwood (England) 288 Bernhard Langer (Germany) John Senden (Australia) Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) Jimmy Walker Kevin Stadler Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland) 289 Stewart Cink Jim Furyk Jamie Donaldson (Wales) Justin Rose (England) Adam Scott (Australia) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 290 Fred Couples Ian Poulter (England) Bill Haas Jason Day (Australia) Chris Kirk 291 Louis Oosthuizen (S. Africa) 292 Steven Bowditch (Australia) Hunter Mahan

293

294 look at endurance. Win all four and you really are some player.

Which brings us to Tiger Woods. The ageing—it’s a relative thing—superstar missed this Masters after an operation on his spine. He, in turn, was sorely missed. Eventually, Woods will fade as everyone does but for now he continues to add lustre to any cluster and his ability to sprinkle stardust everywhere was conspicuous by its absence as he missed his first Masters since his amateur days. When Mickelson then missed the halfway cut, the star factor headed for the door marked Exit as he sped to the airport.

While this impacted on television audiences as fringe supporters of the game turned away, the aficionados of the old game were still left with much to enjoy. Not

eighth. This not only offers testimony to the continuing ability of these veterans to play exceptional golf but also gives significant substance to the thought that at Augusta it’s experience that ultimately counts.

Knowledge is not only power, it’s helpful when it comes to judging a wicked pitch to an angled green or a putt to a precariously placed hole. In this sense at least, this 2014 Masters was not just a second win for Bubba Watson but a priceless master-class for Spieth.

Oh, and Rory McIlroy finished in the top ten for the first time in his short, impressive career. Maybe Augusta, the beauty with a razor blade secreted in her pretty mouth, has decided at last to give her young Irish suitor a break. Roll on 2015 when we’ll find out if this is true. Meanwhile, well done Mr Watson! ★

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295

296

297

298 299 304

69 68 74 69 70 71 71 71 71 70 70 72 71 76 66 71 73 71 68 74 71 75 67 73 73 71 70 73 72 74 73 69 72 68 75 73 73 68 73 74 70 72 76 70 70 73 72 73 71 77 71 69 73 72 76 68 74 68 72 75 73 70 76 70 76 70 69 74 69 72 76 72 73 72 74 70 71 71 73 75 76 70 70 74 68 78 74 70 75 73 70 72 75 72 71 72 69 75 75 72 74 72 74 72 74 72 74 72 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 75 69 74 74 Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 75 73 77 67 Gary Woodland 70 77 69 76 Steve Stricker 72 73 73 75 Martin Kaymer (Germany) 75 72 73 73 Russell Henley 73 70 75 75 K. J. Choi (South Korea) 70 75 78 71 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 74 74 73 73 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 71 72 81 70 Vijay Singh (Fiji) 75 71 74 75 Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 73 74 75 73 Brendon de Jonge (Zimbabwe) 74 72 76 73 Brandt Snedeker 70 74 80 71 Billy Horschel 75 72 75 73 Lucas Glover 75 69 77 75 Kevin Streelman 72 71 74 79 Mike Weir (Canada) 73 72 79 73 Sandy Lyle (Scotland) 76 72 76 73 Darren Clarke (N. Ireland) 74 74 73 76 Nick Watney 72 75 76 74 Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 74 72 76 75 Oliver Goss (Australia; Am) 76 71 76 75 Francesco Molinari (Italy) 71 76 76 76 Larry Mize 74 72 79 79 Forty-six players missed the cut

For Ever Green Patrons and viewers have long been dazzled by the colorful flora that defines Augusta National Golf Club.

Paul Trow marvels at how the former nursery in Georgia keeps flourishing after 80 years of hosting the Masters

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Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have each won it four times, Jack Nicklaus an incredible six.

The three-time winners are Phil Mickelson, Sir Nick Faldo, Sam Snead, Gary Player and Jimmy Demaret.

Completing this virtual ‘Who’s Who?’ of golf, those to double up at the year’s first Major are Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, Horton Smith (the inaugural champion) and, most recently, the mercurial Bubba Watson.

F Augusta National is always in full bloom during Masters week

ollowing the 78th edition of this seductive and alluring championship (three tournaments were lost to World War II), these 16 players account for well over half the victories—45 to be precise. Who says the cream doesn’t rise to the top?

Messrs Palmer, Nicklaus and Player, the honorary starters and erstwhile ‘Big Three,’ teed off this year’s Masters with their ceremonial opening shots, and the rest of us either put our feet up to watch events unfold on our TV sets or pitched up with our shooting sticks and patrons’ passes to witness the thrills and spills of Amen Corner at first hand. By Sunday night, as usual, the

Jones adopted a player’s approach to designing the holes at Augusta National

gamut of our emotions had run their course.

Year after year, ’tis ever thus!

This story for the ages begins about four years prior to the First Annual Invitational Tournament, as the Masters was originally named, in 1934. The greatest golfer of his era had just stepped aside from competition and, truth be told, was seeking a golf project to pursue. Between 1923 and 1930, Bobby Jones won four US Opens and three Opens— as an amateur. He also won the US Amateur Championship five times and the British Amateur Championship once, during his annus mirabilis—1930. That year, he simultaneously annexed all four of golf’s leading trophies— an ‘impregnable quadrilateral,’ according to golf writer O.B. Keeler. Subsequently, his achievement was dubbed the only genuine Grand Slam the game has seen.

Jones promptly retired from championship play. The time had come to pay attention to his law practice in Atlanta. He was also weary of the attention he attracted from spectators even when he teed up for a casual game with

friends. But a notion persisted at the back of his mind—to create his own personal golf club, a dream course but also somewhere he could find peace. This idea resonated with his friend Clifford Roberts, who was a Wall Street financier.

on the grass terrace under the big trees behind the house and looked down over the property, the experience was unforgettable. It seemed that this land had been lying here for years waiting for someone to lay a golf course upon it. The broad expanse of the main body

The old manor and nursery circa 1930, just before Jones acquired the property. Below, members of the Berckmans family on the porch during the early 1900s

Jones and Roberts had mutual connections in Augusta, an inland port founded in 1735 on the Savannah River and named after the mother of King George III. Located 150 miles east of Jones’ home city of Atlanta, it was already the ideal retreat for winter golf— at Augusta Country Club and Forest Hills Golf Club, where Jones had previously won the Southeastern Open. Adjoining Augusta Country Club was the 400-acre Fruitlands Nurseries, a former indigo plantation owned by a Belgian, Baron Louis Berckmans, and overlooked by a 14-room manor house—the first building in the South constructed from what came to be known as concrete.

Jones visited the disused site in 1931 with Roberts and knew instantly this was where he wanted to build his club. He wrote later: “The long lane of magnolias through which we approached was beautiful. The old manor house with its cupola and walls of masonry two feet thick was charming.

The rare trees and shrubs of the old nursery were enchanting. But when I walked out

“The rare trees and shrubs of the old nursery were enchanting”

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of the property lay at my feet then just as it does now. It looked as though it were already a golf course.”

Jones knew just the man to help him create his vision. In the 1929 US Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach, he lost in the first round but remained on the Monterey Peninsula for the rest of the week. During that time, he played the not-yet-opened Cypress Point and met the architect, Dr. Alister Mackenzie. Having studied the Old Course at St Andrews, which Jones hated at first sight before falling helplessly in love, he knew Mackenzie shared his design philosophy.

“Our overall aim at Augusta National was to provide a golf course of considerable natural beauty, enjoyable for the average golfer and at the same time testing for the expert player striving to better par,” Jones wrote. “We want to make the bogeys easy, if frankly sought, pars readily obtainable by standard good play, and birdies, except on par-fives, dearly bought.”

The fairways would be wide and the rough light, so as not to spoil the members’ fun, but during a tournament the greens would

be fast and the pin locations would test the best players. Both Mackenzie and Jones were interested in strategy and Jones hit hundreds of balls to specific locations as the course evolved. Despite the Depression, the course was ready by December 1932 and Augusta National Golf Club—Jones wanted members from overseas as well as around the country— officially opened the following month. The rest, as they say, is history. ★

Masters Timeline 1934—Three months after Mackenzie’s death, the First Annual Invitational Tournament takes place. It was an invitation no one could refuse—not Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen or even the host himself.

Horton Smith won, earning $1,500.

1935—The tournament’s coming of age, thanks to the “shot heard round the world.” Sarazen, trailing Craig Wood by a country mile, holed his second at the par-5 15th with a brassie and won the ensuing 36-hole playoff.

1936—Smith overtakes perpetual bridesmaid ‘Lighthorse’ Harry Cooper on the back nine.

1937—Byron Nelson wins his first Major, aged 25.

1938—Cooper finishes runner-up again, tied with Ralph Guldahl behind Henry Picard.

1939—Guldahl, second the previous two years, pips Sam Snead. Bobby Jones gives in to Clifford Roberts and changes the tournament’s name to the Masters.

1940—Lloyd Mangrum opens with 64, the lowest Major round until 1973, but trails in behind Jimmy Demaret.

1941—Wood, another regular bridesmaid, finally breaks through at a Major.

1942—Nelson holds off Ben Hogan in a playoff.

1946—Hogan is runner-up again, this time to the unsung Herman Keiser.

1947—Demaret claims his second title ahead of Nelson and amateur Frank Stranahan.

1948—Claude Harmon, father of instructor Butch, becomes the first club pro to win the Masters.

1949—The first Green Jacket, the members’ symbolic uniform, is presented to Snead.

1950—Australian Jim Ferrier’s back-nine collapse hands victory to Demaret.

1951—Hogan wins at last, his second Major triumph since his near-fatal car accident in 1949.

1952—The Champions’ Dinner is introduced by Hogan. Ever since the defending champion has selected the menu. The Silver Cup to the low amateur to make the 54-hole cut is presented for the first time, to Chuck Kocsis. Meanwhile, Snead copes best with the high winds to claim the Green Jacket.

1953—Hogan lowers the record 72-hole aggregate to 274 as he wins by five strokes.

1954—Snead edges Hogan in a playoff.

1955—Arnold Palmer ties 10th in his first Masters while Cary Middlecoff runs away with the title.

1956—Jack Burke, Jr, sneaks through to frustrate Ken Venturi, then still an amateur. CBS televise the event for the first time and have done so ever since.

1957—Doug Ford breezes past Snead with a closing 66.

1958—Palmer holds his nerve to secure his first Masters victory after successfully disputing a ‘plugged ball’ ruling by the 12th green. The Augusta National Par-3 course opens.

1959—Art Wall shades Middlecoff with Palmer third.

1960—Palmer birdies the last two holes to consign Venturi to second place again. Snead wins the first Wednesday afternoon Par-3 Contest—to date no

winner has claimed the Green Jacket in the same year.

1961—Gary Player is the first non-American winner

following a final-hole collapse by Palmer. The silver Masters trophy depicting the clubhouse is introduced.

1962—Palmer makes amends by beating Player and Dow Finsterwald in an 18-hole playoff.

1963—Jack Nicklaus wins the first of his six Masters titles. Major champions Fred McLeod and Jock Hutchison become the first honorary starters; their successors included Sarazen, Snead and Nelson prior to today’s trio.

1964—Palmer’s fourth, final and most comfortable Masters success. The Butler Cabin is built.

1965—Nicklaus wins his second Masters with a record aggregate of 271. Jones says, “Mr Nicklaus plays a game with which I am not familiar.”

1966—Nicklaus becomes the first back-to-back winner via a playoff with Gay Brewer and Tommy Jacobs.

1967—A determined Brewer wins his sole Major following a scrap down the stretch with Bobby Nichols.

1968—Bob Goalby wins by one shot after Roberto de Vicenzo signs for a 4 at 17 in the final round when millions of viewers saw him make a 3. That extra stroke costs him a place in a playoff. “Oh, what a stupid I am,” says the noble Argentinian.

1969—Billy Casper wilts to let in George Archer.

1970—Casper goes one better following a playoff against Gene Littler.

1971—Charles Coody holds off Nicklaus and fastfinishing Johnny Miller. Jones passes away following a long degenerative illness.

1972—Nicklaus wins Masters No.4.

1973—Tommy Aaron, de Vicenzo’s hapless marker in 1968, dons the Green Jacket.

1974—Player plays tough and smart for a second Masters, and seventh Major.

1975—Nicklaus wins for the fifth time after a titanic battle with Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. Lee Elder is the first African-American to play in the Masters.

1976—Ray Floyd leads from start to finish.

1977—Tom Watson holds off Nicklaus. Roberts commits suicide by gunshot on the Par-3 course.

1978—Aged 42, Player powers through the field with a closing 64 for his third title.

1979—Fuzzy Zoeller beats Watson and Ed Sneed in the first sudden-death playoff.

1980—Seve Ballesteros wins by four having led by 10 at the turn on the final day.

1981—Watson again, by two from Miller and Nicklaus.

1982—Craig Stadler prevails in a playoff with Dan Pohl. The rule is relaxed requiring players to employ one of the club’s caddies.

1983—Ballesteros by four again.

1984—After five second places, Ben Crenshaw collects his first Major.

1985—On a frenetic final day, Bernhard Langer finishes top of the pile.

1986—Nicklaus, aged 46, closes with 65 to collect his

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sixth and final Green Jacket.

1987—Larry Mize, an Augusta native, chips in from 45 yards on the 11th to win a playoff against Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros.

1988—Sandy Lyle seals Britain’s first Masters.

1989—Sir Nick Faldo capitalizes on Scott Hoch’s 2ft miss on their first playoff hole.

1990—Faldo is playoff king again, at Floyd’s expense.

1991—Ian Woosnam makes it four successive British wins. Bentgrass surfaces the greens for the first time.

1992—Fred Couples cashes in as his ball refuses to spin back into the water at the 12th.

1993—Langer cruises to victory after Chip Beck lays up when in range of the 15th green.

1994—Jose Maria Olazabal becomes Spain’s second Masters champion.

1995—Days after the death of his long-time coach, Harvey Penick, Crenshaw defies a slump in form.

1996—Faldo wins by five shots after trailing Norman by six going into the final round.

1997—Tiger Woods, aged 21, wins by 12 shots with a record aggregate of 270, 18 under par.

1998—Mark O’Meara, aged 41, catches everyone by surprise with his first Major.

1999—Olazabal completes his recovery from a career-threatening injury with a heroic victory.

2000—Vijay Singh claims his second Major.

2001—Woods, with a 272 aggregate, holds off David Duval and Phil Mickelson to complete his Tiger Slam.

2002—Woods grinds his way to a third Green Jacket.

2003—Canada’s Mike Weir becomes the first lefthanded winner. Martha Burk protests at the club’s embargo on women members.

2004—The second left-handed winner is Mickelson.

2005—Woods’ fourth Masters, highlighted by that Nike moment as his ball drops on the 16th green. Chris DiMarco at least takes the great man to a playoff.

2006—Mickelson claims his third Major in two years.

2007—Zach Johnson proves you can win at Augusta by laying up at all the par-5s.

2008—The peak of Trevor Immelman’s career to date.

2009—Argentina’s Angel Cabrera prevails in a playoff with Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell.

2010—Mickelson plays a wonder shot from the copse on 13 to thwart Lee Westwood.

2011— Charl Schwartzel clinches it with four closing birdies following Rory McIlroy’s astonishing collapse.

2012—Bubba Watson plays a miracle shot from the trees on the 10th to win a playoff against Louis Oosthuizen. Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore become the club’s first female members.

2013—Adam Scott is the first Australian to win the title after a playoff with Cabrera.

2014—Bubba outduels Jordan Spieth. Ike’s Tree, a pine left of the 17th fairway blows over in a storm, 58 years after President Dwight D. Eisenhower demanded, unsuccessfully, that it be chopped down.

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Year to Remember Merion, Muirfield and Oak Hill were the time-honored canvases on which three classic Major championships were crafted in 2013. Jack Ross and Peter Phyllisen recount the stories of joy and heartbreak that unfolded at the 113th US Open, the 142nd Open and the 95th PGA Championship

Lee Westwood endured another frustrating year and had to settle for a tie for third at Muirfield after leading with one round to go

When the US Open

returned to fabled Merion for the first time in 32 years last June, it was unquestionably an historic occasion. It was a record 18th USGA championship at the Philadelphia club and a fifth visit by the US Open.

Hugh Wilson’s classic East Course, which opened in 1912, has witnessed some epic moments. In 1930, Bobby Jones completed his Grand Slam there in the US Amateur Championship. In 1950, Ben Hogan capped a remarkable comeback from a near-fatal automobile accident by defying the pain to win the US Open in a playoff. The picture by Sports Illustrated photographer Hy Peskin of Hogan’s epic 1-iron shot from 213 yards on the 18th hole of his final round is the immortal image of this improbable feat.

Last June, the USGA had the mythical 1-iron (which was stolen from Hogan’s locker at Merion but resurfaced decades later) on display. There was much talk about 1-irons during the build-up. Tiger Woods recalled using one early in his career, but said he swiftly transitioned to a 2-iron or 5-wood.

Asked about his 1-iron history, Rory McIlroy responded: “There is no history.

I know what a 1-iron is. I probably can’t hit one.”

Then there were the unique wicker baskets which substitute for flags at Merion. After his misfortune at the Masters two months earlier, when his wedge shot careened off a flagstick into a water hazard, Woods was no doubt wary of them. As it turned out, he had other concerns.

Much pre-tournament speculation centred on whether the East Course would be overpowered by the prodigious length of modern players despite being lengthened to 6,996 yards. After deluges on Friday and Monday, concerns grew that Merion would be ripe for the plucking. More rain came Thursday, delaying the opening round. But the course proved resilient, due primarily to thick, penal rough and challenging hole locations. Only five players broke par, led by Phil Mickelson,

who fired a three-under par 67 after flying in during the wee hours of Thursday morning from his daughter’s eighth grade graduation ceremony in California. “Merion is really fighting hard,” he said. “It’s really demanding.

It’s such a great track.”

“There’s some nasty rough out there,” noted Rickie Fowler, who opened with 70.

Certainly, most players were hitting driver sparingly given the premium on keeping the ball in the fairway.

The East Course didn’t get any easier Friday as the ground began to dry and winds picked up. Six players broke par. Mickelson remained in front at one-under par after a 72 in which he struggled with short putts on speedy greens with diabolical pin positions.

But the leaderboard was lit up with

Rose acknowledges his late father while Mickelson is left to reflect on what might have been

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marquee names. Steve Stricker, Luke Donald and Justin Rose were one back on even par. Ian Poulter was in a group at two over, and Woods, McIlroy and Ernie Els were a shot further back.

After shooting a 79, Jim Furyk suggested the USGA had gone overboard with its course set-up.

“I thought some hole locations would have been unplayable if they were dry and firm,” he said.

On Saturday, Mickelson displayed tenacity and patience. After dropping two strokes early on, he steadied himself with two birdies on the back nine to finish with a 70 that kept him at one under, a stroke ahead of Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel and Stricker. Donald and Rose were two back, but Woods and McIlroy had blown themselves out of contention with rounds of 76 and 75, respectively.

On Sunday, Mickelson was hoping to end his run of five second-place finishes in the US Open. He sounded confident Saturday evening, and he loved Merion. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Two poor wedge shots led to costly bogeys on the back nine, and he couldn’t make up those strokes on Merion’s brutal closing holes.

Mickelson’s travails opened the door for Rose, who stood on the 18th tee with a onestroke lead sensing that a par-4 on the 511yard behemoth would secure victory. When his tee shot bisected the fairway and came to rest within a few feet of the plaque commemorating Hogan’s 1-iron shot, it seemed to be a sign from the heavens that his time had come. Rose then hit a 4-iron just into the fringe at the back of the green and chipped to within inches of the cup.

After holing the putt that clinched his first Major, Rose saluted to the heavens in honour of his late father, Ken. The fact it was Father’s Day was not lost on the 32-year-old Englishman.

“My dad was the inspiration the whole day,” he said.

Following yet another devastating failure to close the deal, Mickelson was left to wonder, at 43, how many more chances he’ll have to win a US Open. “For me it’s heartbreaking. This could have been a really big turnaround for me,” he lamented.

Five weeks later

, Mickelson’s sorrow was heart-warmingly assuaged. Whilst not possessing the same record as an Open contender as in his own national championship, the popular left-hander had still had his moments over more than two decades of grappling with links golf, most notably when he finished third in 2004 and tied for second in 2011. Now, at last, it was his turn to lift the Claret Jug and, fittingly, it was thanks to one of the greatest final rounds in Majors history.

Muirfield, a few miles south of Edinburgh on the east coast of Scotland, was staging the Open for the 16th time. On the 15th occasion, in 2002, the winner was Ernie Els, who, by coincidence, was defending the crown he’d snatched from the faltering Adam Scott down the stretch at Lytham in 2012.

After a phony war dominated by moral outrage at Muirfield’s men-only membership policy, the championship opened with a blue sky, a gentle breeze and bone-hard fairways.

Zach Johnson led the way with a five-under-par 66.

Mickelson, fresh from winning the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart a week earlier, and Woods were three back. But they were upstaged by two former winners who had long been consigned to the Champions Tour— Mark O’Meara, whose putt to tie Johnson on the 18th green lipped out, and Tom Lehman, who strolled round in 68.

Sir Nick Faldo, twice Open champion at Muirfield, was not so successful, eventually signing for 79, the same as

McIlroy and one better than another home hopeful, Donald.

Continuing his fine form in relative maturity, Miguel Angel Jimenez led at the halfway point. The 49-year-old Spanish veteran added a level-par 71 to his opening 68 to stand in proud isolation on three under, one clear of Woods, Dustin Johnson, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and perennial Majors bridesmaid Lee Westwood. Zach Johnson, nine shots worse than day one, was one of four players on 141, one under. Cut missers included McIlroy, Donald, Rose, Furyk, Faldo and fivetime champion Tom Watson.

Westwood has contended enough in Majors to identify crucial moments. Standing in grass up to his knees left of the short 16th, the 40-yearold Englishman took two further stabs to reach the putting surface. Then he sank his 12ft putt to salvage a precious bogey en route to a two-shot, 54-hole lead over Woods and Mahan.

Had he made putts like that in the past, Westwood might not have missed the playoffs for the 2008 US Open at Torrey

Scott’s finish at Muirfield, five over for the last six holes, was even worse than a year earlier at Lytham

Pines or the 2009 Open at Turnberry. He might even have held off Mickelson at the Masters in 2010.

“He’s two shots ahead, but it’s not just us two,” said Woods. “There’s a bunch of guys who have a chance to win this tournament.”

The denouement of the 142nd Open witnessed Mickelson’s Sunday best. Five adrift at the start, he blew imperiously past the leader, the world No.1, the Masters champion, in-form Stenson and several other hopefuls.

Taking the genuine contenders in turn…

Westwood fell behind with a bogey at the short 13th, never recovered and tied third with 75. Scott took the outright lead with a 4ft birdie on the 11th, then closed even more sloppily than 12 months with five bogeys over the last six holes—also to tie third. Woods, in his best position to win a Major since 2009, stumbled to 74 to tie sixth with Zach Johnson and Japanese youngster Hideki Matsuyama.

Poulter, who covered a four-hole stretch in five under, carded 67 for the clubhouse lead, but in the end linked arms with Westwood and Scott.

And Stenson? He stuck to the task—his closing 70 sealing second place, three shots shy.

But the day was all about Mickelson, who blasted to the top of the pile with a majestic 66. The key was four birdies over the last six holes. “We know he goes for broke, and he’s got the ability to pull it off,” Scott said. “He’s gone and won an Open easily, so every credit to him.”

“It just so happened to be one of the best rounds of my career. I don’t want anybody to hand it to me. I’ve always tried to go out and get it. And today, I did,” said Mickelson, the only player to finish below par—on 281, three under.

“Best round I’ve ever seen him play,” concluded his caddie, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay.

The third leg of a career Grand Slam is now in Mickelson’s bag, leaving only that elusive US Open hoodoo to be exorcised.

Prior to the PGA Championship

at Oak Hill, the difficulty of the East Course was on everyone’s minds. Donald Ross’s masterpiece had yielded only ten sub-par aggregates during its five previous Majors, so red numbers were expected to be in short supply.

Mickelson arrived in upstate New York on a high from winning his first Open while Woods had sewn up Player of the Year honours by lapping the field in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. Perhaps the world No.1’s five-year Major drought was about to end on the majestic, tree-lined holes of Oak Hill, we all wondered. But scripts at the Majors are rarely predictable. Rain had softened the narrow fairways, making it easier for players to hold them and then fire aggressively at pins.

By the end of the first round, 35 players were below par, led by Furyk and Scott with 65, fiveunder par. Absent from the red column were Woods and Mickelson, who both finished on 71. Neither ever got to grips with the tournament, and at the end of a week when 21 players finished below par, Woods tied 40th and Mickelson tied 72nd.

Furyk’s place at the helm was a surprise after he’d missed the cut at Merion and Muirfield. But his methodical, accurate game was well-suited to the East Course where thick rough severely punished errant shots. Meanwhile, Scott described his front-nine binge of five straight birdies as “probably the best run I’ve ever had.”

Despite the presence of nearly all the world’s top players, the championship had turned into a one-man show by Friday evening. After opening with 68, Jason Dufner, a lowkey Alabaman who displays less emotion than a secret service agent, romped to a 63 that tied the lowestround record in a Major (now achieved 26 times). His quest for an unprecedented 62 died when his 12ft

uphill birdie putt on 18 finished 12 inches short.

Still at nine-under-par he had tied the lowest 36hole total in PGA Championship history.

Scott and Furyk posted rounds of 68 and, along with Matt Kuchar, were two back of Dufner at seven under. Scott thought the continuing rain on Thursday evening and Friday morning had made the course play extremely long, with the 510-yard par-4 17th hole “probably not reachable by a lot of guys in two.” Furyk, however, was satisfied with his score given that he’d struggled at times.

“Today I had to guts it out a little,” he said.

The sun finally appeared late on Friday afternoon and a dryer, firmer layout duly greeted the players on Saturday. Unable to take advantage of his precise iron shots, Dufner struggled on the greens and carded a 71. This opened the door for Furyk, whose steady 68 earned him a one-stroke lead.

Furyk experienced another uninspired final round as he sought to banish the ghosts of his 2012 collapse

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“My [putting] speed was pretty bad today,” Dufner confessed. “I couldn’t get the ball to the hole.” Furyk, meanwhile, bogeyed two of his first three holes but righted himself with four birdies over a nine-hole stretch.

Seemingly comfortable with his game, he said: “I’m going to have fun with it [the final round].

I’m going to enjoy the opportunity.”

When Furyk and Dufner teed off together in the last group on Sunday afternoon, the theme of the championship had become one of redemption. Could Furyk banish the ghosts of Olympic in 2012, where he let slip the US Open lead on Sunday with a closing 74? Could Dufner similarly make amends for losing the 2011 PGA Championship to Keegan Bradley in a playoff after leading by four shots with four holes to play? Could Stenson, two behind Furyk after three rounds, eclipse his near miss at Muirfield?

In the end, Dufner’s Hoganesque ballstriking sealed the deal. His 68 hoisted him to 10 under, two strokes clear of Furyk who had a 71. Furyk played steadily but, in a final round that seemed like match play, he couldn’t keep pace with his playing partner’s mammoth drives and laser-like wedge shots. With several tap-ins for birdie, Dufner’s putter was never really put to the test.

As he walked off the 18th green, his good friend Bradley gave him a hug. “It’s pretty neat to come back and win a PGA, to be honest,” said the laid-back Dufner, though he doubted his new-found status would change him as a person.

Dufner has a deep appreciation of golf history.

Photographs of Hogan decorate his house, and he and his wife Amanda collected acorns at Oak Hill to plant at their new home. Little did they know at the start of the week they’d also be taking the Wanamaker Trophy back to Alabama with them. Hopefully, Hogan would have approved.★

2013 Roll of Honor

US players unless stated

US Open

The Open Championship

PGA Championship

East Course, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pennsylvania; Par-70; June 13-16

Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland; Par-71; July 18-21

East Course, Oak Hill Country Club, Pittsford, New York; Par-70; August 8-11

281 283

Justin Rose (England) Jason Day (Australia) Phil Mickelson 285 Jason Dufner Ernie Els (South Africa) Billy Horschel Hunter Mahan 286 Luke Donald (England) Steve Stricker 287 Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) Rickie Fowler 288 Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 289 Lee Westwood (England) John Senden (Australia) 290 John Huh Brandt Snedeker David Lingmerth (Sweden) Michael Kim (Amateur) 291 Martin Laird (Scotland) Padraig Harrington (Ireland) David Hearn (Canada) Matthew Goggin (Australia) Bo Van Pelt Ian Poulter (England) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 292 Mike Weir (Canada) John Parry (England) Matt Kuchar Morten Orum Madsen (Denmark)

71 69 71 70 70 74 68 71 67 72 70 74 74 71 73 67 71 72 73 69 72 67 72 74 72 69 69 75 68 72 71 75 71 69 70 76 71 75 74 67 69 72 74 72 71 72 72 72 70 76 67 74 70 71 69 78 70 77 69 73 70 71 74 74 71 73 75 71 74 74 70 72 74 71 71 74 73 70 71 76 74 73 76 68 73 71 75 72 78 69 73 71 68 74 76 73 73 71 72 75 71 71 73 76 74 68 73 76 72 76 75 69 76 71 72 73 74 73 72 73 74 74 70 74

293 Kevin Chappell 72 76 74 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 74 70 77 72, Webb Simpson 71 75 75 72, K. J. Choi (South Korea) 70 76 75 72, Tiger Woods 73 70 76 74, Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 73 73 73 74, Bubba Watson 71 76 70 76, Edward Loar 73 71 73 76, Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 76 71 69 77. 294 Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 72 75 74 73, Scott Langley 75 70 75 74, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 73 70 75 76, Jerry Kelly 70 73 75 76. 295 Steven Alker (New Zealand) 73 75 75 72, Russell Knox (Scotland) 69 75 77 74, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 73 73 75 74, Adam Scott (Australia) 72 75 73 75, Kim Bi-o (South Korea) 72 75 73 75, Cheng-tsung Pan (Chinese Taipei, Amateur) 72 72 75 76, Charley Hoffman 71 73 72 79, Paul Casey (England) 73 72 71 79. 296 Scott Stallings, Matt Bettencourt. 297 Dustin Johnson. 298 Josh Teater, Nicholas Thompson, George Coetzee (South Africa). 299 Shawn Stefani, Martin Kaymer (Germany), Marcel Siem (Germany). 300 Kevin Phelan (Ireland, Amateur), Matt Weibring. 301 Michael Weaver (Amateur). 302 Peter Hedblom (Sweden), David Howell (England). 303 Kevin Sutherland, John Peterson, Jim Herman, Alistair Presnell (Australia). 305 Robert Karlsson (Sweden).

306 Simon Khan (England). 308 Kyle Stanley.

281 284 285

Phil Mickelson Henrik Stenson (Sweden) Ian Poulter (England) Adam Scott (Australia) Lee Westwood (England) 286 Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) Zach Johnson Tiger Woods 287 Francesco Molinari (Italy) Hunter Mahan 288 Brandt Snedeker Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 289 Justin Leonard Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 290 Eduardo de la Riva (Spain) Harris English Danny Willett (England) Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) Keegan Bradley Matt Kuchar 291 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) Richard Sterne (South Africa) Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) Sergio Garcia (Spain)

69 74 72 66 70 70 74 70 72 71 75 67 71 72 70 72 72 68 70 75 71 73 72 70 66 75 73 72 69 71 72 74 69 74 72 72 72 72 68 75 68 79 69 72 69 72 73 74 74 70 74 71 68 71 77 73 73 73 75 69 74 71 75 70 75 72 72 71 75 68 76 71 75 74 70 71 74 73 72 71 76 70 76 69 72 71 76 72 75 75 68 73 67 74 76 74 75 73 68 75

292 Jason Dufner 72 77 76 67, Jonas Blixt (Sweden) 72 78 73 69, Stewart Cink 72 75 76 69, Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 81 69 70 72, Steven Tiley (England) 72 75 73 72, Ernie Els (South Africa) 74 74 70 74. 293 Oliver Fisher (England) 70 78 77 68, Shane Lowry (Ireland) 74 74 75 70, Fred Couples 75 74 73 71, Y. E. Yang (South Korea) 78 70 73 72, Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 79 71 71 72, Bud Cauley 74 75 71 73, Bubba Watson 70 73 77 73, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 72 74 72 75, Jason Day (Australia) 73 71 72 77, Dustin Johnson 68 72 76 77, Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 74 71 71 77, Ryan Moore 72 70 72 79. 294 Bo Van Pelt, Tim Clark (South Africa), Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Martin Laird (Scotland), Matthew Fitzpatrick (England, Amateur), Mark Brown (New Zealand), K. J. Choi (South Korea), Jordan Spieth, Shingo Katayama (Japan). 295 Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Marcus Fraser (Australia), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain), Carl Pettersson (Sweden). 296 Mark O’Meara, Richie Ramsay (Scotland), Boo Weekley, Tom Lehman, Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland), Johnson Wagner. 297 Ben Curtis, Chris Wood (England), Branden Grace (South Africa), Webb Simpson, Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), Gregory Bourdy (France), Ken Duke.

298 Gareth Wright (Wales), George Coetzee (South Africa).

299 Shiv Kapur (India), K. T. Kim (South Korea), Russell Henley, Jimmy Mullen (England, Amateur), Todd Hamilton, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark). 300 Kevin Streelman, Mikko Ilonen (Finland), Peter Senior (Australia). 301 Josh Teater. 303 Graham Delaet (Canada). 307 Sandy Lyle (Scotland).

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270 272 273 274 275 276 277

278

279

280

281

282

Jason Dufner Jim Furyk Henrik Stenson (Sweden) Jonas Blixt (Sweden) Adam Scott (Australia) Scott Piercy David Toms Dustin Johnson Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) Zach Johnson Jason Day (Australia) Steve Stricker Marc Warren (Scotland) Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) Marc Leishman (Australia) Roberto Castro Boo Weekley Kevin Streelman Keegan Bradley Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) Rickie Fowler Michael Thompson Matt Kuchar David Lynn (England) Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) Bill Haas Robert Garrigus Webb Simpson Ryo Ishikawa (Japan) Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spain) Scott Jamieson (Scotland)

68 63 71 68 65 68 68 71 68 66 69 70 68 70 66 70 65 68 72 70 67 71 72 65 71 69 69 67 72 71 65 69 69 71 67 70 69 70 70 68 67 71 72 67 68 67 70 73 74 67 68 69 70 69 73 66 70 70 70 68 68 69 71 70 72 69 70 67 70 72 66 70 69 72 72 66 72 68 73 66 70 68 72 69 72 67 72 69 67 66 76 71 69 69 71 71 68 71 71 71 68 70 71 72 67 68 74 72 72 64 73 72 69 71 70 72 68 72 75 67 68 75 69 70 69 72 70 71

283 Francesco Molinari (Italy) 72 68 70 73, Brendon de Jonge (Zimbabwe) 71 71 71 70, Paul Casey (England) 67 72 74 70, Peter Hanson (Sweden) 72 69 74 68, Justin Rose (England) 68 66 77 72, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 68 68 78 69, Lee Westwood (England) 66 73 68 76. 284 D. A. Points, Charley Hoffman, Tiger Woods, J. J. Henry, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark), Danny Willett (England), Matthew Jones (Australia). 285 Luke Guthrie, John Merrick, K. J. Choi (South Korea), Ryan Palmer, David Hearn (Canada), Marcus Fraser (Australia), Josh Teater, Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand). 286 Scott Stallings, Ryan Moore. 287 Chris Kirk, Hunter Mahan, Shane Lowry (Ireland), Ken Duke.

288 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Ian Poulter (England), Harris English, Tommy Gainey. 289 Ben Curtis, Brandt Snedeker. 290 Vijay Singh (Fiji), Tim Clark (South Africa). 291 Brooks Koepka, John Senden (Australia). 292 Phil Mickelson, Matteo Manassero (Italy). 293 Gary Woodland.

296 Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland).

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Justin Rose pauses to think of his late dad Ken as he cradles the US Open trophy on Father’s Day, 2013

Rob Carr / Getty Images

U.S. Open Champion

Full Bloom

It has been a long journey for Justin Rose, from notoriety as a teenage prodigy to general acclaim as a proven champion.

He reflects with Paul Mahoney on how his victory in last year ’s US Open at Merion has helped to define an already highly successful career

ustin Rose’s transformation from gangly 17-year-old amateur sensation to athletic 32-year-old Major champion can be defined by two shots. They will stay with him forever.

The first was that 50-yard wedge shot he holed to seal a tie for fourth in the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale. It was Rose’s last strike of a golf ball before joining the paid ranks and setting off on an ignominious run of 21 missed cuts in a row.

His second memorable shot was the fizzing 4-iron from 229 yards to the final green at Merion that cemented his victory in last year’s US Open—the first by an Englishman since Tony Jacklin 43 years earlier.

Rose returned to play Merion with some friends last October. When they reached the 18th fairway, he was predictably asked to recreate his heroic shot a few yards from the plaque commemorating the legendary 1-iron that Ben Hogan striped en route to winning the 1950 US Open. This time, Rose hit it long and left.

Four months earlier, after twoputting from the back of the 18th green, he pointed to the skies in memory of his father who died of leukaemia in 2002.

“I’d watched Rory [McIlroy] and Graeme [McDowell] hugging their fathers on the 18th after winning a US Open and, because dad had passed away, I thought I would never experience what they felt,” Rose said. “But I was wrong, I did and I was surprised how wonderful it felt. Honestly, I could feel him there with me that day.”

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To hold and kiss the trophy was the culmination of quite a journey for Rose—one of peaks and troughs to establish himself among the game’s elite. “Grinding and struggling for 15, 20 years to get to this point and suddenly you win one week, one big tournament. Obviously it’s a huge moment, but it doesn’t add up to the struggles and all the effort you put in. You have just got to continue to love the game and work hard. How good can I be? If I focus on that side of the game, I believe tournaments and Major championships will come to me rather than me trying to chase them down. I always felt I could win a Major, I just didn’t know when.

“The realization hit me at the Ryder Cup [in 2012] that you can’t play in a more pressurized atmosphere.

You’ve got the weight of your own

US Open Champion

illanditae dolor mosaeroris aut facessi blautesti dolesedi aut et pero qui ut

Justin Rose England

Born: 30 July 1980 Turned Pro: 1998 Major Win: US Open 2013 Professional Wins: 15

expectations but also that of 11 other players plus the whole continent. What I learned is you don’t have to be in complete control of your body as long as you’re in complete control of your mind. The body will follow the mind. That has taken a while to learn. Being able to stand up and produce my best when I really needed it was evidence that something had changed and that I could do it at the highest level.”

The US Open title duly followed. “There’s a period when you’re holding the actual trophy that [Jack] Nicklaus and [Ben] Hogan and Tiger [Woods] have all held; that’s what makes it very special. I catch myself, if I see it in the house—it makes me smile out of the blue, knowing I’m now part of the history of it.”

But Rose knows he can’t forever wallow in that history, anymore than he can ignore that wedge shot at Birkdale. “It was a piece of history, but it all feels a lifetime ago, a different me, a bit of a fairy tale.”

Rose has two young children with wife Kate and also enjoys a high-profile role as the official touring professional and ambassador for Golf at Goodwood in southern England. “I

am delighted to be representing Goodwood on tour,” he says. “It has such a great heritage and history. They have great plans for their junior golf program and hopefully one day Goodwood might have a US Open or Open champion.” But he still believes there is plenty left in his own tank in terms of potential further championship success. “When you win a Major, you never want it to be, ‘Okay, I’m done, that’s enough for me.’ You really want to kick on and win as many as you can. It’s only great to truly reflect on it at the end of your career, when you’re an old man sitting on your veranda. But there have been great players who have never won a Major, so I feel very grateful to have that monkey off my back.

“Clearly you’re the US Open champion for a calendar year only, for a rolling year to June.

But once the calendar year ticks over, you have to freshen up your mental approach. You renew your goals. I actually took the trophy down to Seminole [in Florida] for the Member/ Pro charity day [in February]. That was the first time I’d really had an outing with it for quite a while, so, yeah, my mind has probably moved on from being the US Open champion and on to the next challenge.”

Looking back and summing up 2013, Rose paused then came up with “Amazing.” But that wasn’t sufficient to express his feelings. “One word is difficult,” he said. “It was definitely a dream-come-true season. Winning a Major is what I’ve dreamed of ever since I started

Europe’s 2012 victory in the Ryder Cup at Medinah helped to add fizz to Rose’s game

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playing the game. That’s been the benchmark and the goal. So to have it now done and dusted is an amazing feeling.”

One of the perks of being US Open champion was an invitation to sit in the Royal Box during the tennis championships at Wimbledon and witness the breakthrough of another talented British sportsman, Andy Murray. “It struck me how at the highest level of sport, the margins are so small. Andy won three sets to love [against Novak Djokovic] but even in that final game, when he was an advantage down, I think if he’d lost that game the match would still have been on a knife edge.

“There is one moment all sportsmen have that you need to take, and he took his chance.

That’s what I had to do at Merion. What I took out of Merion is that I’m ready to relish the opportunity. I’m sure I’m going to win some more [titles], and lose some as well.”

Rose believes he is entering his prime.

He has always thought that his time would be between the ages of 30 and 40. “You take encouragement from guys like Phil [Mickelson], who didn’t win the first of his Majors until he was 33, and Adam [Scott], who is pretty much my age.” Both Rose and Scott were 32 when they claimed their maiden Majors.

Rose compared celebrating Europe’s ‘Miracle of Medinah’ Ryder Cup victory with his US Open triumph. “The celebrations are better when you win as a team,” he said. “In a way, the US Open is more satisfying as it goes back almost 30 years of me dreaming and hoping.

This is all about the calloused hands. This is more satisfying because you’ve had to do it the hard way on your own. When I was missing 21 cuts in a row at the start of my professional career, I was just trying to not fade away. Deep down I always knew I had the talent. I simply thought that if I put talent and hard work together surely it would work out in the end.”

Rose’s good friend Scott, who beat him to a Major victory by two months, texted Rose from Augusta National after winning the 2013 Masters.

The message was simple: “This is our time.”

There are no prizes for guessing which Major Rose would like to win next. “The Open stands out for me. I have a special relationship with it. Even going back to when I was 14 and led my regional qualifying. And we all know what happened in ’98. The Open is the one I’ve dreamed of winning the most.” ★

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A smiling Phil Mickelson finally got his hands on the Claret Jug at Muirfield in 2013

David Cannon / R&A

The Open Champion

Right on with Lefty

Perhaps the most popular victory of modern times in the Open Championship was cemented last year over the hallowed links of Muirfield by the game’s perennial favourite, Phil Mickelson. Jack Ross charts the background to the charismatic Californian’s success and what it meant to him

t breakfast on the final day of the Open Championship last year at Muirfield, Phil Mickelson boldly announced to his wife, Amy, and their three children that he intended to bring home the Claret Jug. Now if this had been the Masters, which Mickelson had won three times, such prophecy might have been plausible.

But this was the Open, in which ‘Lefty’ had a dismal record—a mere two top10 finishes in 20 starts—and on this occasion he was five strokes behind the leader. There were numerous reasons why even Amy might have questioned her husband’s sanity.

Principally, Mickelson would have to go low on one of the fiercest tests

in links golf. The course—designed by ‘Old’ Tom Morris in 1891—is the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers who drew up the first formal rules of the game. Its narrow, firm fairways are bordered by thin strips of “playable rough” which soon give way to knee-high native grasses. No fewer than 155 bunkers litter the course, many so diabolical that players who have the misfortune to find them have no option but to play out sideways. Then there are the ferocious winds that blow off the Firth of Forth, which can turn an 8-iron shot one day into a 3-wood the next.

There was a reason Mickelson had a bleak record in the Open, and it was not jetlag or bland British fare.

Simply put, links golf had never been his game. He is a product of southern California and grew up playing courses

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that favour raw power off the tee and the ability to attack pins situated on lush, soft greens with precision wedge shots that impart maximum backspin.

Land the ball 10 feet past the hole and spin it into the cup.

Links golf is a different animal. It is the antithesis of the power game. The challenge is to prevent your tee shot from rolling too far on the hard-baked fairways (some tee shots at Muirfield rolled over 400 yards) to find one of the sinister pot bunkers that preclude a shot to the green. Links golf also demands that you master the art of landing your approach 20 yards short in the hope, not expectation, that, if you don’t get a bad bounce, the ball rolls somewhere near the hole. Few shots were spotted spinning backwards on the greens at Muirfield. The divot repair tool was almost an endangered species.

The Open Champion

Mickelson, arms aloft, illanditae dolor mosaeroris facessi drains hisaut final putt blautesti dolesedi aut et pero qui ut on the 18th green

“The type of golf you have to play in a Major is so different to any other tournament,” Mickelson reflected. “Very often in the Open, the rough is thick, the ground firm, the winds strong and the pin positions tight. You can’t go for the flag. Most of the time you have to try to run the ball up into the middle of the greens whereas back in the States you have to go for every pin otherwise you’re going to get beat.

It’s taken me a while to learn that.”

With this in mind, Mickelson (2over par) started the last day five strokes behind Lee Westwood (3-under), who had played steady golf. A five-stroke deficit at Muirfield seemed more like 10 in an ordinary PGA Tour event. The venerable links course was yielding birdies more sparingly than Tiger Woods was signing autographs. With names like Westwood, Woods (1-under), Adam Scott (even), Angel Cabrera, Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson (all 1-over) on the leaderboard, surely someone would put up a good number. Almost all of the attention was on the anticipated duel between Westwood, perennially seeking his first Major, and Woods, intent on breaking his five-year drought.

Finally, there were lingering questions about Mickelson’s emotional state in the

A five-stroke deficit at Muirfield seemed more like ten in an ordinary PGA Tour event Mickelson picked up the Scottish Open trophy (above) at Castle Stuart en route to becoming the Open champion

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wake of his heartbreaking loss at Merion the month before, where for the sixth time he had finished a US Open runner-up. He called it the most painful loss of his career. “He hardly got out of bed for two days. It was the worst disappointment for him of any tournament, by far,” said Amy, the former Phoenix Suns cheerleader he met while they were fellow students at Arizona State University.

Living with Amy, though, is usually the perfect antidote to PGA Tour disappointment for Mickelson. As he recalls: “I met her when she lived above a friend of mine on the golf team. I was hanging out with this guy and he introduced me to her.

We still live in the area not only because we both went to school there but because it’s easy to get to San Diego and Salt Lake City in Utah where she comes from. We liked Phoenix, so we got a house there.”

While at ASU, Mickelson claimed three successive NCAA Championships and won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open in Tucson—an incredible achievement for a 20-year-old amateur.

“I don’t know if that was the greatest moment in my life, but it was certainly a great accomplishment for me at the time. I made a triple-bogey on the 14th hole, losing my lead and looking like I was out of the tournament, then came back with a couple of birdies and won with a brilliant last hole. It was exciting but it also gave me an opportunity to turn professional straight out of college after I graduated and step straight out onto the tour without having to go through qualifying school.”

That was indeed an important platform for the fledgling Mickelson, but equally significant was his victory in the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart near Inverness, the week before his Open triumph. It encouraged him to go with the flow on the back nine at Muirfield when most of his rivals were searching for balls in knee-high gorse and slashing out of deep bunkers. At that point, Mickelson’s self-described “love-hate” relationship with links golf turned decidedly romantic. In brief, he birdied four of the last six holes to record a five-under par 66 that put him in the clubhouse on three-under-par and

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with a virtually uncatchable lead. Meanwhile, the rest of the field foundered. Several players were still on the course while Mickelson’s name was being engraved on the Claret Jug. On the front nine, Mickelson birdied the 5th and 9th to get back to even par for the tournament, but no one was paying much attention. A bogey on the 10th hole seemed to stymie his momentum (he was four strokes behind Westwood at that stage), but he rallied with a birdie on 13 after flushing a 5-iron to 10 feet. “It was a putt that was going to make the rest of the round go one way or another,” said Mickelson. “Because I thought if I made it, it would give me some momentum, get me to even par for the championship, a score that I thought had a good chance of being enough.”

Mickelson followed that with a birdie at the 14th, and suddenly found himself in the lead as Scott and Westwood wobbled. After pars at the 15th and 16th, he stood on the 575yard par-5 17th tee at one-under and knew that getting to two-under would be crucial.

He hit two perfect 3-woods (Mickelson didn’t carry a driver in his bag that week at Muirfield) to reach the green, and two-putted for birdie. “That’s the moment I had to compose myself, because they were two of the best 3-woods I ever hit,” said Mickelson. “That’s exactly why I didn’t have a driver in the bag. Those two 3-woods were the best shots of the week, and walking up on that green is when I realized that this championship was very much in my control.

And I was getting a little emotional.”

His coup de grâce was a brilliant 6-iron into the 18th green, just clearing a bunker and filtering down to the hole. Then his 12ft birdie putt extinguished any fleeting hopes that may have lingered for his rivals. If Mickelson was “a little emotional,” his caddie Jim (“Bones”) Mackay was in tears. “You’re with a guy for all that time and it’s pretty cool when you see him play the best round of his career in the last round of the British Open to win,” said Mackay. “He played the best round of golf I’ve ever seen him play.”

Reflecting on the significance of his accomplishment, Mickelson said: “I just could not be more proud to be your champion. I never knew in my career if I’d be equipped, if I would have the shots, if I would have the opportunity to win a tournament here. And to do it, to play some of the best golf, probably the best round

Phil Mickelson USA

Born: 16 June 1970 Turned Pro: 1992 Major Wins: 5 (Masters 2004, 2006, 2010; PGA Championship 2005; Open 2013) Professional Wins: 51

“I realized that this championship was very much in my control. And I was getting a little emotional” Phil Mickelson poses with his coach Butch Harmon and the Claret Jug after winning the 142nd Open Championship at Muirfield

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of my career, and break through and capture this Claret Jug is probably the most fulfilling moment of my career.”

One person who was not surprised by Mickelson’s mastery of Muirfield Sunday was his swing coach, Butch Harmon. “Once he embraced links golf and took it to heart, he learned he couldn’t overpower it and had to play the shots the course gives you.” Nor was he surprised that Mickelson had shaken off the heartbreak of Merion. “The man just gets up off the mat,” Harmon said. “You can knock him down but he’s not going to stay down.”

Mickelson’s brilliant 66 at Muirfield will be remembered as one of the great final rounds for as long as the game is played. It secured his fifth Major and put him in reach of a career Grand Slam if, one day, he can shrug that US Open monkey from his back. But, of course, Amy knew all this at breakfast.★

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Even Jason Dufner is unable to suppress a smile as he celebrates his first Major win with the Wanamaker Trophy

Andrew Redington / Getty Images

PGA Championship Champion

Duf on the Up

Jason Dufner has risen to prominence at a relatively late age and approaches most things that life throws at him with equanimity if not indifference. Certainly his PGA Championship triumph at Oak Hill last August has not fazed him. Iain Carter catches up with ‘golf ’s ultimate flatliner ’

t should be a safe bet. Striking your first shot in a Major after winning one of golf’s big four titles has to be an exciting experience, especially when the tournament is the Masters and you’re in the company of the defending champion.

But it would be a reluctant wager if you had seen Jason Dufner at the start of his first round at Augusta National in April. It was as though the PGA champion could scarcely summon the effort to put one foot in front of the other as he plodded after his opening tee-shot.

The 37-year-old American had dispatched the best drive of the three players in his marquee group. Yet

Adam Scott and US Amateur champion Matt Fitzpatrick appeared positively buoyant in comparison as they strode after their errant efforts.

Dufner, meanwhile, had nothing more than a vacant, doleful look. His arms hung motionless. Only his legs moved. It wasn’t a march, nor was it a stroll. It was a trudge. One that was full of effort and devoid of enthusiasm.

It was as though he knew disaster was about to strike. Ironically, it did—at the 13th where he put two balls into the water and ran up a ruinous 9 en route to an 80 that cost him any chance of winning back-to-back Majors.

But he wasn’t to know this heading down the first fairway and it’s also fair to say Dufner wasn’t feeling as miserable as he looked. Indeed, he may well have been bubbling with excitement inside, he just doesn’t possess the demeanour

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to let us know. After all, Dufner is golf’s ultimate flatliner—someone whose expression remains the same whatever his change of circumstances. In fact, life has altered fairly dramatically over the past year for this resident of Auburn, Alabama, and very much for the better. His victory at the PGA Championship was his first Major title and the product of exceptional ball striking and an equable temperament.

“It’s definitely going to change my life,” he admitted in the wake of his victory at Oak Hill. “But I’m determined that it’s not going to change me. I’ve got a great circle around me, from my management team, to my caddie, to my wife, to my coach. I’m looking for them to keep me in check. It’s going to be a difficult task. You hear a lot of guys [talk] about the demands of winning a Major and what that brings.”

PGA Championship Champion

The demons of his playoff defeat in 2011 are forgotten as Dufner claims the 95th PGA Championship at Oak Hill

Over the weekend, his nerve held and a rare smile played over his face as he grabbed that first Major title

Dufner with his first PGA Tour trophy at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2012

And as his Augusta expression proved, he does remain the same old Jason Dufner. He knew it within days of winning the Wanamaker Trophy when his wife Amanda had him putting out the bins and tending to the 3am needs of their new French Bulldog puppy, Prince Louie.

Of the round that won him his first Major, he says: “I was pretty flatlined for most of the day”—not a bad way to be when you’re fending off Jim Furyk and Henrik Stenson for the biggest prize of your career. That August day in Rochester, New York, there was recent history to slay as well. In the same championship at Atlanta Athletic Club two years earlier, Dufner had seen a four-stroke lead disappear over the final four holes. He then lost a play-off to Keegan Bradley.

If he wasn’t so talented, that runner-up finish might have proved the highpoint of an otherwise humdrum career. In his early years as a pro, Dufner had yo-yoed between the PGA Tour and feeder circuits. In 2008, though, he earned back his playing rights and teamed up with Chuck Cook, the man who tutored US Open winners Payne Stewart and Tom Kite.

Cook could see that Dufner had all the requisite raw materials. “He was just in a bad spot with his swing,” the coach recalled.

“He had some bad habits and couldn’t hit it straight or with any distance consistently.”

It’s a malaise that’s now hard to imagine.

Dufner takes a trademark couple of waggles and then executes a swing that TV producers still occasionally split-screen alongside the iconic action of Ben Hogan, such are the similarities.

His near miss in 2011 notwithstanding, Dufner had to wait till the following season before chalking up a first PGA Tour victory (at his 164th attempt), edging out Ernie Els in a playoff in New Orleans. He then took just three weeks to claim a second title, at the Byron Nelson Championship, and a few months later made his Ryder Cup debut at Medinah.

The wins might have been a long time coming, but Dufner’s consistency is undeniable. Since 2009, he has grossed more than $15 million in official prize money. “His technique is now the most efficient on Tour,” Cook said. “Duf is a big practicer, works hard.

He’s more talented than most people think, very talented in fact.”

Those 2012 successes laid the foundations,

Jason Duffner USA

Born: 24 March 1977 Turned Pro: 2000 Major Win: PGA Championship 2013 Professional Wins: 5

Chuck Cook casts his expert eye over Dufner’s chipping technique

but his coach felt he was heading to Oak Hill destructively short of confidence. Cook needed to jolt his pupil out of a summer slump, so he convinced him the course would be “a ball striker’s paradise.” Proof soon followed.

Dufner had a chance to post the first 62 at a Major but left short a 12ft uphill birdie putt on the last. “It’s tough when you’re chasing history,” he recalled. “You’ll be the first to do something. I don’t think I’ve ever been the first to do anything in my life.”

Over the weekend, his nerve held and a rare smile played over his face as he grabbed that first Major title. Bradley, his nemesis two years earlier, ran a red light to return to the course to be among the first to congratulate him. After what happened in Atlanta, the pair had forged a strong friendship. In their embrace by the 18th green, Bradley told his Ryder Cup teammate, “I’m proud of you.”

Dufner remembers: “I was probably over

what happened in Atlanta, 95 percent of it, by the time I got home. But you always carry the scars with you. He always jabbed me a bit about having one of these [a Wanamaker

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Trophy]. Now I’ve got one too. It’s pretty neat to come back and win a PGA to be honest.”

That’s about as expressive as it gets for Dufner. In March 2013, he visited a Dallas school for a charity event and was famously photographed sitting on a classroom floor with his back to a map of the world and his hands tucked beneath him. He wore his usual look of disinterest, in stark contrast to the alert expressions on the children’s faces around him.

Upon seeing the picture (see below), Bradley released it to the world through his Twitter account and the craze of “Dufnering” was born. “I couldn’t quite believe how much it caught on and continued to trend throughout the year,” Dufner admitted. “Everywhere I go people are still asking me about it, even in 2014. Maybe there’ll be something new and exciting for this year.”

A more likely bet would be for him to win a second Major. While preparing for the Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes two years ago, he visited Royal Liverpool, scene of this year’s championship. “I played there [Royal Liverpool] a couple of times and really liked the challenges of the course.” Thanks to Cook’s Stewart connection, Dufner should be well drilled for the US Open at Pinehurst, and he is certainly a PGA Championship specialist with three top-five finishes in the last four years (he also tied fifth in 2010).

Dufner certainly shouldn’t be discounted as a title challenger at any of the Majors anytime soon. He might even be excited at such a prospect, though you’d struggle to notice.★

Phil Sheldon

FALDO CRUCIALLY SAVED PAR FROM SAND BESIDE THE 12TH GREEN DURING THE FINAL ROUND OF THE 1990 MASTERS

Continuing our series with chronicling the greatest shots to be played in golf ’s biggest championships, Andy Farrell looks at the stand-out miracles of execution and precision that lit up the 44 Majors played between between 1990 and 2000

F

or at least the first half of the 1990s, the two dominant golfers in the world were an Australian and an Englishman of contrasting styles and personalities. Greg Norman had the swagger and the looks, he went for broke, won a host of tournaments and was the longest-reigning world No.1 until Tiger Woods came along. Nick Faldo, however, proved time and again that he could deliver precision shots under the greatest pressure and ended up with the better Major record.

At the 1990 Masters, Faldo made up four shots in the last six holes and then beat Ray Floyd in a playoff but all that might not have happened had he not saved par from the back left bunker at the 12th hole. It was a plugged lie with Rae’s Creek lying in wait beyond the green but out it popped to 15 feet, one of the best bunker shots he reckoned he ever played.

At the US Open that year at Medinah, Faldo just missed out on a playoff, but there would have been no need for an extra day had Hale Irwin not holed from 50 feet at the final hole, after which he celebrated by running around the green slapping hands with, seemingly, every member of the gallery.

The next day he beat the unheralded Mike Donald to win his third US Open at the age of 45. At St Andrews a few weeks later, Faldo knew Norman was the man to beat

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and the Australian led after the first round. Faldo came to the last hole on the Old Course trailing by three shots but then sank his pitch shot for an eagle-two and never looked back. On the third day he played alongside Norman and outscored him 67-76 and won by five the next day.

Two years later, Faldo looked on course for his third Open title, and his second at Muirfield, but lost his fourshot overnight lead to trail John Cook by two with four holes to play. At the 15th he played a beautiful “half” 5-iron shot to a couple of feet and then came to the last needing a par to win. He hit a 3-iron to 25 feet and two-putted before collapsing into an emotional wreck. “It went from almost a disaster to the absolute ultimate,” he said.

At Augusta in 1996, it was Norman who let a sixshot lead disappear as Faldo famously engineered an 11shot swing on the final day. “It’s mine to lose now,” Faldo thought as he went two ahead with six to play but the 13th hole could still be pivotal. Norman had a dodgy lie on the pine straw and was persuaded by his caddie to lay up at the par-5. Faldo, on the other hand, went for the green from 228 yards with a 2-iron, the ball soaring into the sky, over the stream in front of the green and safely within two-putt-birdie range. Both men made four but Faldo had unequivocally stated that he was firmly in control. “I just buttoned it,” he said. “That crispy iron shot was the best shot I hit all week.”

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“I rode the crest of a wave, had a nothing-to-lose attitude” JUSTIN ROSE RECALLS HIS TIE FOR FOURTH AS A 17-YEAR-OLD IN THE 1998 OPEN AT BIRKDALE

Norman was well-used to having opponents hit great shots against him, not least the hole-outs by Bob Tway and Larry Mize a decade earlier. At Sandwich in 1993, everything came right for Norman with a stunning 64 forcing all the game’s best into submission, including Faldo who narrowly missed a hole-in-one at the 11th. But at Shinnecock Hills in 1995, Norman was pipped again, this time by a 4-wood over the brow of an upslope into a right-to-left wind at the 18th by Corey Pavin, the ball running up to six feet from the cup. “The greatest shot I ever hit under pressure,” Pavin said.

Augusta rarely fails to provide drama, think of Ian Woosnam’s drive over the fairway bunkers on the 18th in 1991 and Fred Couples’s tee shot at the 12th staying up on the bank above the water the following year. One of the game’s most historic moments came at Augusta in 1997 when Woods won by 12 strokes, despite playing the first nine holes of his opening round in 40. If there was a moment that summed up his ability to overpower the course it was at the 15th later in that round.

His drive on the yet-to-be-lengthened par-5

disappeared beyond the edge of the hill, took a hard bounce on the downslope and left him only a wedge to the green. He put that to four feet and made his eagle.

Before Woods, the game’s biggest hitter was John Daly. At Baltusrol in the 1993 US Open, Daly promised to make history and with a drive and a 1-iron he did just that, becoming the first player to hit the green in two at the 650-yard, par-5 17th hole. The Wild Thing won the Open at St Andrews in 1995 in a playoff but the shot that will never be forgotten came from Costantino Rocca. The Italian needed a birdie at the 18th to tie but duffed his second into the Valley of Sin. Now he needed a miracle and it duly arrived when his putt, from over 60 feet, ran up the slope onto the green and then inexorably into the hole. Rocca sank to his knees, threw his arms in the air and then repeatedly beat his fists against the hallowed turf in sheer joy. Understandably, Rocca could not get himself together for the playoff and Daly claimed the Claret Jug. A year before, it was a giant putt from Nick Price on the 17th green that gave him victory at Turnberry but at Royal Birkdale in

1998 there were two moments to savour and neither came from the eventual champion.

Justin Rose was a 17-year-old amateur who had contended from the start until he began to fall away on the Sunday. At the last hole he was in the rough on the left for two and was still 60 yards short of the pin. His pitch shot landed short of the green and skipped up and into the hole. The roar that emerged from the packed grandstands was thought by many to be the loudest sound they had ever heard on a golf course.

Only a few moments later, unheralded American professional Brian Watts needed to get down in two from a greenside bunker at the last to tie with Mark O’Meara. Watts hit his recovery to no more than six inches which had O’Meara applauding generously beside the green. After extra time, however, O’Meara had won his second Major of the year at the age of 41.

In 1999, all the majors had their memorable moments. At Augusta, Jose Maria Olazabal was in a duel with Norman, who holed from 25 feet for an eagle at the 13th.

Olazabal followed him in from 20 feet for a

birdie to make sure he did not fall out of the lead and the pair acknowledged each other as they walked off the green. Ollie said: “He pointed at me, I pointed at him, and we were saying to each other that those were great putts.” Norman did not get a Green Jacket that year, either.

At the US Open a couple of months later, Payne Stewart holed important putts at each of the last three holes on the Pinehurst No.2 course, a 20-footer at the 18th giving him a one-shot win over Phil Mickelson. A statue of Stewart as he celebrated the winning putt now stands in front of the clubhouse but the colourful American was dead barely four months later after his private jet depressurised and eventually crashed.

The Open that year was at Carnoustie and while Jean Van de Velde is most readily remembered for having surrendered a threeshot lead at the last with a French farce of

epic proportions, Paul Lawrie had come from ten strokes back to make the playoff. He then defeated Van de Velde and Justin Leonard with birdies at the last two holes, hitting a majestic 4-iron to four feet at the 18th to become the first Scottish-born player to win the Open in Scotland for 68 years.

Then came the PGA Championship at Medinah and Woods was seeking his second Major. But rookie professional Sergio Garcia was just one behind with three to play. His drive at the 16th finished behind a tree amongst its roots, but this did not deter the fearless young Spaniard. He took out a 6-iron, shut his eyes, took a mighty slash at the ball, then sprinted out onto the fairway and leapt into the air to see his ball land on the green.

It was a wonderful moment but Woods was only partially inconvenienced by Garcia’s audacity and duly won his second Major. That

“It was joy, it was pressure, it was, I will tell you, the best day of my life” SERGIO GARCIA RECALLS HIS SLASHED 6-IRON FROM TREE ROOTS DURING THE 1999 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AT MEDINAH

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proved the trigger for one of the greatest spells of golf ever seen. In 2000, he won three Majors in a row—and he completed his collection of Major silverware at the 2001 Masters. He did not three-putt once during the US Open at Pebble Beach, nor did he find a bunker at the Open on the Old Course a month later. His total combined margin of victory across both championships was an astonishing 23 strokes. But his run nearly came to an end at the PGA Championship at Valhalla when he was pushed all the way by Bob May. Woods faced a left-to-right six-footer to get into a playoff and made the putt. He then won the playoff and was three-quarters of the way to the Tiger Slam. ★ Andy Farrell is author of Faldo/Norman— The 1996 Masters: A duel that defined an era, published by Elliott & Thompson

A Champion Remembered

Payne Stewart, with the sleeves of his rainproof jacket cut away, sinks the putt that thwarted Phil Mickelson on the 18th green at Pinehurst No.2 in 1999

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Simon Bruty / Sports Illustrated

The very first US Open to be staged at Pinehurst took place a mere 15 years ago.

The winner, after an epic duel with Phil Mickelson, was the flamboyant, ebullient yet ever-gracious Payne Stewart. Four months later he was killed in an aircraft accident.

Bob Harig recollects how joy turned to tragedy and salutes the immortal legacy of a classy human being

The act of a complete gentleman: Stewart, appalled at the abuse his singles opponent Colin Montgomerie was receiving from fans during the 1999 Ryder Cup, concedes to the Scot on the 18th fairway

he enduring sequence of images will always be from the 18th green at Pinehurst No.2.

The drama played out with Payne Stewart holing a clutch par putt, celebrating with an outstretched arm and leg, and then quickly extending his condolences to Phil Mickelson by relishing his rival’s impending fatherhood.

Mickelson’s wife, Amy, gave birth to the couple’s first child the following day, while Lefty’s first Major had to wait for five more years.

By draining that 15-footer, Stewart, the consummate showman, had claimed his second US Open and third Major title. It was a dramatic conclusion to an amazing first US Open at Pinehurst, and his feat is immortalized with a bronze statue commemorating the moment.

That day will always be remembered—how could it not be? And now the US Open returns to Donald Ross’s hallowed North Carolina layout this summer for a third time, 15 years after Stewart’s triumph.

Colin Montgomerie remembers a far less publicized scene that involved Stewart, one that occurred just a few months after that US Open victory. It took place at the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline, after the United States had clinched the competition and celebrations were already in overdrive.

Montgomerie and Stewart were contesting the final

singles match left on the course, and throughout the afternoon the Scotsman was forced to endure a shameful amount of heckling and abuse from American spectators.

On more than one occasion, Stewart tried to quell the noise in the crowd. And then, as they played the 18th hole tied, Stewart conceded the point with both players on the green, picking up Montgomerie’s ball, an act of sportsmanship often forgotten on an extremely tense and emotional day.

“It was a very difficult time, and the way he dealt with that situation I was in on the Sunday, with regard to his own performance, I’ll never forget,” Montgomerie said. “When he won the US Open at Pinehurst, the first thing he said was he was in the Ryder Cup team, and he was thrilled to be in the Ryder Cup team— even more than he was winning the US Open.

“It meant so much to him to represent his country. And to have drawn against me, of all people, in the singles match—I’m sure that it hurt his game, as well as it did my own. And it was a shame the way it finished.

He’d had enough, I’d had enough, and he picked my ball up at the last. I’ll never forget that. Not all the memories [from Brookline] are fond.

But that match I will always think of with fond memories, of that game with him.”

“You could always tell when Payne was around. Life happened to Payne.

He was the life of the party. There was always something going on”

A month later, Stewart, just 42, passed away, killed when the private plane in which he was travelling to the Tour Championship lost cabin pressure and crashed in a South Dakota field. The golf world was stunned, and those who played with and against him, and watched him compete, find it hard to believe what happened even 15 years later.

Stewart had been denied victory a year earlier at The Olympic Club by a defiant Lee Janzen, and his Pinehurst victory showed there was some excellent golf left in his game. Who knows how many tournaments he might have added to his 11 PGA Tour titles, including those three Majors [the other two were the 1989 PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes and 1991 US Open at Hazeltine]?

He had the kind of swing that could last, an old-style, easy-going move that appeared to be so effortless. Sure, he had his bouts of inconsistency, just like all golfers. There were highs and lows, periods of frustration and elation, but Stewart was about to enter a halcyon period in which he could play with the air of a champion with nothing to lose, or prove, and everything to gain.

It is impossible not to think what could have been. Surely there would have been more tournament victories. Maybe even another Major or two; and then a popular stint on the Champions Tour. Stewart would have turned 57 on January 30, and would have been completely at home strutting in those trademark plus-four knickers of his alongside all the other wrinklies.

“That could have been the end of his Majors run, or it could have been the middle of it,” says long-time friend Peter Jacobsen, who played with fellow rock ‘n’ roll fan Stewart in a band called Jake Trout and the Flounders. “[His game] was always unpredictable. He could pull a rabbit out of his hat at any time. This is something I don’t think you ever get over. You could always

Lasting memories from 1999: Victory at Pinehurst in June and a well-played recovery from a bunker during the Ryder Cup at Brookline in September

tell when Payne was around. Life happened to Payne. He was the life of the party. There was always something going on with Payne.”

And, of course, there would have been a US Ryder Cup captaincy, probably around the time of 2006, when the Americans suffered one of their worst beatings at the K Club in Ireland. If not then, two years later for sure at Valhalla, when Stewart would have been 49.

“Obviously, we’d been through that whole day in June with him at Pinehurst and then the Ryder Cup at Brookline,” said Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, Mickelson’s longtime caddie. “I think

the last time I laid eyes on him was at the party after the Ryder Cup at Brookline. He had an adult beverage in his hand and was as happy as a person could humanly be.”

No doubt, Stewart loved that Ryder Cup victory, loved being part of it. Undoubtedly, he would have loved to be part of other teams as vice-captain or captain.

The US Open seemed to be a significant breakthrough for Stewart, almost a vindication. His longtime sports psychologist, Richard Coop, noticed a change in him, maybe the onset of maturity. Stewart won twice in 1999, his first victories since 1995.

The night before Stewart’s death, Coop spoke to him for 20 minutes. Stewart, known for his flashy attire—along with the plus-fours there was the Tam o’ Shanter cap and twotoned shoes—was not always as assured as the image he portrayed. “He had a certain amount of peace that he’d never had consistently before,” Coop said. “At times, he got there. On the outside, he was cocky, confident. But on the inside, he was not nearly as confident.

That’s the first thing I said to him [after winning

presented annually ever since. Other winners include Tom Watson (2003), Gary Player (2006) Davis Love III (2008) and Jacobsen (2013).

Nearly 15 years have elapsed since Stewart’s passing and much has changed. At the time, Tiger Woods had just won the second of his 14 Majors, David Duval was the world No.1 and Rory McIlroy was 10 years of age.

Then there was Mickelson, who played the entire tournament carrying a beeper (anyone have one of those anymore?), ready to leave at a moment’s notice if Amy went into labour.

Stewart made the par-saving putt on the final green, but what if he hadn’t? Would Mickelson have been summoned away from a playoff the next day? Daughter Amanda was born on that Monday. As agonizing as the defeat was, Mickelson has always looked back on it with perspective. “I just felt going into the ’99 US Open that to travel all the way across the country when we were so close to delivering our first child, I felt very determined to make that worthwhile and to get a win out of it,” Mickelson said. “It was really a shock when that did not happen. Granted, it was the way it was supposed to be… but at the time I really was surprised because I was playing well and I was very determined to win and just didn’t do it.”

Mickelson has yet to win the US Open, that championship at Pinehurst being the second of a record six runners-up finishes in pursuit of his national title. He returns to Pinehurst in June, hoping to complete a career Grand Slam—the perfect present to give himself on his 44th birthday, the day after the final round. To this day, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh also look back on 1999 as a tournament they could have won. They tied for third, two shots back. It was a memorable finish, as Stewart also saved par on 16 before birdying the 17th to take a one-stroke lead and then knocking home the immortal closing putt.

“I remember thinking, “That can’t go in,” said Stewart’s longtime friend, Paul Azinger, who delivered a stirring eulogy at his memorial service. “You can’t make that putt to win the US Open, but he did. He secured his legacy.” ★

“I saw in the weeks between the time he won the Open and that day in October that he was much more mature” the US Open], it’s really hard to deny this one.

I saw in the weeks between the time he won the Open and that day in October that he was much more mature, much more mentally at peace. We were talking about getting together in the offseason. He had a plan for 2000.”

As it happened, 2000 was the year the PGA Tour launched the Payne Stewart Award for players who show respect for the game, and especially its traditions of generously supporting charity and making a difference to the lives of others. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson were its first recipients.

Supported from the start by energy supplier Southern Company, the award has been

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P R E F E R R E D S U P P L I E R

P

inehurst Resort, founded by soda-fountain manufacturer James Walker Tufts in 1895, is one of the shrines of American golf. And with a PGA Championship (1936), two US Amateurs (1962, 2008), a US Women’s Amateur (1989), a US Senior Open (1994), a Ryder Cup (1951), two Tour Championships (1991, 1992), an Eisenhower Trophy (1980) and, of course, two US Opens, the pedigree of its No.2 Course is unimpeachable.

The two previous, though somewhat recent, US Opens were particularly thrilling.

Payne Stewart shaded Phil Mickelson with a 20ft par-saver on the 72nd green in 1999, four months before dying in an airplane accident, and Michael Campbell held off Tiger Woods six years later to become only the second New Zealander to win a Major.

Yet for much of its life Donald Ross’s original design, which measured 5,680 yards when it opened in 1907, fell short of what the émigré Scot had envisaged. The tools that Ross had to work with when building the second of Pinehurst’s eight courses were rudimentary, to say the least. No.2, like every course from that era (including No.1, which Ross remodelled, and No.3, which he also designed), was almost entirely natural. The gently rolling terrain was largely unaltered while the bunkers were untidy blowouts that gave the holes a rugged quality. The putting surfaces, meanwhile, were constructed using sand dampened with water or oil then smoothed over with a piece of carpet attached to a length of rope.

Up to Ross’s death in 1948, No.2 was a rustic idyll, free of the artificial conditioning with which it was subsequently modernized.

After the resort was sold to the Diamondhead Corporation in 1970, No.2’s fairways were soon lined with condominiums. Seeking to replicate the wall-to-wall greenery of Augusta National, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., was brought in and there was no compromise on water and fertilizer consumption either. Quite simply, the turf was softened and more or less stripped of the characteristics Ross felt were fundamental to proper golf. In 1984, Diamondhead sold Pinehurst to ClubCorp who saw no immediate need to restore the firm conditions Ross had championed. “The business model was working at the time,” Pinehurst president Don

No.2 Is Back to No. 1

Since its second US Open in 2005, Pinehurst No.2 has been lovingly restored

by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore and is now a much closer reflection of the original Donald Ross design of more than a century ago. Dave Shedloski guides us round

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Padgett said. “But we slowly became aware that people were not talking about the course as they once had. I think we [initially] tended to dismiss the criticism, however, because No.2 was still staging successful tournaments.”

In February 2010, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were retained to perform a major renovation. “To be honest, we’d had very few good ideas ourselves before hiring them,” says Padgett. “We knew of their pedigree, of course, and we trusted them. But we certainly didn’t tell them what we thought they should do. We just gave them whatever resources they needed, and pretty much let them do whatever they thought was necessary.” Both Coore and Crenshaw are golf architecture historians and advocates of old-fashioned layouts. So the prospect of working on Pinehurst No.2 intrigued them.

Before they accepted the task, though, they questioned whether it was a genuine opportunity to repair a once great course, or a sure-fire way of harming it even further.

“Ben told me this was either the smartest or dumbest job we’d ever agreed to,” Coore said. “The owners talked about restoring the course, but restoring it to what? Over 100-plus years, it had been through so many phases it wasn’t clear what we should try to recreate.

We wanted everyone involved to be on board, but we knew a lot of people would reserve judgment until they saw the finished article.”

The main differences between the 2014 version and those of 1999 and 2005 are broader fairways, firmer and faster playing surfaces, reshaped bunkers and, most notably, the absence of rough. Indeed, 2014 will be the first year the US Open is played without rough, with 35 acres of turf giving way to sand and native wiregrasses. In previous years, missing a US Open fairway invariably meant a bogey or worse, but players missing the short grass in 2014 will be faced with a variety of lies. “We will see a much greater variety of recovery shots,” Coore added. “Having so many options will put doubt in the players’ minds, and hopefully increase the course’s strategic and psychological challenges.”

Fans are sure to love the new-look Pinehurst No.2 and, with the standard US Open threat—brutally narrow fairways and sideways hacks from the rough—largely eliminated, so too should the players.

#2

Par-4, 507 yards

#1

Par-4, 402 yards

The opening hole is relatively short and straightforward and should ease the players into the round. But despite Ross’s mantra—“Give the player a chance to warm up a bit”—they will still realize they must be ready to go.

Most players will opt to hit a long iron or hybrid off the tee to lay up short of the area where the fairway is narrowed by a steep left bunker. This will leave a shot of around 130-140 yards to a domed green that will repel in any direction anything that drifts off line.

The new native area behind the green will be very tough to recover from.

#4

Copyright USGA/John Mummert

Par-4, 529 yards

Though this is the longest par-4 on the course (it was a par-5 for both previous US Opens at Pinehurst), it plays shorter than its length because of the downhill tee shot. The angle to the doglegleft fairway which cambers adversely from left to right has been restored in keeping with Ross’s original design and favours a draw off the tee. There are two restored bunkers on each side of the drive zone—these existed in the 1940’s but disappeared over time. The large green, less crowned than some on No.2, is receptive to a long approach though it slopes predominantly from right to left toward a sandy wiregrass collection area that delivers a treacherous outcome.

The drive zone is ample on this long par-4 that subtly doglegs to the right, but with 35 yards added since 2005, many players could face a long approach to a severe green that sits at an angle and features a significant hump at the front along with a bunker front right. Four elevated fairway bunkers that were extended on the left of the fairway must be avoided in order to get home. That said, the best angle in is from the left side of the fairway. This hole played the most difficult in relation to par in 2005.

#3

Par-4, 387 yards

A lay-up short of the scrubby-looking bunker on the right will be a popular option when this gentle left-to-right dogleg is played from the regular tee. It will leave just a wedge to an elevated, crowned green, but the fairway is narrow and the waste area on the right has to be avoided. Recovering from behind the green, where the ball will tend to roll extravagantly away, is tricky.

Players attempting to drive the green when the tee is moved forward should come into it with a fade to avoid the trees on the right.

Both the regular tee and the forward tee have been built since the 2005 US Open.

#5

#6

Par-5, 576 yards

Previously a par-4, this right-to-left dogleg is now a risk-reward par-5 thanks to four new tee boxes. Every player who hits the fairway should have a chance of getting up in two, but they will face a difficult second shot due to the downhill-sidehill tilt of the fairway to perhaps the hardest green to hit and hold on the entire course. For right-handers this means the ball will be significantly above their feet. Those who spurn the risk can lay up between two bunkers, 80-90 yards short of the green which is also protected by bunkers and run-offs left and right.

Par-3, 219 yards

This hole has undergone only modest changes—the fewest on the golf course, in fact. A mid or long iron will be the choice at this challenging par-3 and club selection is crucial because the ball needs to be hit high in order to hold the green on the fly. The tee shot, usually played into the prevailing wind, must carry a pronounced false front and a deep, enlarged bunker that eats into the front-left side. However, a shot that carries too far to the back will leave an extremely fast putt back down the slope.

#7

Par-4, 424 yards

This is the sharpest dogleg on the course (left to right) but not a long hole, even with a new championship tee.

However, two good shots are needed with a fade being the preferred ball flight, usually with a fairway metal or long iron, off the tee to follow the shape of the dogleg. Sandy rough lurks down the entire right side of the fairway and a cluster of bunkers has been shifted to the right corner. A deep bunker guards the right side of a green that slopes from back to front and also features a plateau abutted by two smaller traps on the left.

Approaches that stray long will be engulfed in a new mound complex.

#8

Par-4, 502 yards

A par-5 for the members, this will be played as a long par-4. The fairway slopes dramatically in different directions: first downhill, from left to right, then uphill, from right to left. A fade off the tee is the recommended shape into the right-to-left slope to hold the short grass and eliminate the risk of running into wiregrass mounds down the left. However, a new fairway bunker on the right at about 270 yards will capture shots that leak too far. The approach must avoid going long or left down a steep collection area that can carry a ball as much as 20 yards off the putting surface.

The green is dramatically sloped from back to front, so its heart should be the target.

#9

#10

Par-3, 191 yards

Even though this is the shortest hole on the course and it looks deceptively easy from the tee, shots hit long or left will make recovery for par highly problematic. A restored bunker complex on the left, reminiscent of how the hole looked in the 1930’s, is penal. A bunker also protects the right front while a steep slope and two more traps lie in wait beyond a wide, shallow, two-tiered green. Undulations in the green give it two distinct sections with the back-left area fairly flat and the front-right possessing enough movement to steer some shots off the green. Picking the right club, therefore, is of the essence.

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Par-5, 617 yards

Only the longest players in the field can think about trying to get up in two. The tee shots must stay somewhere in the right half of a sloping fairway, but to do that a fade is in order because a large mound on the right side will kick balls back to the left. Trees and a bunker, about 110 yards from an elevated green, protect the left side as the hole turns in that direction and uphill. This makes going for the green in two a very risky option. Opting to layup will leave a shot of 100 yards or less and perhaps a better chance of making a birdie. The green, subtly sloped from left to right and protected by two bunkers, falls off dramatically at the back into a collection area.

#11

Par-4, 483 yards

This is one of the more demanding holes on the No.2 Course and requires two good shots and plenty of clear thinking. It is a slight dogleg right that starts with an intimidating tee shot down the left side to a drive zone that is semi-blind and slopes right toward hardpan and wire grass. An approach that favours the right side of the green is recommended; the green falls off steeply on the left side to collect errant approaches and saving par from there will be an impressive feat. Even missing the green on the right leaves a more reasonable chance to card a 4. Pinehurst folklore has it that this was Ben Hogan’s favourite hole on the course.

#12

Par-4, 484 yards

Despite the length of this par-4 and the presence of a waste area down the right side of the fairway, much of the challenge here is on the green. The hole bends slightly to the right but offers a generous left-centre landing area that offers the best angle of approach to the green. This might promote an aggressive strategy with players taking driver to put a better scoring club in their hands. That’s not a bad idea because a deep swale runs across the green from the left and there are plenty of other subtle breaks on the putting surface, which also slopes from back to front and is quite small. It’s probably best for players to err slightly on the short side as finishing over the green can be immensely detrimental.

#13

Par-4, 382 yards

In a rarity for a layout by Ross, who preferred to design his greens so they sloped predominantly from front to back, the green at this short par-4 tilts the other way and sits 15-20 feet above the fairway atop a steep incline. Therefore, the least costly miss here is long as opposed to short. A fairway metal or even an iron is the likely choice off the tee for much of the field, leaving just a short iron approach to the uphill, bunker-clad target.

This hole might yield some birdies, but players must take enough club or they will find the ball rolling back to their feet.

#14

Par-4, 473 yards

Avoiding the left-hand bunker off an elevated tee offering a scenic view is critical on this downhill par-4. A fade is recommended, but some of the longer hitters might choose to keep the driver in the bag because this trap is a particularly awkward place to play from into a challenging green. Second shots from the fairway should err to the front portion of the green because of the severe front-to-back cant of the putting surface and the scope of the swale beyond. The green is an excellent example of how the many swales Ross built into the perimeters of his putting surfaces reduce the viable landing areas. The swale on the right is no bargain, either, for it will kick the ball away from the green down into a bunker that sits well below the putting surface.

#15

Par-3, 202 yards

With the right side of the severely crowned putting surface restored to its original size by Coore and Crenshaw during their extensive renovation, there are more possible pin positions. But the green still plays small because of its undulating surface, false front and deep bunkers to the right. Accuracy and the ability to judge the swirling winds are the keys here, especially now that trees behind the green have been removed. The most difficult recoveries are short of the green or from the right bunker.

#17

Par-3, 205 yards

#16

Par-4, 528 yards

There’s very little that is straightforward about this extremely long dogleg left par-4 hole, played as a par-5 by the members. The pond just off the left of the tee, the only water on the course, does not come into play. But two threatening bunkers down the right very much do, so players should favour the left side off the tee in the hope of catching the slope for extra yardage, something they would welcome. Next they will face a long second shot from a slight downhill lie, which means a low-flying approach for many players into another green that slopes sharply from back to front. Par here is an outstanding score, especially if a player finds himself putting from above the hole. Stewart’s downhill, double-breaking 20-footer here was the first of three clutch putts he holed en route to victory in 1999.

Copyright USGA/John Mummert

Nerves will play a role in how contestants navigate this picturesque par-3. It will probably require only a mid-iron to a green surrounded by five bunkers and sloping at the front from right to left. Like the 15th, the green is fairly large but not quite as severe, so it should present birdie chances depending on the hole location. But a pin placed behind the gaping, front-right bunker and in front of another trap just off the back is hard to get at. Anything short will leave a tough recovery from sand or well below the putting surface.

#18

Par-4, 451 yards

The S-shaped fairway setup in the landing area makes this uphill, slightly left-to-right tee shot much more difficult and pretty harrowing if the US Open is on the line. Some players may opt to hit less than driver to stay in the short grass and avoid the long, deep fairway bunker down the right side. This would leave a mid-iron into a green that features a complicated hollow on the right side that gives the appearance of two tiers. A back-right hole location wouldn’t be a surprise on the final day. That’s where it was cut in 1999 when Stewart saved par to beat Mickelson by a stroke for his second US Open title. The statue that stands behind the green celebrates his victory pose.

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Out: 3,721 yards (Par-35) In: 3,825 yards (Par-35) Total: 7,546 yards (Par-70)

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‘Far and sure’ are the three simple words on the badge of Royal Liverpool Golf Club and this is advice that will need to be heeded by the contenders at this year’s Open. Ross Biddiscombe takes a detailed look at the course they will try to conquer Photography by david cannon

Heaven in Hoylake

R&A

T

he links at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, adjacent to the Cheshire seaside town of Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, is one of the true delights of England’s northwest coast—a capricious creature that can be almost benign on a calm day and an absolute monster when uncompromisingly rough weather blows in from the Irish Sea. However, with the 143rd [British] Open Championship from July 17-20 now very much on the horizon, David Cromie, the club’s secretary, is becoming concerned there might not be enough wind to toughen up the course. “The date for the Ricoh Women’s British Open in 2012 was pushed back [to mid-September] because of the London Olympics and there’s always a greater risk of strong winds here at that time of the year. I’m afraid the women suffered the windiest conditions then that anyone could remember,” he said. “But the last time the Open was here in 2006 there was no wind at all and we’d rather it wasn’t like that again.”

One player who might disagree is Tiger Woods, who claimed his third and most recent Claret Jug during that memorable week of sizzling temperatures and packed galleries by resolutely keeping his ball in play on the parched fairways and intelligently staying short of all the trouble by only using his driver once in four rounds.

Woods thus added his name to an illustrious roll-call of champions at Royal Liverpool. Founded in 1869 on the site of a racecourse, it hosted its first Open in 1897.

This was won by local player Harold Hilton, who was born in nearby West Kirby, but being an amateur he couldn’t accept the winner’s purse of £30.

The club’s second Open, won by Scotsman Sandy Herd in 1902, was the first by a player using the then controversial Haskell golf ball. Frenchman Arnaud Massey’s success five years later made him the first winner from continental Europe, and J.H. Taylor’s victory in 1913 was the only one at Hoylake by a member of the Great Triumvirate (also including Harry Vardon and James Braid) that dominated golf before the First World War. Royal Liverpool’s position as a classic Open venue was consolidated in 1924 and

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1930. The former saw Walter Hagen capture the second of his four Opens while the latter, even more significantly, was the second leg of Bobby Jones’s ‘impregnable quadrilateral.’

The next four Royal Liverpool winners were Englishman Alf Padgham (1936), Northern Ireland’s Fred Daly (1947), Australian Peter Thomson, completing a hat-trick of Open triumphs in 1956, and Roberto de Vicenzo of Argentina (1968).

De Vicenzo’s victory was followed by a 38-year hiatus as the club, the R&A and Wirral Borough Council worked to upgrade the infrastructure around the course.

By 2006, all the modern requirements— enlarged car parks, generous sites for corporate entertainment and improved transport links for players, media and fans— were in place. But there was still something for the traditionalist as well: “It was my first time at Hoylake and I thought it was exactly how a links should be,” purred five-time Open winner Tom Watson.

Over 50 yards have been added across six holes since 2006, so at 7,312 yards Royal Liverpool is now the second longest course on the Open rota after Carnoustie, but there have also been subtle changes to all the bunkers and a reduction to the gorse while a new irrigation system should keep the speed of the fairways and greens under control.

The holes that the members play as the 17th and 18th will again be the 1st and 2nd during the Open, so the par-5 16th will provide a dramatic conclusion—a chance for redemption but also the potential for disaster with out-of-bounds all the way down the right.

Several designers have had a hand in shaping these links. Originally laid out between 1869 and 1871, Hoylake underwent a facelift in the 1920’s when Harry Colt rebuilt the four beach-side holes from the 9th (played as 11-14 at the Open). More recently, some tweaks by Donald Steel prior to 2006 helped to promote the dry, bouncy fairways and thick, club-twisting rough the R&A always require at their championships.

The hope now is for the immortal words of that doyen of golf writing, Bernard Darwin—“Hoylake, blown upon by mighty winds, breeder of mighty champions”—to prove as valid for Hoylake’s 12th Open as when he penned them nearly 60 years ago.

#1 (Royal)

Par-4, 458 yards

Normally the 17th for the members, this presents an awkward start if played into the wind. The tee has been pushed back 30 yards and the well-bunkered green, where a back-left pin position is especially testing, has been narrowed and toughened with more severe run-offs, making it especially difficult to hold with a long-iron. In the prevailing wind, many drives will fly the steep bunker on the left corner of the right-to-left dogleg to set up a short-iron rather than tangle with two bunkers down the right. Against the wind, though, the tee shot will need to be more circumspect yet positioned close to the left trap for the best angle of approach.

It is named after the Royal Hotel which housed the first clubhouse in 1869.

#2 (Stand)

Par-4, 454 yards

Heading back towards the clubhouse, this left-to-right dogleg (played as the 18th in normal circumstances) has a narrow landing area due to cleverly positioned sand traps—two in the elbow of the dogleg and another, a little further on, on the left corner—all around driving distance. Those who lay up at 240 yards to take the left bunker out of play will face a long second through a cross-wind to an undulating, left-sloping green guarded by a complex of swales and three front bunkers behind which flags will invariably be tucked. Starting with two pars is no disgrace.

#3 (Course)

Par-4, 426 yards

This bunkerless hole is a sharp, left-to-right dogleg with internal out-of-bounds down the right where the club’s practice range is situated, though it will be part of the tented village during Open week. An old-fashioned links hole, it starts in front of the clubhouse and turns towards the green at around 300 yards. Most drives will favour the left side of the fairway, but anything hooked is threatened by a plethora of unpleasant bushes and thick rough. The flattish green is an inviting target, but players need to remain wary of the out-of-bounds immediately to the right and the swale to the left that could leave them with an awkward uphill chip.

#4 (Road)

Par-4, 372 yards

This is the only green that remains from the original layout, but two new bunkers on the left side of the fairway will swallow wayward tee shots and spoil an obvious birdie chance.

Many players will take a long-iron or hybrid to layup short of these traps and create the best angle of approach for a full wedge with enough spin to hold a well-protected green that falls away gently from front to back.

The hole is now a slight left-to-right dogleg, so the fairway runs at a different angle to the original. This means the green is less receptive, especially to shots played from the right side. A large, V-shaped hedge frames the back of the putting surface.

#5 (Long)

Par-5, 528 yards

The first par-5 is no mammoth in terms of length given today’s standards, but clearing a patch of thick gorse on the inside corner of the right-to-left dogleg while avoiding the three bunkers on the opposite side is no mean feat, especially as the prevailing wind is often against the tee shot. The approach to set up a potential birdie might appear relatively straightforward following a long drive, but more gorse and a trio of pot bunkers await an errant attempt, especially if the wind is not helpful and the ball comes up short. The green is two-tiered and has many subtle breaks so a two-putt is far from guaranteed.

#6 (New)

Par-3, 201 yards

Stretching beyond 200 yards, defended usually by a crosswind and peppered with deep, revetted bunkers, Hoylake’s first short hole is no pushover. It will catch out plenty of players especially when the pin positions are front and left where two nasty bunkers lurk alongside a large swale that leaves an awkward chip. Meanwhile, a particularly deep sand trap is front-right and must be avoided.

The correct strategy is to hit an extra club to clear this bunker so the ball can feed down toward the pin using the natural slopes.

#9 (Dowie)

Par-3, 197 yards

Exposed to a wind that usually blows from the right, this testing short hole requires careful attention as the club used for the tee shot will change daily, if not hourly. A long, narrow green at the end of what seems like a funnel will try the patience of many competitors.

Deep bunkers left and right (along with low dunes further right) protect the front, while severe slopes are likely to throw the ball into swales beyond.

Pinpoint accuracy is required, but the reed-filled water hazard halfway down the hole on the left, so daunting for the members, should not pose a threat.

#7 (Telegraph)

Par-4, 480 yards

This gentle dogleg to the right is a difficult driving hole due to the presence of a bunker on each side of the fairway. None the less, boldness from the tee is required with the right, also flanked by extensive gorse, the favoured side from which to attack the green. Anything cautious down the left leaves a harder approach across the pair of greedy pot bunkers that intrude into the front of the green. A few swales around the edges of an otherwise generous green mean there can be run-offs to negotiate.

#8 (Briars)

Par-4, 431 yards

At first sight, a blind tee shot with a carry of around 190 yards over an out-of-bounds hedge that juts in from the left can seem a little daunting, especially as two bunkers on the right side threaten the deliberate layup.

The ideal line is slightly left of the marker post to find the fat part of the fairway and set up a short-iron to a flattish green. This is another birdie opportunity even though the wind is likely to be in the players’ faces and the front of the green is protected by a cluster of three bunkers.

#10 (Far)

Par-5, 532 yards

The furthest hole from the clubhouse is the apex of Royal Liverpool’s famous triangle.

It is a genuine birdie opportunity and the encroaching out-of-bounds down the left side of the fairway should only trouble really poor shots. There is a complex of mounds and hollows where players will expect to land their tee shots, but the defining feature of this hole is its solitary bunker—a deep, yawning trap that protects the front right side of the green and acts as a ball magnet to a pronounced false front. Longer hitters have a distinct advantage because they can hit more lofted second shots.

#11 (Punch Bowl)

Par-4, 391 yards

Having been seduced by the romance of the 10th, it is time to take in the panoramic views of the Welsh hills across the Dee Estuary and admire Harry Colt’s contribution to Hoylake over the next four holes. This is where a cool head and strategic thinking are needed. The 11th has been lengthened to nearly 400 yards, yet, with the wind likely to be helping, good drives hit down the left side of a rolling fairway could finish within 50 yards of the green. However, the fairway is narrow and the penalty for a miss could be high, especially as the green slopes from front to back and can be difficult to hold.

#14 (Hilbre)

Par-4, 454 yards

#12 (Dee)

Par-4, 447 yards

From the Championship tee on this rightto-left dogleg, a mound conceals a bunker designed to catch those aiming to cut off the corner. Three bunkers on the right of the fairway lurk dangerously in a line between 275 and 330 yards from the tee.

There appears to be plenty of room down the right and, indeed, it seems the safe line, but the adverse camber of the fairway can throw the ball perilously close to the traps.

A tee shot into a trap will almost certainly result in a dropped shot because the raised green—no need for bunkers here—doesn’t yield many single putts. The members never give a short putt on this green because it has a lot of subtle borrows.

#13 (Alps)

Par-3, 194 yards

Hoylake’s most exposed hole to the wind offers fantastic views of the estuary. The tee adds considerably to the difficulty of playing a mid-to-long-iron shot over the mounds guarding the front left side of a long, slender green that slopes away from the tee. There is more extension on the left side of the green than seems the case from the tee, but competitors who miss it left face an almost impossible recovery shot. On at least one day the pin is likely to be front right, thus bringing the solitary, revetted bunker into play.

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If courses of this vintage had a signature hole, this would be Hoylake’s. The big hitters, the brave and the foolhardy might try to carry the two deep bunkers protecting the corner of the right-to-left dogleg, but this is a lot to ask as thick rough awaits beyond. A long second shot is played into the prevailing wind to a green that will throw any ball veering over the mound front-right down into a hollow, from where it’s difficult to recover.

As on the 12th, those taking a more cautious line down the right of another adversely-cambered fairway need to avoid two further traps that have been moved back to driving distance. The green provides stunning views of Hilbre Island bird sanctuary in the Dee Estuary.

#15 (Rushes)

Par-3, 161 yards

Looks the easiest hole on the course, but judgment of distance is the key to this classic par-3 which proves you don’t need more than 200 yards to create an interesting test of shot-making skills.

The elevated tee nestles into the sand dunes and can deceive players looking for clues to the wind strength and direction. It provides a sweeping, breathtaking view, not only down to a narrow, multibunkered green, but right across the rest of the links to the distant clubhouse. Miss the green and you will struggle to make par, either chipping from the clumpy rough or splashing from one of the five pot bunkers. There will be a lot of 2s and 4s here.

#16 (Field)

Par-5, 577 yards

Heading back east, the breeze normally helps here at the start of a finishing stretch that is likely to witness dramatic swings of fortune as the final round unfolds on Sunday. The pros expect to make 4 here and will drill their drives down the left side towards the distant fairway bunkers to leave them with a long-iron or metal-wood to the green. But the aggressive approach is risky as the landing area is narrow—revetted bunkers protect the front and left of the green while an unpleasant grassy hollow on the right generally wrecks any chance of picking up a shot. The green is quite receptive, but only from a fairway lie.

#17 (Lake)

#18 (Dun)

Par-4, 458 yards

The 16th and 17th holes run parallel, so a following wind on one will mean a headwind on the other. Suffice to say, the members are happy to take nine shots over the two holes.

Keeping out of the bunkers that protect both sides of the fairway is all-important while a slice could clear the out-of-bounds ridge on the right into the hospitality area. The deep, two-tier [Alister] ‘Mackenzie’ green measures 40 yards from front to back, so judging the right distance on the second shot is the key to having a birdie chance. Most players will aim at the front to chase up the slope. Miss the correct level where the pin is located and three putts are a distinct possibility.

Par-5, 551 yards

This left-to-right dogleg, normally the club’s 16th hole, wraps round out-ofbounds to the right and provides a potentially theatrical finish. The hospitality areas will line the hole, which poses the classic ‘risk-reward’ conundrum. On the card it’s a par-5 but every player will think: “I need a 4.” From the tee, the line is as close to the corner of the dogleg as one dares, especially as the two bunkers on the left of the fairway are in play and the rough is likely to be treacherously thick. From there it will be a question of aiming safely to the left and short (though a third shot over three of the five greenside bunkers is always tricky), or skirting out-of-bounds to attack the righthand opening to a long, diagonal green.

Roberto de Vicenzo hit a 3-wood here to secure the birdie that won the 1967 Open.

Out: 3,547 yards (Par-35) In: 3,765 yards (Par-37) Total: 7,312 yards (Par-72)

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Spirit of the Open

A

nd here we are, at the 19th hole. If you are looking to enliven a chat with a friend or are parched after following your favourite group for 18 holes, help is at hand. Throughout the week of the Open Championship, within the Tented Village between holes 5 & 16 at Royal Liverpool, a unique whisky experience at the Glenmorangie Open Bar awaits.

As the ‘Spirit of The Open’, Glenmorangie is offering you the chance to discover their award winning ‘Unnecessarily Well Made’ whiskies in the comfort of the Glenmorangie Open Bar. Whatever your taste, the Glenmorangie Open Bar has something for everyone—in any weather. Watch the golf from the warmth of the indoors or, if the sun is shining, relax in the outdoor bar area with friends. Enjoy elegant concoctions like the Tee Off Championship Cocktail or partake of a very special Whisky Flight Experience with an in-house expert who will guide you through the entire range of Glenmorangie single malts.

Learn how the Glenmorangie Distillery, located deep in the Scottish Highlands, use the tallest stills in Scotland

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and only the finest quality oak casks to produce single malt whiskies worthy of being described as ‘Unnecessarily Well Made.’ Sample their flagship expression, Glenmorangie Original, matured for a decade in seasoned American white oak casks, and explore why Glenmorangie are considered such an innovator in extra maturation.

Former Open Champion and legendary Ryder Cup Captain Tony Jacklin will also be on hand for daily coaching clinics and to answer your golfing questions. If you feel inspired after watching the greats, you can practice your putting on the Glenmorangie putting green and play Hoylake’s legendary Hole 13, known as “The Alps,” on a golf simulator for a chance to win great Glenmorangie prizes.

And if you are out on the course and the weather sets in, don’t despair: look for Glenmorangie golf carts offering hot toddies to lift your spirits. Top quality for every taste in any weather: Glenmorangie truly is the ‘Spirit of The Open’.

To find out more and to enter a competition to win a trip to the Home of Golf and the Home of Glenmorangie in Tain visit www.glenmorangie.com/golf

the majors 2014

A course for the brave and adventurous, the venue of the 2014 PGA Championship has taken less than 20 years to prove itself as a worthy challenge to the skills of golf’s finest players.

Paul Trow takes a close look at the specifics of the test that awaits all those aspiring to lift the Wannamaker Trophy Photography by GARY KELLNER

Valiant Valhalla

PGA of America

N

amed for the great hall of Norse mythology, where the souls of Viking warriors banquet with the gods, Valhalla Golf Club has indulged in a few feasts of its own during its brief existence. Its next big date, from August 7-10, will be the third time the PGA Championship has come calling since 1996.

Born of one man’s dream of putting Louisville, Kentucky, on the golfing map, Valhalla has also fulfilled the PGA of America’s determination to own a championship layout.

But back in the late 1970s, Dwight Gahm sat behind his desk on a rainy afternoon racking his brains what to do with 486 acres of rolling terrain some 20 miles east of town—the former site of a Quarter Horse farm and boy-scout camp. Due to flooding dangers and potential power-line problems, he’d scrapped his original plans for a residential development featuring 2,200 houses, a few commercial outlets and a par-62 executive layout. Then came a moment of inspiration: he decided that instead of a small course surrounded by homes, he wanted something much grander—built by Jack Nicklaus.

“I’ll never forget the first time I was on the property,” Nicklaus said. “Dwight said to me, ‘Jack, do you think there’s any chance we could get a Major championship here?’ I said, ‘Dwight, you’re sitting in an area without other major sports. You’re absolutely in the perfect place to try to develop something.’”

Valhalla opened in 1986, and was instantly rated a top-100 course. Gahm wanted a high-quality members’ club, but his primary focus was on the PGA Championship. Over the next few years, the PGA made several site visits and researched Louisville extensively as a potential host city.

Valhalla, and Louisville, passed the test with flying colours and were duly inked in for the 1996 PGA Championship. Not only that, but the PGA purchased 25 percent of the club. And after a successful tournament, in which local hero Kenny Perry lost a playoff to Mark Brooks, the PGA extended its stake to 50 percent and scheduled the tournament’s return to Valhalla for 2000. At the conclusion of that event, won by Tiger Woods in a playoff against Bob May, the PGA exercised its option to acquire the club outright.

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From the outset, Valhalla was a natural golfing amphitheatre: the scenic par-5 18th alone provides a view for 20,000 spectators while the area surrounding the green on the par-4 17th can accommodate a gallery in excess of 8,000. The first nine crosses a valley while the inward half is carved out of higher, tree-covered terrain with a shallow creek that comes into play on four holes.

In addition to its two PGA Championships, Valhalla also hosted the Senior PGA Championships of 2004 and 2011, won respectively by Hale Irwin and Tom Watson.

But its greatest, and most hazardous, exposure to the wider world came when it staged the 37th Ryder Cup in 2008. Following the introduction of four new greens, 12 new bunkers and an extra 200 yards, Mother Nature made her own sweeping changes when Hurricane Ike ripped through Louisville the weekend before the match. Thousands of homes were left without power, fires were caused by fallen cables, street lights and traffic signals were out of action, and neon lights went dark. The wind blew at 90mph as wheelie bins bounced around the streets, cannoning off parked cars.

At the course, trees were tossed to the ground with branches strewn across the fairways, neatly-aligned flag-poles bent double, corporate hospitality tents were decimated and several TV towers blew over.

Helpers, including tree specialists, were drafted in, emphasizing the commitment with which the local community embraced the event. Remarkably, the city was just about ready for the players when they flew in on Monday evening but in many hotels the receptionists were still operating by lamplight and porters were wielding torches.

When it came to the match, the Americans, under the inspired captaincy of Paul Azinger, ignited from the start while the Europeans were sluggish at best.

In the fall of 2011, the PGA and Nicklaus embarked on an overhaul of Valhalla’s drainage and irrigation infrastructure. The objective was to rebuild the green complexes from the ground up to enhance surface drainage and soften contours. By August, the contours might well be softened, but it’s certain the calibre of challenge presented

by Valhalla won’t be.

#1 (Cut the Corner)

Par-4, 446 yards

This deceptive right-to-left dogleg appears tame from the tee and tempts the longer hitters to “cut the corner” in the hope of getting within 50 yards of the green. Otherwise, it’s a 3-iron off the tee followed by an 8-iron. However, the approach is quite different from that faced by the players in the 2000 PGA Championship due to the addition of two greenside bunkers in 2006, one front right and one back left. The new front-right bunker has filled the area once occupied by the low portion of the green and bluegrass further right. It is deep and visually intimidating for approach shots to front-left and back-right pin locations. The left bunker is positioned to gobble up errant shots aimed at the back of the green. A great start!

#2 (The Ridge)

Par-4, 500 yards

A slight dogleg to the left, this tricky driving hole has a landing area only 15 yards wide at around 300 yards from the tee. A finger of Floyds Fork, a waterway meandering through the front nine, borders the left side of the entire hole while a large bunker squeezes in from the right. The slopes in the green have recently been softened to be more receptive to longer approaches.

Two deep bunkers guard the left and a closely-mown collection area and bunker, added in 2007, lie to the right of the green.

#4 (Short ’n Sweet)

Par-4, 372 yards

Pure target-golf—a right-to-left dogleg where the tee shot is threatened by a deep bunker protecting the left corner of the fairway and another trap lying in wait down the right. The aggressive play is to drive over the left bunker, but the carry is 260 yards. Although a relatively short par-4, this hole will test every player. Distance control is the key to the approach—anything flying beyond the green, which is guarded by three front bunkers, will surely find a watery grave in Floyds Fork.

#3 (Floyds Fork)

Par-3, 205 yards

This is a challenging par-3 with Floyds Fork winding between the tee and the green, and then sweeping around to the right of the putting surface. This hole was altered slightly during 2011 with the addition of a back right bunker and some re-contouring of the green to allow for a greater variety of pin positions. The large greenside bunker to the left was reduced in size and a closely mown collection area fills the space this created.

The right greenside bunker was enlarged to provide more of a threat when the cup is located to the front-right. The real danger on this hole, though, is to misread the wind and push the tee shot toward the slope right of the green that feeds into Floyds Fork.

#7 (Players Pick)

Par-5, 597 yards

#5 (Fade Away)

Par-4, 463 yards

#6 (The Bear)

Par-4, 495 yards

This left-to-right dogleg has a new tee which it shares with the 8th hole. A drive of 290 yards is needed to clear the bunker put in on the right side of the fairway in 2006.

This intrusive trap has created a seriously narrow landing area due to the three bunkers that line the left of the fairway.

The green is protected by a closely-mown collection area to the left and a bunker that eats in to the front right to grab errant shots that are either pushed or a club short.

This green allows for a particularly testing back-right hole location, potentially one of the most difficult on the course.

For the 2000 PGA Championship, this leftto-right dogleg measured 420 yards with a short second shot over Floyds Fork. Players will not notice much difference from the tee but the approach will be a real eye-opener.

The green has been moved back 80 yards, leaving most players with over 200 yards to go, even from a well-positioned tee shot. The green is surrounded by plenty of trouble—a deep bunker guards the left side and a tightly-mown bail-out area will grab anything sprayed to the right and leave an awkward chip. This could well prove to be the hardest hole on the front side.

#8 (Thor’s Hammer)

#9 (The Rise)

Par-3, 174 yards

Exploiting the shared tee with the 5th, this hole can be stretched by up to 25 yards on the length it played for the 2000 PGA Championship. Despite being the shortest of the par-3s at Valhalla, it will severely punish errant shots. Guarding the front of an elevated, multi-tiered green is a deep bunker, behind which lies a slippery, catch-all collection area carpeted by short bent grass. Another bunker and Floyds Fork lurk to the left, but with several shelves on offer there is no shortage of potential hole placements.

Par-4, 415 yards

The tee shot on this uphill, right-tilting par-4 is challenged by three fairway bunkers bordering the right side of the fairway and two more to the left. In 2011, these bunkers were pushed further up the hole, thus squeezing the landing zone to just 22 yards for longer hitters. The uphill approach to this green is particularly problematic when it comes to judging the yardage. With run-offs front and left, and the looming presence of one of Valhalla’s largest and deepest bunkers just right of the green, even the most authoritative second shot is under threat.

This superb risk-reward hole has a split fairway and a waterscape stretching all the way down the left side to the green.

The safe route will be a driver down the right to a narrow landing area, a second shot to within 100 yards of the green and a wedge to the pin. But bunkers on the right side that were enlarged and moved nearer to the fairway before the 2008 Ryder Cup will increase the risk involved in going for the green via this route. Attacking down the left off the tee toward an island landing area, flanked by water to the right and bluegrass rough to the left, will shorten the hole by more than 50 yards. But the target is only 24 yards wide and will still leave up to 230 yards of carry across a water hazard that has been stretched to the very edge of the green and will surely drown anything drifting left.

#10 (Turns)

Par-5, 590 yards

The tee put into play in 2006 added 30 yards to this double-dogleg par-5. A fairway bunker lurks on the right side of the driving zone while deep rough cuts in from the left. The front of the undulating, two-tiered green is guarded by a large, deep bunker, so distance control is a must on what is still a largely blind second shot despite the elimination of a number of trees on the eye-line. Scrambling a par will be nigh-on impossible from a shot that clears the back of the green while anything coming up short will inevitably find the front bunker.

#11 (On the Edge)

Par-3, 210 yards

Another of the major projects undertaken during the 2006 renovation put the bite back into this hole. The green was moved back and left some 35 yards and rebuilt— it now features a slightly false front with a large bunker bordering the front and left of the green and two more traps awaiting shots that go right and long. Accuracy is essential, as is a drawn tee shot on the whole, but shots that carry too far to the left will bound down the hillside, making par a very difficult task.

#13 (The Island)

Par-4, 350 yards

#12 (Odin’s Revenge)

Par-4, 467 yards

This tough driving hole has hardly changed at all after proving to be a challenging test at both the PGA Championships staged at Valhalla (1996 and 2000). Deep bluegrass rough and a narrow landing area that generally leaves a 160-180-yard approach to an elevated green are the obstacles off the tee. The green, which was subject to a small amount of subtle re-contouring in 2011, is a punishing target for errant shots with one of the deepest bunkers on the course to the right and gnarly bluegrass rough to the left.

This exciting hole is the shortest of the par-4s. Measuring barely 350 yards from the championship tee, it has seen its fair share of excitement during each of the two Majors to date at Valhalla. The driving zone is surrounded by six small pot bunkers to the left and a large trap and bluegrass rough to the right. The island green, one the most spectacular on the course, is built up nearly 20 feet on large boulders and is almost totally surrounded by water. An accurate wedge with controlled spin is a must for the approach to a slightly re-contoured green, otherwise a swim is guaranteed.

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#14 (Two Tears)

Par-3, 217 yards

The longest par-3 at Valhalla, this hole was changed by Nicklaus in 2011 with the separation of the front bunker guarding the front-left-to-back-right diagonal green into two distinct traps, one large and one small. The two-tiered putting surface was also re-contoured to increase the number of challenging hole locations. In 2006, two bunkers were added to the rear of the green (one behind each tier) to capture shots that fly just too long, thus placing a high premium on proper club selection.

#15 (On the Rocks)

Par-4, 435 yard

One of the most scenic holes at Valhalla with Brush Run Creek all-pervasive down the right side. The landing area off the tee is framed by a small bunker and deep bluegrass to the left, and a larger bunker to the right. But the real challenge is the approach. The green, like the fairway, is skirted by Brush Run Creek, leaving little room for error to the right. In 2011, the depth of the putting surface was shortened by four yards and a small bunker was installed front-right to enhance a devilish front hole position. Also, the contours were altered to accommodate multiple tough hole locations.

#17 (No Mercy)

Par-4, 472 yards

If not Valhalla’s hardest hole, then this long, uphill par-4 is definitely a close second.

Several trees were removed during the renovation while the tee was lowered by six-toeight feet and extended back by 50 yards so that only a drive of at least 260 yards can find the fairway. To complement the existing bunker on the left of the fairway, a bunker was put in on the right in 2006 and can only be cleared by a drive that carries 340 yards. Even then, the second shot is blind into a small green consisting of only 4,200 square feet and abutted by two bunkers to the left. Grass bail-out areas to the right and behind the putting surface are the alternatives to the left greenside bunker. The changes have improved the viewing possibilities on the 17th as much as on the 16th.

#16 (Down the Stretch)

Par-4, 508 yards

A slight dogleg to the right, with Brush Run Creek guarding the right side and a densely wooded slope with deep rough on the left, this is the longest of the par-4s at 510 yards!

Over the years, the 16th has proven to be one of the most difficult holes on the course and yet, amazingly, it is still to be tested at its full length in a Major championship. In 2006, the approach was changed dramatically with the introduction of a new, elevated green protected by two deep front bunkers (where there were none before) and a bent-grass swale that drops as much as 20 feet.

#18 (Gahm Over)

Par-5, 542 yards

The scene of playoff dramas at its two PGA Championships, the 18th is already established as one of the great finishing holes in golf. One pot bunker, just to the left of the green, was added prior to the 2008 Ryder Cup, but this is probably the least of the players’ worries. A spectacular water hazard is in play all the way down the right side of the fairway and a large bunker hugs the left side at driving distance.

Reachable in two, the three-levelled green will be hard work if the pin is positioned on the front or middle, although the bunker guarding the entire front portion of a horseshoe-shaped putting surface also remains an obtrusive factor.

Out: 3,667 yards (Par-35) In: 3,791 yards (Par-36) Total: 7,458 yards (Par-71)

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Calling it a ‘water hazard’ doesn’t quite do it justice This is Royal Porthcawl, home of the 2014 Senior Open, Wales’s first-ever Major championship. So a bit of a test.

Like all our other world-class but refreshingly unstuffy links courses, Royal Porthcawl rewards accuracy rather than brute force. We think you’ll enjoy the challenge. Even if you do take a shot or two more than usual on some holes.

Still, with views like this, you’ll never have a better excuse for three-putting.

For your free 98 page Wales Golf guide visit golfasitshouldbe.com

The

Amazing Mr. Jones

Dubbed the ‘impregnable quadrilateral’ by writer O.B. Keeler, Bobby Jones’ achievement of winning all four Major championships on offer in one calendar year—1930—has stood the test of time. Tony Smart salutes the man and his deeds

The Grand Slam is golf’s Holy Grail, the ultimate achievement, victory in all four Major championships in one calendar year. In the modern era, thanks to Arnold Palmer, the Grand Slam means the Masters, the US Open, the Open and the PGA Championship, and only one man, Tiger Woods, has come close to this, holding all four titles at the same time (in 2000-01), though not all from the same calendar year.

But back in 1930, the Grand Slam meant the Open and Amateur Championships of Britain and America, and the man who won all four titles that year was the legendary Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones, Jr. In so doing, Jones raised his total of Major titles to 13, a figure only beaten by Jack Nicklaus with 20 and Tiger Woods with 17 (if we include Nicklaus’ and Woods’ US Amateur victories in their totals).

Then, aged 28 and one month after he’d won the final leg of the Grand Slam, Jones retired from competitive golf, declaring he needed to concentrate on his law practice as he’d achieved everything he could in the game.

And he probably had. In just eight years, 1923-30, the quiet, courteous gentleman from Atlanta, Georgia, had dominated golf, winning five US Amateurs, four US Opens, three Opens, and one [British] Amateur Championship. Jones’ record is all the more remarkable during this period because he played about as much golf as the average weekend player.

In total, he entered three [British] Amateurs, four Opens, 11 US Opens and 13 US Amateurs—just 31 Majors, from which he amassed 13 titles.

Many people familiar with Jones’ record, but knowing little of his life, think he was just a gifted, born-

with-a-silver-spoon-in-his-mouth amateur who never had to struggle.

What they never saw was his lifelong battle with illness.

Born to a prominent southern family on St. Patrick’s Day, 1902, Jones was such a sickly child he didn’t eat solid food until he was five. Though he subsequently grew stronger and started playing sports like baseball and golf, he still battled against stress during his playing career, sometimes throwing up before an important round, enduring sleepless nights with severe stomach cramps and, typically, losing 15 pounds in weight during a championship. A driven perfectionist, Jones also struggled with a volatile temper early on, a battle that reached its nadir over the Old Course at St Andrews in 1921, the only Open he

qualify for the US Amateur at Merion.

The following year, America having entered World War I, there were no Majors. However, many professionals and amateurs, Jones included, played exhibitions for the American Red Cross and War Relief efforts, raising over $150,000.

After the war, Jones struggled to fulfill his promise despite being known for his measured swing and a Corinthian spirit that golf writer A.I. Laney believed he developed when playing with 1913 US Open winner Francis Ouimet.

But his reward came in 1923 when he won the US Open at Inwood Country Club in New York. Jones entered the final round with a threeshot lead but squandered that with a bogey-bogey-double-bogey run-in that prompted him to remark, “I didn’t finish like a champion… I finished like a yellow dog.”

When Bobby Cruickshank birdied the final hole to tie Jones, an 18-hole playoff ensued the next day. All square after 17 holes, Jones drilled a 2-iron at the 18th to 8ft; and when Cruickshank took six, he had finally won his first Major.

Two US Amateurs soon followed before, in 1925, he established his credentials as perhaps the most honorable man in sport. In the US Open at Worcester Country Club, he called a shot on himself when his ball moved at address and, despite the blandishments of playing partner Walter Hagen, he insisted on the penalty. When complimented on his honesty, he declared: “You might as well praise me for not robbing a bank.”

At tournament end, the importance of his call was underlined as he lost in a playoff to Willie MacFarlane.

Strengthened morally, Jones bounced back to become the first

When complimented, Jones declared: “You might as well praise me for not robbing a bank” played in that he didn’t win.

It was Jones’ first visit to Britain and, despite being the leading amateur, he collapsed during the third round, taking 46 to the turn, double-bogeying the 10th and then hitting his tee shot at the par-3 11th into Strath bunker. After numerous attempts to get out, the young Jones picked up his ball and stormed off the course, forever referring to his actions that day as his “most inglorious failure” in golf.

Though it was undoubtedly a desperate moment in his playing career, it also proved a turning point.

Prior to St Andrews, Jones had shown precocious talent. At the age of nine, he won the Atlanta Athletic Club junior title, defeating a 16-year-old in the final. Five years later, at 14, he won the Georgia Amateur and became the youngest player to

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person to win both the US Open and Open Championship in the same year—1926. Twelve months later, he won the US Amateur again and successfully defended the Claret Jug at St Andrews. In 1928, he won a fourth US Amateur and in 1929 claimed his third US Open at Winged Foot.

Entering 1930, Jones was consciously planning an assault on all four Majors. Later, when asked if he’d planned to win all four in one year, he modestly said: “I felt reluctant to admit that I considered myself capable of such an accomplishment, though, actually, I did make plans with precisely this end in view.”

The first Major was the [British] Amateur, the one he had failed to

win thus far, and in 1930 it was at St Andrews, which by now Jones had fallen in love with. Despite several close calls in the early rounds, he beat the 1923 champion Roger Wethered 7&6 in the final, triggering scenes of pandemonium amongst more than 15,000 spectators and necessitating a police escort for the long walk back to the clubhouse. Jones later described this as the most important tournament of his life.

Leaving St Andrews, Jones and his wife Mary spent a week in Paris before arriving at Royal Liverpool for the Open. Playing badly by his standards, he readily admitted that his driver, ‘Jeanie Deans,’ was the culprit and he had to rely on his magical but fickle putter, ‘Calamity

Jane,’ to triumph by two shots over Macdonald Smith and Leo Diegel.

Jones was watched throughout

by Hoylake’s two famous sons, John Ball and Harold Hilton, winners of an Open apiece and 12 Amateur Championships between them. Ball was the last to perform the [British] Amateur and Open double, and that was way back in 1890. Once he had won, following a gritty, closing 75, Jones chatted with the pair. Hoylake lore has it that Ball told Jones, “you play a game with which I’m not familiar,” a phrase used years later by Jones to Jack Nicklaus.

Having won the first two legs of the Grand Slam, Jones headed to Interlachen Country Club in Minneapolis, for the US Open. At

The impregnable quadrilateral: Jones poses with the four Major trophies he held simultaneously in 1930

An immaculately attired Bobby Jones playing out of the rough at St Andrews during the 1030 Amateur Championship

that time, the area was suffering a severe heat wave. However, despite a double-bogey at the penultimate hole, Jones birdied the last to become the first player to break par for four rounds in the national championship.

After claiming the third leg of his Grand Slam by two shots, his next stop was Merion for the US Amateur, the final leg, and by now the whole country was caught up in his quest.

Thanks to the growth of newsreel, he had become a recognizable face and the pressure on him was huge as he returned to the course where he’d won his first US Amateur six years earlier. However, once play started, it was evident he wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way. He led the medal-play qualifiers with rounds of 69 and 73, equaling the record, and then was never troubled in any of his matches, his lowest winning margin being 5&4.

When, in the 36-hole final, he easily defeated Gene Homans 8&7,

The largest gallery in USGA history, some 18,000 people, charged the green in an attempt to get close to him the largest gallery in USGA history, some 18,000 people, erupted and charged the green in an attempt to get close to him. Although the clubhouse was only 600 yards away, it took 50 marines to escort Jones to safety. The New York Times later called that slow march “the most triumphant journey that any man ever travelled in sport.” Jones had won the Grand Slam, an achievement that, at the start of the year, had been unimaginable.

He’d achieved everything he could

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in competitive golf but, even after he retired from playing, Jones was still heavily involved in the game, making 12 short films for Hollywood entitled How I Play Golf and designing the first set of matching and numbered clubs for the A.G. Spalding Company.

But Jones’ most enduring legacy is Augusta National Golf Club and its annual Masters tournament.

Shortly after retiring, he’d planned to build the ultimate golf course, a place where he could enjoy the game in peace with his friends because, even when playing casual rounds, he attracted hundreds of spectators. When a suitable piece of land, Fruitlands Nursery, became available in Augusta, he knew he’d found his Nirvana.

Augusta National was the first, and only, course he ever designed, so he needed expert help. Step forward one of the game’s greatest architects, Dr Alister Mackenzie, who would later call Augusta National his “best opportunity and, I believe,

my finest achievement.” The course opened in 1933 and the following year debuted the Masters.

Unfortunately, the legend has a sad conclusion. After seeing active service in the US Army Air Corps in World War II, including the Normandy landings, Jones returned home in 1948 to face his greatest challenge.

Suffering from severe back and neck pain, he was diagnosed with Syringomyelia, a rare, degenerative disease that gradually reduced his once gifted hands to little more than stiffened claws and saw him reduced to walking with a cane, then leg braces, and finally having to live out his days confined to a wheelchair.

Jones endured this dreadful disease with customary grace, bravery and stoicism until his death on December 18th, 1971, when play was stopped at St Andrews and flags at golf clubs all over the world were lowered to half-mast.

Just how great was Jones?

Comparisons between different eras are always difficult. For one thing, he used completely different equipment to Jack Nicklaus, just as Nicklaus used different clubs and balls to today’s superstars. Also, Jones never played for money, and he’s the only golfer ever to complete any kind of Grand Slam in one calendar year. In truth, he was the finest amateur that ever lived and although he may not have been the finest golfer, he was amongst the finest gentleman that ever played the game.

Just hours after his 1930 Open victory, Jones pitched up for an exhibition match, as promised, at Oxhey Golf Club in Hertfordshire, 200 miles south of Liverpool, prior to catching his ship home. Exhausted from his exertions at Hoylake, he nevertheless shot 66 while playing with Ted Ray, James Braid and Harry Vardon. Before he left, Ray presented him with a gold cigarette case, inscribed: “To a great golfer and a great sportsman.” H

Seven Years of Heaven...

Jones’ 13 Major wins

1923 1924 1925 1926

US Open Inwood Country Club, New York

US Amateur Merion Golf Club, Pennsylvania

US Amateur Oakmont Country Club, Pennsylvania

Open Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, England

US Open Scioto Country Club, Ohio

1927

Open St Andrews Links, Scotland

US Amateur Minikahda Club, Minnesota

1928 1929 1930

US Amateur Brae Burn Country Club, Massachusetts

US Open Winged Foot, New York

[British] Amateur St Andrews Links, Scotland

Open Royal Liverpool Golf Club, England The triumphant Bobby Jones received a tickertape parade in Atlanta in July 1930

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US Open Interlachen Country Club, Minnesota

US Amateur Merion Golf Club, Pennsylvania

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Highway to

Glory Playing in any of the four biggest championships is often the pinnacle of a golfer ’s career. Of course, superstars like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are exempt into every Major for the foreseeable future, but for most of the contestants there is often only one way in. Mark Garrod charts the similarities and differences in the small print of the various qualification rules

Graham DeLaet describes it as “without question the best piece of mail anyone could ever receive”—and if golf is your profession, as well as your passion, how could you possibly argue?

The letter, which the Canadian Presidents Cup star posted on Twitter on December 30, 2013, as an exclamation of his excitement, read: “The Board of Governors of the Augusta National Golf Club cordially invites you to participate in the Two Thousand and Fourteen Masters Tournament to be held at Augusta, Georgia the tenth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth of April.”

It was signed by club chairman William Porter Payne and, very importantly, it ended “RSVP”.

Woe betide anyone who fails to do so!

Once the letter arrives, it means you have joined one of the most elite groups in the whole of sport. So how do you get one? Indeed, how do you qualify for any of the game’s four biggest championships? The ones at which careers are made and, even if it’s just for a moment of magic, where you can write your name into history.

Each one is different and in any case there is constant tinkering to the criteria, but here’s how at the moment…

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Guan Tianlang

M ic h ae l Camp b e l l

The Masters

United States Open

Run by the club which has hosted the event since its launch in 1934, there are 18 current categories in addition to the committee’s ability to invite international players not otherwise qualified “at its discretion.”

The first five cover previous winners of either a Green Jacket (this earns a lifetime qualification), the US Open, Open and PGA Championships (a five-year exemption for each of those) and the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass (three years).

The next five categories are reserved for six amateurs— the two finalists at the previous year’s US Amateur Championship, plus the reigning British, [US] Public Links and [US] Mid-Amateur champions and the winner of the Asia-Pacific Championship. It was through the Asia-Pacific route that China’s remarkable 14-year-old, Guan Tianlang, last year became the youngest player in the history of the Masters and remarkably made the halfway cut despite incurring a one-stroke ‘slow play’ penalty.

You would also have qualified for a trip to Augusta this spring if you finished in the top-12 last April or in the top four of the 2013 US Open, [British] Open or PGA Championship.

All winners of mainstream PGA Tour events between each Masters are also invited, the most recent being 30-year-old Australian Steven Bowditch who went through agonies before clinging on for a heart-warming victory in the Valero Texas Open.

Also in are the 30 qualifiers for the end-of-season Tour Championship (that was when DeLaet first knew he would be driving down Magnolia Lane). Additional exemptions are given to the top-50 on the world rankings both on December 31, 2013, and the top-50 published the week before the Masters.

A mere 11 golfers entered for the inaugural US Open at Newport Country Club, Rhode Island, in 1895. Last year, the number of entries reached a record 9,860 for the 113th championship won by England’s Justin Rose.

Not all of them could play at Merion, of course, and to reduce the field to 156 (the maximum that can be accommodated) no fewer than 111 local qualifying tournaments were held across the United States and all those successful at that stage progressed to 13 sectional qualifiers, including ones in Japan and at Walton Heath in southern England.

When the US Open was last staged over Pinehurst No.2 in 2005, the New Zealander Michael Campbell held off Tiger Woods just a week after scraping through the European qualifier by holing a six-foot putt on the final green.

However, there are 15 ways to avoid having to go through qualifying. Exemptions go to the last 10 US Open champions along with the last five Masters, Open and PGA Championship winners, the last three Players Championship winners and the holders of the European and US Senior Open titles.

The two finalists in the preceding year’s US Amateur Championship also earn spots in the US Open, as do the winner of the [British] Amateur Championship and the leader of the amateur world rankings at the end of the previous season.

Places are reserved as well for the top-10 in the most recent US Open and all the qualifiers for the previous year’s Tour Championship qualifiers while a few special exemptions are allocated at the discretion of the United States Golf Association.

Open Qualifiers

Tom Wats on & Pau l M c G i n l e y

The Open Championship

PGA Championship

The oldest of the four Majors has seen the biggest change for this year, with 32 spots at Royal Liverpool on the northwest coast of England in July being offered via a new Qualifying Series comprising 10 events in nine countries on five continents.

The first of them was the Australian Open in December.

Winner Rory McIlroy and runner-up Adam Scott were already exempt, so the three places went to John Senden, Bryden Macpherson and Rhein Gibson. The latter was understandably thrilled given his world ranking at the time of 998th. “It means the world to me to play in my first Major,” the 29-year-old said. “That’s what we all want to do and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

McIlroy and Scott both qualify through their recent Major victories in America, of course, and exemptions into the field at Royal Liverpool are also available for every Open winner from Tom Watson (the first of his five Claret Jugs came in 1975) to defending champion Phil Mickelson.

The top-10 at Muirfield last July all earned exemptions and the full list of qualifying categories—more than 30 in total—reward high finishes on the main tours around the world, selection for last year’s Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village, Ohio and victory at the 2013 Senior Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, won by American Mark Wiebe.

Amateurs are not forgotten either. The British, American and European championship winners will line up alongside their heroes and more are likely to be among the dozen who emerge from the regional and final qualifying events during the build-up to the big event and the top50 published the week before the Masters.

The most noticeable difference come the final Major of the year is the presence of 20 PGA club professionals (in effect, the leading 20 finishers in the PGA Professional National Championship). The PGA is widely recognized as having the strongest field of all four Majors, with 99 out of the top 100 world ranked players having competed last year at Oak Hill. This is in part because the PGA of America also has its own points list from which 70 players are awarded places based on their performances throughout the previous 12 months.

All former PGA champions qualify as well, as do the last five winners of the Masters, US Open and Open. The top-15 in last year’s PGA Championship also get in, as do all the winners on the PGA Tour over the preceding year, the winner of the Senior PGA Championship presented

by KitchenAid at Harbor Shores in Michigan, in May, and members of the most recent Ryder Cup teams, providing they are in the world’s top-100 the week before the start of the championship.

In addition, the PGA of America reserves the right to invite additional players of their own choosing.

For instance, the current Ryder Cup captains, Tom Watson (USA) and Ireland’s Paul McGinley (Europe), could well receive invitations to play at Valhalla, Kentucky, this August as the points race for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles enters its final stretch. H

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Š 2014 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved. ED 1214.

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Five To Follow

W

ith each year dawning, we find ourselves contemplating an ever-lengthening roll-call of golfers with a realistic chance of winning one of the game’s four premier titles.

Since the 2007 Masters, the Majors have been shared by 21 different players and, given the number of Tour pros routinely blistering the world’s hardest courses, that trend could well extend through 2014. Modern equipment, improved fitness and flexibility levels, and judicious use of sports psychology have all played a part in keeping

seasoned campaigners in the hunt as well as accelerating the progress of up-and-coming youngsters. It all makes for a heady cocktail as we anticipate a potentially electrifying two-month period with three Majors at stake. Heading the cast of serious challengers, of course, are the four current Major champions along with Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and, fitness permitting, Tiger Woods. Among those we think might also mount challenges this season are last year’s star turn, Henrik Stenson, and young Dutchman Joost Luiten.

Words ADAM HATHAWAY and PAUL TROW 110

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Adam Scott Australia Born: 16 July 1980 Turned Pro: 2000 Major Win: Masters 2013 Professional Wins: 26

It is said you have to lose one to win one, but the manner of Scott’s collapse down the stretch in the [British] Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2012 caused many to doubt if the endlessly affable and prodigiously talented Austalian would ever write his name onto a Majors’ honours board. At Lytham, Scott led by four shots with four holes to play only to card four staight bogeys and hand the title to Ernie Els. He soon made amends at Augusta the following spring when he came from off the pace to secure a playoff spot alongside 2009 champion Angel Cabrea. He eventually passed this second test of neve with lying colours to claim the Green Jacket by holing a 12ft birdie putt on the second exta hole to spark wild celebations back home in Austalia. After slipping to a disappointing tie for 45th in the U.S. Open at Merion, he quickly bucked his ideas up and finished joint third in the [British] Open at Muifield and joint 5th in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Clearly Scott is now a force to be reckoned with in evey Major, though at some stage he will have to wean himself off his anchored putting method that will become illegal at the end of next year.

At Augusta there is so much hullabaloo surrounding defending champions and so many demands on their time that it’s no surprise that only Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have won two in a row. Scott lay third after the first two rounds, but a closing 76 dropped him out of contention and into a tie for 14th. After a long wait to find a successor to Greg Norman, Austalia have now uneathed two genuine superstars in Scott and fellow world top-10 player Jason Day.

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Henrik Stenson Sweden

Picked out by Sir Nick Faldo, after winning the Dubai Deset Classic and WGC-Accenture World Match Play titles early in 2007, as one European who might well win a Major, the long-hitting Swede promptly lost form and only rediscovered it, with a vengeance, last year when he finished second in the Open at Muifield and tied third three weeks later in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill. But he is not alone amongst his geneation of European players to have expectations heaped on his shoulders and fail to deliver. Stenson, who played in the Ryder Cups of 2006 and 2008, had Fanny Sunesson, Faldo’s caddie for four of his six Major wins, on his bag until her retirement in 2012. The highlight of their association was his victoy in the 2009 Players’ Championship at TPC Sawgass, a win that lifted him to fifth in the world.

However, it was in 2013 after seveal years of injuries and financial problems that the fireworks finally ignited. In addition to his Majors’ exploits, he came third in the Scottish Open at Castle Stuat and was runner-up in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone before completing the year with a lourish by winning the Deutsche Bank Championship and Tour Championship to clinch the oveall FedExCup title and $10 million bonus. As an encore, Stenson then became the first player to win the FedExCup and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai with a runaway, six-shot victoy in the DP World Tour Championship. Prior to the Masters, his best peformance in 2014 was a tie for fifth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at Bay Hill. After never really figuring on the leaderboard at Augusta, four rounds in the 70s left the Swede in a tie for 14th. Now 38, time is not really on his side if he is to fulfil Faldo’s prediction.

Born: 5 April 1976 Turned Pro: 1998 Best Major finish: 2nd (Open 2013) Professional Wins: 16

113

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Tiger Woods

USA

Born: 30 December 1975 Turned Pro: 1996 Major Wins: 14 (Masters 1997, 2001,

2002, 2005; US Open 2000, 2005, 2008; Open 2000, 2005, 2006; PGA Championship 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007) Professional Wins: 102

Fouteen times a Major winner, though not since his one-legged heroics in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, Woods is still the biggest name in golf. But his failure to add to his tally and eat futher into Jack Nicklaus’s target of 18 titles in six years has been due to a variety of personal and fitness problems that have seen his status at the pinnacle of the game—although not the world ankings— somewhat diminished. There are concerns about how much golf Woods will actually play this year after undergoing back surgey at the end of March and missing the Masters for the first time in two decades. Until doctors intevened, he had only played four tournaments this season, winning none, withdawing from the Honda Classic at PGA National and finally accepting his back condition was too painful to continue after a closing 78 dumped him into a tie for 25th in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doal. But the 38-year old has fond memories of this season’s remaining Major venues. He won the [British] Open at Royal Liverpool in 2006 with a masterly display in which he used his driver just once all week and claimed the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla by beating Bob May in a playoff. He also peformed well in two US Opens at Pinehurst where he tied third in 1999 and was second in 2005. The first real dent in Woods’ aua came in the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National when he failed to convet a three-round lead in a Major for the first time at the 15th attempt, losing to dogged Korean Y. E. Yang. Later that year his private life unavelled, keeping him off the PGA Tour for seveal months. Then he missed a large chunk of the 2011 season due to a leg injuy, but over the past two seasons he won eight times and clocked up three top-10s in Majors. He could well have another decade of tying to close the gap on Nicklaus so he won’t rush his comeback.

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McIloy may only be 24 but it seems as though he’s been on the golfing public’s adar forever. He first came to the attention of the media when he won an under-10s world championship prior to playing in the 2004 Junior Ryder Cup and the 2007 Walker Cup. He won the amateurs’ silver medal in the [British] Open at Carnoustie in 2007, his first Major, and soon aftewards turned pro, aged 18. He secured his European Tour card a few weeks later by finishing third in the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews. McIlroy’s two Major triumphs—at Congressional in the 2011 US Open and at Kiawah Island in the 2012 PGA Championship—were both length-of-the-street affairs with the Irishman each time coming home eight shots clear of the field. The US Open win was especially notable as it came shotly after his implosion at Augusta that year when he was four shots clear on Sunday but collapsed to an 80 in the final round and a tie for 15th. Since then, he has headed the bookies’ odds for most Majors and when he won the PGA Championship he turned a three-shot 54-hole lead into a procession. That year he also topped the money list on both sides of the Atlantic, but he has not threatened in the Majors since. In the five big events since his last victoy, McIlroy’s best finish has been a tie for eighth, which he has achieved twice—in last year’s PGA Championship and this year’s Masters. At Augusta, he just made the cut after a second-round 77 but a closing 69 lifted him significantly up the leaderboard. With his personal life seemingly soted out—McIlroy recently got engaged to Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki after torrents of public speculation— he now looks ready to stat taking care of business on the course as well.

Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland Born: 4 May 1989 Turned Pro: 2007 Major Wins: 2 (US Open 2011;

PGA Championship 2012) Professional Wins: 11

Joost Luiten Netherlands

Luiten signed off with a lourish on his first visit to Augusta National, closing with a 67 to finish in the top-30 and confound the old theoy that debutants cannot play the course. He arrived in the United States inside the world’s top-50—following third place in the Volvo Golf Champions at Durban County Club and sixth place at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship—and can look foward to the rest of the season with renewed confidence having signed off at his maiden Masters with four birdies over the last five holes. He has already made the cut at the Open (in 2011 and 2012) and also in the 2012 PGA Championship, so after his promising peformance at Augusta it would seem he has nothing to fear in the remaining Majors as he bids to make the European team for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September. Luiten has battled back from a wrist injuy that ruined his 2009 season to become only the second Dutchman after RobetJan Derksen to record more than one victoy on the European Tour.

Luiten won his second title of 2013 in the KLM Open at Kennemer G&CC where he beat Miguel Angel Jimenez in a playoff. Thus he became the first home winner of Holland’s biggest tournament since Maaten Lafeber a decade earlier. The popular Luiten—who in 2006 inspired the Netherlands to a shock win in amateur gol’s biggest team tournament, the Eisenhower Trophy—can often be found taining at WINSTONgolf. This is a leading European golf venue in nothern Germany with which he has been associated since 2010.

It is also home to WINSTONuniversity which devises golf education progammes dedicated to developing future managers within the game. Cetainly Luiten is managing his own life in the higher echelons of the game quite nicely.

Born: 7 January 1986 Turned Pro: 2006 Best Major finish: 21st (PGA Championship 2012) Professional Wins: 6

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Other players who might make a Major impression…

Jason Day Australia Born Turned Pro

12 November 1987 2006

2nd (US Open 2011); Tied 2nd (Masters 2011; US Open 2013)

Best Major Finish

Professional Wins

5

After three top-ten finishes last year, it’s surely only a matter of time before this combative young Queenslander lands a Major. He took another step up in February when winning his first World Golf Championship title—the Accenture Match Play at Dove Mountain in Arizona where he beat France’s Victor Dubuisson in extra time to rise to fourth in the world rankings. Day’s best finish in a Major to date is second in the 2011 US Open at Congressional but as he was eight shots behind Rory McIlroy that was not really a near-miss.

Closer efforts came in 2013 when he finished just two shots out of a play-off at the Masters and tied for second in the US Open at Merion.

At the end of the year, he teamed up with Adam Scott to win the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf for Australia (and the individual title) at Royal Melbourne, reinforcing the view that the harder the examination paper the better he performs. After taking a while to recover from a wrist injury, he played solidly at Augusta in April, tying 20th, without ever threatening the leaders. But he clearly has a sound perspective despite all the recent ups and downs in his life. The biggest ‘down’ was the loss of eight Filipino relatives during Typhoon Halyan late last year and the biggest ‘up’ was the arrival in 2012 of his baby son, Dash, named after a character in The Incredibles.

118

the majors 2014

Jonas Blixt Sweden

Thomas Bjorn Denmark 18 February 1971

Born

1993

Turned Pro

Tied 2nd (Open 2000, 2003; PGA Championship 2005)

Best Major Finish

Keegan Bradley USA 24 April 1984

Born Turned Pro Best Major Finish

Luke Donald England

7 June 1986

Born

2008

Turned Pro

2008

Tied 2nd (Masters 2014)

Major Win

PGA Championship 2011

3

Professional Wins

7

Professional Wins

The Great Dane won three times in 2011 after falling by the wayside during the previous four seasons. He also finished fourth in that year’s Open at Royal St. George’s, scene of his 2003 meltdown when, holding a two-shot lead with three holes to play, he took three from a greenside bunker on the 16th and fell into a share of second behind shock winner Ben Curtis. In addition to those two high finishes at Sandwich, Bjorn has three other Major top-fives to his name. He also won twice last season and tied eighth at the Masters in April.

This late developer won his second PGA Tour title last summer at the Greenbrier Classic and backed up that fine performance with fourth place in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, only his second start in a Major.

The Swede then went to Augusta for the first time in April, shot four rounds under par and finished in a tie for second with Jordan Spieth, three shots behind Bubba Watson. That pushed him up to 33rd in the world rankings—a career high—and firmly into the thoughts of European captain Paul McGinley for this September’s Ryder Cup match at Gleneagles.

The son of a Wyoming club professional and nephew of LPGA legend Pat Bradley, young Keegan took the game by storm in his very first Major when he beat Jason Dufner in a playoff for the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. Only two other players have achieved that feat in over a century—Francis Ouimet at the 1913 US Open and Ben Curtis at the 2003 Open. Not surprisingly Bradley, who also won the HP Byron Nelson Championship, was named rookie of the year. He stole the WGCBridgestone Invitational from Jim Furyk last August, but will soon have to learn to live without his belly putter.

Jamie Donaldson Wales

Victor Dubuisson France

Ernie Els South Africa

21

Professional Wins

19 October 1975

Born

2000

Turned Pro

22 April 1990

Born

13 December 1988

Born

1989

Major Wins

4 (US Open 1994, 1997; Open 2002, 2012)

Best Major Finish

66

Professional Wins

Professional Wins

After a long apprenticeship, Donaldson followed his maiden European Tour victory in the 2012 Irish Open by tying seventh in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island—only his fourth Major appearance. He struggled after gaining his European Tour card in 2002, but has improved his ranking each year since 2008 and is set to make his Ryder Cup debut at Gleneagles in September. Other stand-out results include winning the 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and tying second at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March. As an amateur, he was on the GB & Ireland team that came second in the 2000 Eisenhower Trophy.

Donald is, perhaps, the most enigmatic of today’s leading players. In 2011, he became the first man to top the money list on both sides of the Atlantic and spent 55 weeks as world No.1 between the first of two consecutive victories in the BMW PGA Championship, in May 2011, and August 2012. Additionally, he has a superb Ryder Cup record (ten wins and a half from 15 outings) and a short game that is the envy of his peers. But his record in Majors is disappointing—just eight top-10s since 2005—though a swing revamp over the winter might deliver greater consistency.

Turned Pro

6

2

The 2009 European Amateur champion has caught the imagination of the golfing public. After winning last year’s Turkish Airlines Open at Antalya, Dubuisson reached the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona in February, but fell agonisingly short when beaten by Jason Day on the 23rd hole. Some of the shots he played that week could have been served up by Seve Ballesteros in his pomp. Still, that near-miss virtually sealed his place in Europe’s team for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September, provided he recovers from the shoulder injury that has dogged him ever since.

Professional Wins

15

Professional Wins

2010

Best Major Finish

Professional Wins

Tied 3rd (Masters 2005; PGA Championship 2006)

Best Major Finish

Missed Cut (Open 2010, Masters 2014)

Turned Pro

Tied 7th (PGA Championship 2012)

Best Major Finish

2001

Turned Pro

Rickie Fowler USA

17 October 1969

Born

7 December 1977

Born

A cold putter led to a dip in form following four victories in 2010. Outside the world top-50, and thus ineligible for the Masters, the ‘Big Easy’ secured exemption into all the Majors through 2017 by winning the 2012 Open at Lytham. The former world No.1, who has 15 PGA Tour titles in addition to four Majors, last won in June 2013, at the BMW International Open in Munich. This year he is weaning himself off the long putter he has used for the past three seasons. Won two Majors via playoffs, but lost a third, the 2004 Open, to Todd Hamilton.

2009

Turned Pro

Tied 5th (Open 2011; Masters 2014) 2

After playing in two Walker Cups as a teenager, this Oklahoma State University graduate has been a breath of fresh air on the PGA Tour. Known for wearing his alma mater’s orange colours on Sundays at tournaments, Fowler, quarter Japanese and quarter Navajo, rides motorbikes in his spare time. Won his maiden professional title in Korea in 2011 and claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in 2012 via a playoff.

Distinguished himself as a Ryder Cup rookie after receiving a captain’s pick in 2010, but failed to make the US team at Medinah.

Congratulations to our very own Linlithgow based golfer Stephen Gallacher The first man ever to retain the Omega Dubai Desert Classic Trophy 2013 and 2014

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Jim Furyk USA Born

Stephen Gallacher Scotland 12 May 1970

Turned Pro

1992

Major Win

US Open 2003 26

Professional Wins

The career high for the grinder with the eccentric, looping swing came when he won the 2003 US Open at Olympia Fields, but hitting the $10m FedExCup jackpot at the Tour Championship in 2010 can’t rank far behind. Surprisingly, he hasn’t won since despite having several outstanding chances over the past two seasons. In 2012, he followed a playoff loss at the Transitions Championship by surrendering down the stretch in both the US Open at Olympic and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone.

Last year, he was runner-up to Jason Dufner in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill despite leading after 54 holes.

Dustin Johnson USA Born

22 June 1984

1 November 1974

Born

1995

Turned Pro

Tied 18th (PGA Championship 2010)

Best Major Finish

1999

Turned Pro

2nd (PGA Championship 1999; Open 2007); Tied 2nd (PGA Championship 2008)

Best Major Finish

26

Born

5 January 1964 1982

Turned Pro Best Major Finish

Tied 2nd (US Open 2000)

Professional Wins

24

Gallacher turned professional after playing in GB & Ireland’s Walker Cup win in 1995.

Nephew of former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, he struggled for his first few years on the European Tour. He has not returned to the qualifying school since 2000, though he needed a medical exemption in 2010 after being laid low the previous season by a debilitating virus. His first big win came in the 2004 Dunhill Links Championship, but he had to wait until February 2013 for title No.2—the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. He made a successful defence of that title in February this year.

Professional Wins

Lost a playoff to Padraig Harrington in the 2007 Open and was again thwarted by the Irishman at the 2008 PGA Championship.

His biggest victory was the 2008 Players Championship, but poor form on the greens meant he missed out on the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. He has climbed back up the world rankings over the past three years, thanks to wins on both sides of the Atlantic. His 18 top-10s in Majors are testimony to his tee-to-green consistency.

At 34, time is still on his side, but only just.

Like his favourite Rioja red wine, this ponytailed, cigar-smoking, espresso-drinking, Ferrari-driving, recently-remarried Spaniard from Malaga keeps improving with age. He became the oldest winner on the European Tour last December at the Hong Kong Open, less than a month shy of turning 50. Now targeting a fifth Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in September, Jimenez has enjoyed a vintage first few months in 2014.

He followed a remarkable fourth-place finish at the Masters in April by winning the following week on his Champions Tour debut at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia.

Zach Johnson USA

Martin Kaymer Germany

Matt Kuchar USA

Born

24 February 1976

2007

Turned Pro

1998

Tied 2nd (Open 2011)

Major Win

Masters (2007)

Professional Wins

10

This long-hitter has won every season since joining the PGA Tour in 2008, most recently in the WGC-HSBC Champions last November in Shanghai. Engaged to ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s daughter Paulina, he might have won three Majors had things gone his way down the stretch at the 2010 US Open and PGA Championship, and the 2011 Open. His greatest misfortune came on the final hole of the PGA at Whistling Straits when he grounded his club in what he thought was sandy wasteland but was in fact a bunker, thus incurring a two-shot penalty and missing the playoff.

Miguel Angel Jimenez Spain

9 January 1980

Born

4

Professional Wins

Best Major Finish

Turned Pro

Sergio Garcia Spain

26

Professional Wins

The unsung Iowan caused an upset when holding off Tiger Woods at the 2007 Masters, especially as he never once went for any of the par-5s in two. He thwarted the world No.1 again at his own tournament in California last December when he holed a pitch from a drop zone to get into a playoff he subsequently won.

The most recent of Johnson’s 11 PGA Tour titles came in January at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. He has grossed more than $1.5m in prize money in each of the last 11 seasons and his total Tour earnings since 2004 are just short of $32m.

121

Born Turned Pro

28 December 1984 2005

Major Win PGA Championship 2010 Professional Wins

20

After beating Bubba Watson in a playoff for the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and then reaching the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship the following February, the German rose to No.1 in the world rankings.

Even though he won twice on the European Tour in 2011, he was only world No.1 for eight weeks. He had a miserable time for most of 2012 and 2013, despite holing the winning putt to clinch the Ryder Cup for Europe at Medinah, but bounced dramatically back to prominence this year with a one-shot victory in the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

the majors 2014

Born Turned Pro

21 June 1978 2000

Best Major Finish

Tied 3rd (Masters 2012)

Professional Wins

11

Kuchar was low amateur at the Masters and US Open in 1998, but 16 years later he is still waiting for his first Major. After winning the Honda Classic in 2002, his career hit the buffers and he lost his card in 2005. Once back on tour, he won the Turning Stone Resort Championship in 2009 before making his Ryder Cup debut and heading the money list in 2010. Since then he’s won the 2012 Players Championship, the WGC-Accenture Match Play and Memorial last year, and the RBC Heritage in April. He has also had six top10s in Majors since 2010, his latest being a tie for fifth at Augusta behind Bubba Watson.

Paul Lawrie Scotland Born

Graeme McDowell N. Ireland

1 January 1969

Born

30 July 1979

Louis Oosthuizen South Africa Born

19 October 1982

Turned Pro

1986

Turned Pro

2002

Turned Pro

2002

Major Win

Open 1999

Major Win

US Open 2010

Major Win

Open 2010

Professional Wins

12

12

Professional Wins

12

Professional Wins

Ian Poulter England 10 January 1976

Born

1994

Turned Pro Best Major Finish

2nd ( Open 2008)

Professional Wins

16

The doughty Aberdonian won the 1999 Open at Carnoustie in a playoff after France’s Jean Van de Velde had famously collapsed on the final hole when, needing a double-bogey six to win, he contrived to take seven. Alas, this tale detracts from the quality of Lawrie’s closing 67 in brutal weather over a course he probably knew better than anyone else in the field. After several modest seasons, he won three European Tour titles in 2011 and 2012, the last of which, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, sealed his return to the Ryder Cup at Medinah where he claimed a 5&3 singles victory over Brandt Snedeker.

Following his remarkable 2010—he won the US Open at Pebble Beach, two European Tour titles and the decisive point in the Ryder Cup—2011 was an anticlimax for McDowell. He regrouped in 2012 when he was joint runner-up in the US Open, one shot behind Webb Simpson, and tied 12th in the Masters, fifth in the Open and 11th in the PGA Championship. Last year he won three times in three months—in a playoff with Simpson in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, at the Volvo World Match Play in Bulgaria and the French Open—and looks certain to be challenge strongly again in 2014.

When Oosthuizen posted a runaway Open victory at St Andrews in 2010, many felt it was a fluke. But the farmraised South African has a lot going for him, not least one of golf’s smoothest swings. Allied to a putting stroke that is deadly on its day, he should contend in many Majors. He almost landed the 2012 Masters, indeed was favourite to do so after holing his second shot for an albatross at the par-5 2nd in the final round. But playing partner Bubba Watson clung to his coat-tails and eventually eclipsed him with a miracle shot from the trees on the second playoff hole.

The most influential player in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, this in-your-face, never-say-die Englishman is Europe’s go-to man whenever the going gets tough.

His closing five birdies in a row while partnering Rory McIlroy in the Saturday fourballs sparked the most dramatic revival in the match’s history. Needless to say, Poulter’s four points out of four were absolutely crucial. The high points of his 16 tournament victories dating back to 2000 have been two World Golf Championship titles. The only accolade missing from his CV is a Major. To date, he’s had seven top-10s.

Charl Schwartzel South Africa

Webb Simpson USA

Jimmy Walker USA

Lee Westwood England

Born

31 August 1984

Turned Pro

2002

Major Win

Masters 2011

Professional Wins

12

The slim South African enjoyed an annus mirabilis in 2011. Since joining the European Tour in 2003, his progress had been steady rather than spectacular, largely due to impressive displays in dual-sanctioned events in his native land. But after finishing eighth on the money list in 2010, he took his game to a whole new level the following spring by snatching victory in the Masters with four closing birdies.

Ties for 9th, 16th and 12th in the other three Majors of 2011 suggested he was ready to kick on to greatness, but the last two and a half seasons have been a relative disappointment.

Born

8 August 1985

Turned Pro

2008

Major Win

US Open 2012 4

Professional Wins

After chasing Luke Donald to the wire for the 2011 Vardon Trophy, collecting two victories and three runners-up spots along the way, Simpson held his nerve when all around him were faltering to land the 2012 US Open at Olympic Club. The graduate from Arnold Palmer’s alma mater, Wake Forest, looks certain to be one of the game’s dominant players for years to come, provided he can switch smoothly from his current anchored putting method.

Was 24-under-par when he clocked up his fourth PGA Tour win in October last year at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas.

122

Born Turned Pro

16 January 1979 2001

24 April 1973

Born

1993

Turned Pro

Best Major Finish

Tied 8th (Masters 2014)

Best Major Finish

Professional Wins

6

Professional Wins

Suddenly can’t stop winning on the PGA Tour after nine years—and 188 starts—of waiting. His run of three titles in less than four months began last October in the 2013 Frys.com Open, just south of San Francisco, where he closed 62-66 to shut out Vijay Singh. Victories soon followed at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am where he held off Dustin Johnson and Jim Renner despite slipping to a last-round 74. Top of the FedExCup standings and on course for a Ryder Cup debut in September, Walker tied eighth at the Masters in his seventh Major start.

the majors 2014

2nd (Masters 2010; Open 2010) 40

‘Frustrating’ does not even begin to sum up Westwood’s fortunes in the Majors over the past few years. Without question one of the world’s best players from tee to green, the Englishman finished seventh at Augusta in April to make it 12 top-10s from his last 24 Majors, including two runnersup spots and six third places. Clearly, if he has a decent four days on the greens a first Major is there for the taking, and one or two might follow given the confidence that victory should inject. After eight appearances for Europe, he has one of the outstanding records in Ryder Cup history.

paul lawrie

christianmacleod.com

Anyone for Polo?

As ever, Ralph Lauren has come up trumps with the ideal apparel for the discerning golfer. Karen Kay runs the rule over the sleekest, and chicest, lines in the sport

I

n the 154 years since Willie Parks won the very first Open Championship, hosted by Prestwick Golf Club, the game has changed dramatically on numerous levels. Golfers no longer rely on hickory shafts and a wooden head to launch their ball down the fairways, instead reaping the benefits that titanium, aluminium and space-age manufacturing bring to their game.

When Parks claimed his title (he went on to win three more times—in 1863, 1866 and 1975), he would have teed off in a clumsy combination of tweeds and knits, including a heavy, tailored sports jacket. Hardly attire befitting a world-class sportsman.

Over the years, we’ve seen the likes of Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Bobby Locke and Bobby Jones donning correspondent spikes, plus-twos, shirts and ties, and neatly-buttoned cardigans, taking golf into the realms of elegant, gentlemanly style. But still these ensembles weren’t designed with the demands of the game in mind. On wet, windy links courses, fabrics traditionally used in Savile Row tailoring were weighty and cumbersome, restricting all-important movement, while on warmer days they simply clung to the body.

Today, it’s a different story altogether as club players and tour professionals

124

the majors 2014

alike benefit from state-of-the-art textile technology and manufacturing techniques as they step out from the clubhouse in all weathers. Whether you’re walking through the crowds to the first tee at a Major Championship, or strolling out for a leisurely Sunday morning round with your friends, the kit on your back is important as the kit in your bag. This is a game that is so psychological. Feeling confident that you look and feel good means you can relax into your game.

And that’s where Ralph Lauren steps in.

For decades, the label has been the world’s leading purveyor of lifestyle clothing: selling

sell alongside performance wear designed to shelter players and spectators from the offshore winds of the famous links course.

It was in 1990 that Lauren first launched a dedicated golf collection, Polo Golf, providing functional sportswear with a fashionable edge—a new phenomenon in a game not renowned for its elegance over the previous couple of decades. Today, worldclass professional players, including Davis Love III, Jonathan Byrd and Tom Watson (captaining Team USA in this year’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles), who will all be clad in kit designed by the brand. They all wear Polo Golf as official brand ambassadors for the range. Timeless classics, including the iconic Polo shirt and stretch chinos, are a carefully curated collection of clothes to fit the aspirations of the stylish.

It is apt then, that the New York-based outfitter this year continues its partnership with the Open Championship, acting as official patron to the event at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, dressing all R&A officials, including volunteer marshals, and selling a specially-designed and logoed collection of Polo Golf apparel for men and women, RLX Golf for men, and an assortment of Ralph Lauren Childrenswear, within the on-site retail pavilion.

Pieces inspired by the Union Flag, with its graphic red, white and blue colouring, will

tweaked to suit the demands of a golfer’s game, always focusing on an elegant cut and a classic colour palette.

The next generation of greats, names like Luke Donald, Matteo Manassero and Billy Horschel, wear RLX Ralph Lauren.

This is a more dynamic, fashion-forward and technologically-advanced range of sporting separates created to appeal to a youthful, trend-conscious market. Bolder hues, narrower cuts and performance fabrics combine to deliver sportswear for the leaner, fitter golfer of the 21st century.

Alongside his commitments as official supplier to Team USA in the Ryder Cup and as official outfitter to the USGA, Lauren has enjoyed considerable success as

a designer in other sporting arenas, acting as the first official outfitter for the tennis championships at Wimbledon since 2006, and the US Open Tennis Championship.

The company also sponsors the Blackwatch Polo Team and kitted out the US Olympic and Paralympic teams for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. In addition, the company provided kit for many of the competitors to wear during their events.

Much of the inspiration for the brand’s mainline fashion comes from the world of sport: a classic cable-knit cricket sweater re-worked in pastel-hued cashmere, an elegant jodhpur stitched in stretch silk, a tennis dress re-imagined in sheer chiffon, or a contemporary take on a baseball jacket crafted in elegant stretch cotton. The designer’s love of equestrian sports regularly translates into runway style, with dressage jackets and hunting attire parading on the world’s top models and then selling across the world in boutiques from Madison Avenue to Bond Street. It is to Lauren’s credit that he has taken the functional pieces worn for sporting activity and turned them into fashion-industry ‘must-haves’ for everyday wear in locations as diverse as the Hamptons or Hampstead.

The New York-based outfitter continues its relationship with the Open Championship this year

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Diversifying from high fashion to off-duty weekend wear, his Polo Sport lines have become the uniform of the affluent at play, drawing from a rich heritage of recreational activities enjoyed by the wealthy elite. The polo fields of Buenos Aires, the yachting marinas of the Mediterranean, the cricket pitches of the English countryside and the fairways of Scotland have all proved a rich resource for a designer who understands our innate desire to look fit, fabulous, healthy and wealthy at all times.

We may not boast the sporting accolades and skills of the golfing greats teeing off in the Major championships this year, but you or I can do our very best to emulate them with our wardrobe choices at least. And if you’re taking a crucial putt, it may just be that the added panache that comes with dressing with finesse translates into a ball in the hole. H

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School’s Out for Matt Matt Fitzpatrick, the world’s No.1 amateur, has turned his back on his studies to concentrate on golf full-time and test his skills in the professional arena. But when they met recently, he assured Colin Callander he wouldn’t be joining the paid ranks at least until after the first three Majors of the year

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very once in a while, all individuals experience an event that changes the course of their lives. For Matt Fitzpatrick, that moment came when he won the 2013 US Amateur Championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, Francis Ouimet’s back yard.

When Fitzpatrick slotted the winning putt to beat Australia’s Oliver Goss 4&3 and become the first Englishman to claim the Havemeyer Trophy for 102 years, all his previous plans were about to go up in smoke.

It was a cataclysmic moment in the short but sparkling career of this talented young player and he freely admits that he’s still adjusting to its reverberations today.

The 19-year-old Englishman, who hails from the steel city of Sheffield in Yorkshire and is a member of the Hallamshire Golf Club, first hit

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the headlines back in the summer of 2012 when he won the British Boys’ Championship at the Notts Golf Club at Hollinwell. He produced some marvellous golf that week as he demolished Welsh International, Henry James, 10&8 in the most lop-sided final since a certain Sandy Lyle lost to Toby Shannon 10&9 in 1974. But Fitzpatrick was to make an even bigger mark some 11 months later when he captivated a worldwide audience by putting together rounds of 73, 76, 73, 72 (a collective total of 10 over par) to win the Silver Medal as leading amateur at the 142nd Open Championship at Muirfield.

Fitzpatrick’s mature performance that week was matched by the adept manner he handled the world’s media and at the time he was insistent he would be taking up an offer of a golf scholarship at Luke Donald’s alma mater, Northwestern University in Chicago.

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“It was only when the invitations started to come in that I realised how many doors winning the US Amateur had opened for me�

Matt Fitzpatrick with the Havemeyer Trophy after beating Australian Oliver Goss at Brookline

“Going to university is a big thing,” he said at the time. “Mum and Dad made sure education came first so I have something to fall back on if golf does not work out. I’m looking forward to going to Chicago and working with [coach] Pat Goss. I’ve also been told it’s a great academic school so that should hold me in good stead.”

The young Englishman duly enrolled at Northwestern after playing in the Walker Cup and winning the US Amateur Championship, but during his first semester in Chicago he began to have doubts over whether he was doing the right thing.

The result was that he announced to a stunned Goss that he would not be returning after the Christmas vacation and would be concentrating on playing full-time golf instead.

“It was a tough decision but I genuinely believe it was the correct one,” Fitzpatrick said while playing in the Sunningdale Foursomes in March in the south of England prior to embarking on a five-week trip around the United States during which he would play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, the Masters and the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.

“It was only when the invitations started to come in that I realised how many doors winning the US Amateur had opened for me,” he added.

“I could have stayed at Northwestern and played in the Masters, the US Open and the Open, but that would have meant turning down the chance to play at Arnold Palmer’s tournament, at the Heritage and in one or two other Tour events, and I didn’t want to do that.

“These could potentially be once-in-alifetime opportunities,” he added. “I talked it through with my family. It wasn’t an easy decision because I had a great time at Northwestern but given the circumstances we all thought it was the right thing to do.”

Standing on the practice ground ahead of playing with Hallamshire clubmate Barry Dowell in the Sunningdale Foursomes, Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick tees off in company with Fred Couples during the final round of last year’s Open

freely admitted that he is currently in a state of limbo as far as his future plans are concerned.

“I’m just going to wait and see what happens. If I have a couple of good results [in the PGA Tour events] over the next few weeks it might potentially be worthwhile turning pro after playing in the [British] Open,” he said, casting doubt on whether he will still be an amateur when the next Walker Cup takes place, at Royal Lytham & St Annes in September 2015.

History is strewn with leading amateurs who have failed to make an impact in the paid ranks but you will find few doubters when it comes to Fitzpatrick’s chances of making the grade.

“He’s very good,” veteran Masters champion, Fred Couples, said after playing with the English teenager in the final round at Muirfield.

“He doesn’t miss many shots, he hits it straight. As he gets bigger, he’ll hit it a little further, but he hits it plenty far. He’s not like one of these crazy bombers that you see. He’s good. At 19 you should putt well. He’s a good putter and he doesn’t make many mistakes.”

Nigel Edwards, the director of England Golf who captained Fitzpatrick at last year’s Walker Cup, agrees with that ringing endorsement.

“You don’t get to No.1 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking without having a lot going for you,” said the astute Welshman.

“Technically he’s very sound and he’s intelligent.

He’s got a great golfing brain.

“He reminds me a bit of Luke Donald and not just because of the Northwestern connection. He thinks very well, understands the game very well and knows when to attack and when to play more defensively.

“He also understands his own game which is very important. He plays to his strengths and doesn’t let anything else get in the way.”

Only time will tell whether or not Fitzpatrick made an error in deciding to leave university early, but the player himself exudes a quiet air of confidence which suggests he will take the new challenges he faces in his stride.

“I can’t wait to get started,” he says. “I have always dreamt of playing in the Masters, the US Open and other big tournaments and thanks to winning the US Amateur I’ve now got the chance.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I know it’s going to be an exciting year.” H

“I’ve always dreamt of playing in the Masters, the US Open and other big tournaments” “It’s all a bit up in the air at the moment.

We’ll reassess things once I have a few events under my belt and see how I’ve done. I might play a few of the top amateur events later in the season but I think I will be concentrating more on playing in professional events just to see where I am in comparison with the big guys.

“At the moment I can honestly say I don’t know when or if I will be turning professional but it’s a definite possibility.”

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Another Fine Mess Even the great Bobby Jones found himself in a spot of bother at times

Many of the biggest disasters in Major championship histor y have been inflicted on some of the most accomplished players the game has ever seen. Clive Agran, not in truth one of their number, nevertheless finds he can empathize with the victims when they succumb to human frailty and cruel fate At least part of the appeal of watching golf is rooted in a sort of schadenfreude. You think to yourself, ‘thank goodness it’s not me having to chip off that bare lie over that cavernous bunker onto that treacherous downhill slope with that tight pin position and needing to get down in two to win the Major that will transform my life.’ And with all those spectators in the grandstands and a hundred million more watching on television… aaarrrrggghhh!

But they do it, don’t they? That’s because professional golfers are not like you and me. For a start, they have no history of screwing up that same shot on at least the previous half-a-dozen occasions. They don’t top drives, shank approaches, skull chips, get stuck in a bunker or blast 3ft putts eight feet past and take three more to get down. Whereas you and I anticipate it, disaster is an outcome they don’t even begin to countenance.

Maybe it’s because they lack

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the imagination to appreciate all the horrible things that can go wrong. For whatever reason, and perhaps enormous talent combined with total dedication has something to do with it, pros are extraordinarily proficient at playing the game. However, every so often one of the very best hits a shot or has a round with which we hackers can more readily identify. On those rare occasions, can we be forgiven a tiny smile?

One of the very earliest recorded disasters befell one of the game’s greatest gentlemen. To be fair to the legendary Bobby Jones, he was only 19 at the time. However, playing in the third round of his very first Open at St Andrews in 1921, he effectively got stuck in the Hill bunker to the left of the 11th green. After several unsuccessful swings, he picked up his ball and stormed off the course in a huff. He later described the incident as “the most inglorious failure of

my golfing life.” It didn’t, however, damage his developing fondness for the Old Course and six years after the incident, when the Open returned to St Andrews, Jones went wire to wire to win by six shots with a four-round total of 285.

Another 19-year-old who suffered a chastening experience on an Open links was Sergio Garcia in 1999 at Carnoustie.

It was a tournament perhaps best remembered for the misadventures of Jean Van de Velde, who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with a finalround 77 and a nightmare triple-bogey 7 at the last where a double-bogey was all he needed to win. But the image of a tearful Garcia being comforted by his mother after a traumatic 89 is almost as unforgettable as the sight of the forlorn Frenchman standing in Barry Burn with his trousers rolled up around his knees. While Van de Velde never really recovered from his horrors, the young Spaniard gave Tiger Woods the fright of his life as he chased him home in the PGA Championship at Medinah less than a month later.

Anything in the 80s always sounds bad but there can be mitigating

Open disasters: Mum consoles 19-year-old Sergio Garcia after he shot 89 at Carnoustie.

Right: Tiger Woods en route to an 81 at Muirfield in 2002

circumstances. Having won seven of the previous 11 Majors, Woods was a ridiculously short-priced favourite as the Open got underway at Muirfield in 2002. Rounds of 70 and 68 put him in the ideal spot from which to launch his anticipated march to victory over the weekend. But the famous British weather had other ideas and a huge depression drifted down the east coast of Scotland and effectively blew his chances away. His third-round 81 remains the only time he’s failed to break 80 as a pro. He was 16 shots better on Sunday but his closing 65 only lifted him into a tie for 28th.

When it comes to improving on the previous round, Jack Nicklaus went one shot better than that when following up an opening 83 with a 66 in the 1981 Open at Royal St. George’s in southeast England. Again there were mitigating circumstances which confirm you can’t really play your best

golf when something else is on your mind. The day before his 83, one of Nicklaus’s sons had been arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. It didn’t help that he was stopped on the Jack Nicklaus Freeway just outside Columbus, Ohio. Charges were eventually dropped but the Golden Bear’s chances of extending his extraordinary sequence of 11 consecutive top-five finishes in the championship had been scuppered and he eventually tied 23rd.

Perhaps the most infamous round in Major championship history didn’t even take place in a Major itself, but in a qualifying competition. Back in the summer of 1976, Maurice Flitcroft, a crane driver from Barrow-in-Furness in northern England, decided to enter the Open, to be played that year at Royal Birkdale, about 100 miles due south of his home town.

The fact that Flitcroft, who passed

himself off as a professional on his entry form, was actually an amateur and, what’s more, one without a handicap totally eluded the R&A. He teed up at nearby Formby Golf Club alongside a hundred or so other hopefuls and proceeded to hack his way round in 121 shots, much to the annoyance of his playing partners and to the chagrin of the chaps in blazers. Paul Trow, this publication’s editor, was caddying that day for a friend who carded a nightmare 96. In an uncharacteristic display of tact and sensitivity, Paul consoled him afterwards with a few soothing words—“Well, at least you didn’t shoot the worst score out there.” Within hours the truth behind the infamous 121 was known to the world and the intended kindness had turned into a dagger to the heart.

But woefully high scores—at individual holes, at least, if not across an entire round —can easily be achieved by professionals of genuine merit. Leading the way in this respect was the 19 racked up by Californian club pro Ray Ainsley after his ball had rolled into a greenside creek on the 397-yard, par-4 16th at Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver, Colorado, during the 1938 US Open.

Ainsley, who later told a rules official he was unaware he could take a drop under penalty, kept splashing away as his ball moved downstream with the current. “He was hitting the ball like a wild man,” recounted playing partner Bud McKinney. “It would occasionally jump like a fish and land on the bank, only to roll back in. That ball would jump up on the bank and you’d hear the crowd scream: ‘There it is! There it is!’ And then it would roll back in the water.” Even though Ainsley signed for 19, some in the gallery swore his score was actually somewhere between 21 and 23.

Tsuneyuki ‘Tommy’ Nakajima, a prominent Japanese player, had two similar car-crash experiences. Firstly, it should be noted that he was a decent player who racked up more than 50 tournament victories in his native land and recorded six top-10 finishes in Majors.

None the less, he’s never been able to live down his first taste of the Majors, in the 1978 Masters. On the par-5 13th at Augusta National, he hooked his drive into the creek down the left side, took a penalty drop and hit an iron into the fairway. But his next went into the water guarding the green and he tried to play it out only for the ball to bounce off his

Sands of Nakajima: Tommy took four shots to get out of the Road Hole bunker at the 1978 Open

His driver felt like a banjo and his putter behaved like an errant schoolboy shoe and cost him a two-shot penalty. When he then tried to hand his club to his caddie, it touched the water, resulting in another twoshot penalty. He hit the next shot over the green but finally made it home. “Lost count,” said Nakajima, through an interpreter, when asked what he thought he’d made on the hole. A 13 went down on his scorecard and he duly missed the cut. As a postscript, Nakajima made an eagle-3 at the same hole in 1986 and said: “It’s my friend now. I feel I have more than redeemed myself for that bad day.”

Three months after his Masters debacle, Tommy was at it again in the Open, this time after putting into the Road Hole bunker beside the 17th green on the Old Course at St Andrews. Co-leading at the time, he took four shots to escape the infamous trap, spawning a shoal of ‘Sands of Nakajima’ headlines.

But even proven Major champions aren’t immune to such embarrassment. John Daly, no stranger to mathematical excesses with at least 15 scores of 10 or more on the PGA Tour, played the 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links in 14 shots in the 2000 US Open. Tom Weiskopf, another who sometimes allowed his temper to get the better of him, took 13 at the short 12th in the 1980 Masters after dumping five balls in Rae’s Creek. Perhaps more surprising was the 14 that three-time Major winner Billy Casper took at the other par-3 on Augusta’s back nine, the 16th, again after visiting water on five

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occasions. To be fair to Casper, a contemporary and rival of Arnold Palmer’s, the year was 2005 and he was 73 at the time.

Augusta National isn’t really a course you can fiddle your way round. Consequently, when things start to go wrong they can unravel totally.

Just ask Rory McIlroy. There he was in 2011 at the tender age of 21 cruising serenely to his first Major title when suddenly his driver felt like a banjo, his putter behaved like an errant schoolboy and everything went pear-shaped.

The game McIlroy had made look ridiculously easy for the previous three days exacted cruel revenge as things went from bad to worse on the back nine. Four shots clear at the start of the final round, the prince everyone expected to be crowned king slid to an ugly 80 and fell back into a tie for 15th.

The US Open, too, has experienced its fair share of collapses, most glaringly at Oakland Hills in 1985 when Tze Chung (T. C.) Chen imploded on the final day after opening 65, 69, 69. A double-hit on the 5th, which he then proceeded to three-putt, caused his angst and contributed to a quadruple-bogey 8 that sent his four-shot lead well and truly south, and left the door open for American Andy North.

Having set a new course record and recorded the first ever double-eagle in a US Open (at the par-5 2nd in his first round), the wannabe from Taiwan finished forlornly in a three-way tie for second! H

The Senior Open Championship will be hosted

by Royal Porthcawl near the end of July

Wales is in a good place when it comes to golf these days— Jamie Donaldson’s about to play in the Ryder Cup, the stars of yester year are heading for Royal Porthcawl, and Celtic Manor Resort will again play host to the European Tour

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elsh golf is in good hands. In the wake of Dai Rees’ heroics after World War II, both in the Open Championship and at the Ryder Cup, came the bulldog Brian Huggett, who starred in six Ryder Cups from 1963-75, and then Ian Woosnam, who claimed Wales’ first Major victory at the 1991 Masters.

Since that heady, ‘Green Jacket’ moment at Augusta National, some pessimists have averred that the cupboard is bare again. The emergence of Jamie Donaldson, though, confounds that theory. At the age of 38, his rise to prominence has been a slow burn since his days as an amateur contemporary of Luke Donald and Justin Rose.

But this son of Pontypridd has seriously come of age over the past two years and now looks certain to make his Ryder Cup debut at Gleneagles in September.

His two biggest victories on the European Tour came

at the 2012 Irish Open and 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and this year he cemented his place in the biennial match against the Americans with a tie for second (with Bubba Watson) in the WGCCadillac Championship at Doral.

There will be no Ryder Cup points available the week before the Gleneagles match when the ISPS Handa Welsh Open is played at Celtic Manor Resort, near Newport, for the 15th time from September 18-21. But Donaldson, along with several European teammates, will no doubt be taking part.

Priot to that event, Celtic Manor Resort will be in the spotlight from July 4-6 when it once again plays host to the Celebrity Cup which will be contested by leading lights from sport and showbiz. Augmenting the golf will be interactive retail park that debuted in 2013.

Meanwhile, Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin, who led Europe and the United States respectively at Celtic Manor Resort in the 2010

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© Crown copyright (2014) Visit Wales

Ryder Cup, will renew their rivalry on Welsh soil in the Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex from July 24-27 at Royal Porthcawl.

Other contenders will include current US Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, his fellow Open winners Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Lehman and Mark O’Meara, and the two leading lights on the Champions Tour, Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples. The popular seaside town, virtually equidistant from Cardiff to the east and Swansea to the west, will also roll out the red carpet to charismatic Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, 2012 US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and former world No.1 Vijay Singh.

“We’re all excited to go down to Royal Porthcawl,” said Montgomerie. “It’s the first time the Senior Open has gone to Wales and I hear it’s a fantastic golf course. I haven’t played there, but I’ve heard from my Welsh colleagues on Tour how good a course it is.

“I also look forward to going back to Wales. I obviously had success there four years ago even though I didn’t hit a shot. Any time I cross the Severn Bridge I feel a million dollars, I really do.”

Pavin said: “It will be good to go back. When I went there as Ryder Cup captain, the people of Wales were fantastic—very welcoming and friendly.

Obviously they wanted Europe to win, but they were very respectful. Everything we needed and asked for they provided.”

Royal Porthcawl began life as a 9-hole course in 1891. It stretched to 18 holes four years later and subsequently underwent modifications overseen

by Harry Colt (1913) and Tom Simpson (1933).

Its first four and last six holes run beside the

The beautiful setting of Nefyn and District Golf Club

Bristol Channel while the middle section, more of a heathland challenge with a plethora of gorse, occupies higher ground. The Bristol Channel acts as a funnel for Atlantic gales and, due to an absence of trees and minimal dunes, the course is fully exposed to the wind. Nevertheless, the doyen of golf writers, Bernard Darwin, was charmed: “Golf at Porthcawl is the genuine thing—sea in sight all the time, and the most noble bunkers.”

As a tournament venue, Royal Porthcawl has hosted six Amateur Championships since 1951, when Bob Hope was in the field, the 1995 Walker Cup (famous for Gary Wolstenholme’s singles win over Tiger Woods) and the Welsh Golf Classic on the European Tour from 1980-82, won successively

by Sandy Lyle, Des Smyth and Gordon Brand Jr. Rivalling Porthcawl for prominence, Royal St David’s lies in the shadow of Harlech Castle (built The ISPS Handa Welsh Open will be played at Celtic Manor in September

by Edward I). In the 13th century, the tide lapped the rocks below the towering, attendant sand dunes, but gradually the sea retreated to leave an expanse of natural linksland. In 1894, that course-in-waiting was fashioned by an Australian émigré, Harold Finch-Hatton, who at the time wanted to practise his boomerang throwing.

On Llŷn Peninsula, Nefyn & District has ten holes running alongside the sea, plus a pub below the headland. It has been compared to Pebble Beach for the beauty of its setting and its sensational views across Caernarfon Bay to the island of Anglesey.

Then we have the fabled links of Aberdovey, set within the Snowdonia National Park at the mouth of the Dovey estuary on the Cardigan Bay coast. This is where Darwin learned the game, after they had cut flower pots into the ground to form nine holes.

And as for Southerndown, high above the Ogmore River Valley, the final words should rest with Henry Cotton when describing the opening hole— “Bracken to the left of you, bracken to the right, and a fairway rising up to the sky.”

Other must-play masterpieces in Wales include Ashburnham, overlooking Carmarthen Bay; the superbly-subtle Tenby links in Pembrokeshire; and Marriott St Pierre, a more modern layout near Chepstow that’s hosted numerous European Tour events as well as the 1996 Solheim Cup. And no one should ever forget it was at The Glamorganshire, just outside Cardiff, where Dr Frank Stableford first experimented with his worldrenowned points system—the staple of modern, nonmedal stroke-play.

Indeed, it’s difficult to play golf in Wales without a history lesson, but the courses do give an outstanding account of themselves. H See: golfasitshouldbe.com

Ladies’ First

There have been as few as two and as many as five in a single season. The first woman to win one did so 20 years before they formally existed. And, befitting a global game, the events have been played across five different countries. No question: the LPGA’s Majors are dynamic—and not just for the level of play Paula Creamer, resplendant in pink, celebrates her 2010 U.S. Women’s Open victory at Oakmont

Next time you get together with your knowit-all sports trivia friends, ask them this: How many female Major winners were there by the end of the LPGA’s inaugural year? It was 1950 and there were three Majors on the calendar, so the answer would seem to be one, two or three.

But the correct answer is 14.

That’s because two of the three Majors had been retroactively designated as such (the Western Women’s Open, which debuted in 1930, and the Titleholders Championship, which launched in 1937). This immediately established the likes of Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Helen Dettweiler and others as Major winners, despite the fact that none of them won a Major in 1950, the LPGA’s first year of existence.

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That year, the legendary Babe Zaharias (pictured left) took all three Majors, adding the US Women’s Open to victories at the Western and the Titleholders events and becoming the first female player ever to win a Grand Slam.

Only one other player would accomplish this feat—Sandra Haynie, who had an easier task of it in 1974, one of ten years during which there were only two Majors: the US Women’s Open and the LPGA Championship.

At various points since 1950, there have been two Majors per year (1968-1978), three Majors per year (1950-1954; 1967; 1972; 19791982), four Majors per year (1955-1966; 19832012) and five Majors per year (2013-present).

The Western and Titleholders events were

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gone by the late 1970s, eventually replaced by the du Maurier Classic and the Kraft Nabisco Championship. But the du Maurier lost its sponsor, a tobacco company, in 2001 and was itself replaced by the Women’s British Open, now a Ricoh event, formerly sponsored by Weetabix. Last year, in 2013, France’s Evian Championship joined the club and became the fifth Major on the LPGA Tour. That event, formerly known as the Evian Masters, is now one of two Majors sanctioned by both the LPGA and Ladies European Tour (the other is the Women’s British Open).

In all, eight different events have been regarded as LPGA Majors, and, in contrast to the men’s game, all but one of them has had a title sponsor, the consistently well-run US Women’s Open being the sole exception.

The more Majors there are in a given year,

the greater the chance of players amassing Major titles—but with the addition of the Evian, the prospect of a third Grand Slam occurring is increasingly dim.

Kathy Whitworth came closest to being the third in 1967, a “three Major” year, when she took both the PGA Championship and Western Open but missed out on the US Women’s Open. Similarly, two more came close in “four Major” years: LPGA Hall-of-Famer

golf, trying to establish a “best ever” ranking is mind-twisting indeed.

Consider: Patty Berg currently leads the LPGA’s list of all-time Major wins with 15, but eight of those are retroactively counted among Women’s Western Open and Titleholders victories prior to 1950. Subtract the retroactive tournaments from her Majors’ total, and that of Louise Suggs (11 wins), and suddenly Wright becomes the all-time women’s Majors leader with 13 and Annika Sorenstam, currently tied for fourth with Zaharias on 10 Major victories, moves into second place.

Further complicating matters is how various tournaments have been regarded as they transformed into Majors.

The Women’s British Open was long considered a Major before its official LPGA designation as such in 2001, but the two Hall

Dinah Shore helped to launch the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 1972 Mickey Wright in 1961 and Pat Bradley in 1986, each missing by one victory.

But what of the “Majors victories” total, a standard by which the greatest in the game are often measured? In the case of women’s

Stacy Lewis drives up the 18th fairway of the Old Course at St Andrews en route to winning the 2013 Women’s British Open

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Lexi Thompson celebrates her first Major win in traditional style at this year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship

The LPGA’s Green Jacket

Jane Blalock and Judy Rankin have no Major wins on their records of Fame points that Laura Davies’ 1986 victory would have earned her don’t count and to this day the Englishwoman remains outside looking in.

Entertainer Dinah Shore helped to launch the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 1972 as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Classic. Its large purse and high profile had many immediately considering it as a Major, but it didn’t receive Major status until 1983. On the other hand, the du Maurier (then Peter Jackson, now Canadian Open) was added to the LPGA’s schedule in 1973 but didn’t appear to hold any particularly elevated status with the public. Despite that, it was designated a Major in 1979, four years before Dinah Shore’s tournament.

Had the Kraft Nabisco’s victors prior to 1983 been awarded retroactive Major victories, the record books would look quite different: Judy Rankin, Jane Blalock and Jo Ann Prentice all won the tournament, but have no Major wins on their records. Sandra Post, the first

Canadian on the LPGA Tour, won back-to-back titles there in 1978 and ’79, which would have put her Majors’ total at three (having won the LPGA Championship in her rookie year, 1968).

Likewise, World Golf Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lopez is only considered to have won one Major, the LPGA Championship (albeit three times: 1978, ’85, ’89). But she took the Kraft Nabisco in 1981, shortly before it became a Major. Sally Little, the last woman to win the tourney as a non-Major in 1982, has two other Major victories on her record (the 1980 LPGA Championship and the ’88 du Maurier Classic).

Lastly, a semi-retired Wright took it in 1973, a fantastic victory in any case which would have boosted her all-time Majors total to 14.

So, given changing schedules and sponsors, wildly varying numbers and a history of organisational dynamism, who’s the LPGA’s greatest of all time? If Major wins are anything to go by, we have no idea. H

Founded by Dinah Shore in 1972, the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April kicks off the LPGA’s Majors’ season and is accompanied by a series of parties and celebrations in the Rancho Mirage area of California, which certainly add to its festive reputation. That reputation was further cemented in 1988 when the tournament acquired its own winner’s tradition: a jump into a lake. Amy Alcott was the first to dive into Champions Lake (aka “Poppie’s Pond,” named for former tournament director Terry “Poppie” Wilcox), which surrounds the 18th green at Mission Hills Country Club, the tournament’s venue.

Alcott added two more jumps to her résumé, the last coming with her third victory in 1991 and being all the more memorable because she took the then75-year-old tournament host Dinah Shore with her into the drink. Somewhat less dynamically, 1998 winner Pat Hurst jumped in only up to her knees as she could not swim. While perhaps not as grand a tradition as offered at Augusta, the pond jump has been called “the Green Jacket of the LPGA” and is indicative of the event’s enthusiastic spirit.

The Liffey meanders through the K Club on its way to Dublin

Playing Away?

Forget the Notre Dame, the Pyramids or the Alhambra Palace, the main purpose of travelling, surely, is to play golf. Even more importantly, it provides the opportunity to boast to fellow golfers upon returning to Blighty. With this priority very much in mind, Paul Trow takes a look at the resorts he will be boring on about in the clubhouse bar this summer

I

f proof were needed that we live in a shrinking world, consult the pages of the average golfer’s passport.

Four decades ago, we played at our home course and made the occasional foray elsewhere with a society or as guests of friends.

When the time came for a family vacation, the golfer (usually male) left his clubs at home and devoted the fortnight to his wife and children.

The only variance from this practice occurred when a club professional, or some other enterprising individual, organised a longweekend break for, say, a dozen members.

How times have changed! Today, the world has upwards of 30,000 golf courses. Most of the new ones are pay-to-play establishments which welcome golfers from all walks of life provided they’re suitably attired and display a passing awareness of the game’s etiquette.

To tee up, you simply pay your green fee and get on with it. Many of these developments have resort courses that support a hotel, spa and fine-dining, and also might have a ‘gated residential’ or ‘holiday property’ community.

Here is a thumbnail guide to some resorts that are especially welcoming.

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The K Club

Over the past couple of decades, Ireland has grown to rival Scotland as a magnet for golfing pilgrims. Certainly, it boasts some of the world’s finest golf resorts. One such destination is The K Club in the county of Kildare, a few miles west of Dublin’s fair city. Owned by Dr Michael Smurfit and designed by Arnold Palmer, the two 18-hole layouts at The K Club offer a truly elite golfing experience. Set on the banks of the Liffey, the famous river that meanders all the way to, and through, Dublin, the Palmer Course, which opened in 1991 and hosted the 2006 Ryder Cup, is a glorious parkland creation with an abundance of mature trees and a heady variety of spectacular views. Palmer’s initial contribution was deemed such a success he was invited to design the second 18-hole course on the estate, the Smurfit. Now 10 years old, the Smurfit, which twice staged the European Open during the tournament’s 13-year stint at The K Club from 1995-2007, provides a pleasing contrast to the Palmer Course with its open, rugged, linksy appearance, rollercoaster undulations, wild grasses and gorse. Visitors can avail themselves of all the luxury facilities at the exclusive Kildare Hotel, Spa & Country Club, to give its full title. Housed within the historic Straffan House, which dates back to 550AD, and surrounded by one of Ireland’s most colourful gardens, the hotel is a hive of culture. After all, where else, while enjoying an aperitif, can you thumb through one of only six copies of the Book of Kells or gaze at paintings by Jack B. Yeats, brother of the poet W.B. Yeats?

In addition to golf, horse riding is another popular activity for guests of the K Club.

KClub.ie

the majors 2014

Quinta do Lago

Quinta do Lago, set within 2,000 acres of the Ria Formosa Natural Park, has been at the forefront of golf in the Algarve for four decades. It features a high-quality residential development and three 18-hole championship courses—the North, South and Laranjal. Matching these superb layouts, just 15 minutes’ drive from Faro airport, are the outstanding practice facilities at the Paul McGinley Academy and the TaylorMade Fitting Centre. Residents and guests benefit from a year-round temperate climate and a variety of lifestyle pursuits. Away from the fairways, there are plenty of facilities and activities to keep everyone occupied—tennis, cycling, water sports are just some of the activities on offer. Replete with sandy beaches, umbrella pines and tranquil lakes, Quinta do Lago is a wonderful place to relax and unwind.

In addition, the various restaurants, both formal and informal, take advantage of the fresh Mediterranean produce for which the resort has become famous. American course designer William Mitchell laid out the South Course and nine holes of the North in 1974 while two more Americans, Joseph Lee and Rocky Roquemore, expanded the North into 18 holes in 1989. The Laranjal, laid out in an

Visitors to Quinta do Lago are never very far from the Atlantic Ocean

orange grove about a mile from the resort, opened in 2009 to a design by local architect Jorge Santana da Silva. At the end of last year, the North was closed for a major renovation.

Final shaping has now been completed and approved by renowned American golf designer Beau Welling, in collaboration with European Ryder Cup captain McGinley, and the new layout is set to reopen in October.

In terms of accommodation the outstanding hotel in the area is the stunning five-star Conrad Algarve. The hotel meets the highest of international standards but also adds a Portugese design twist to its luxurious ambience.

QuintadoLago.com Conradalgarve.com

Terre Blanche

Terre Blanche Hotel and Spa in south-east France, a short drive inland from the Côte d’Azur, has two 18-hole courses, the Chateau and Riou,

both laid out by former Ryder Cup player Dave Thomas in rolling Provencal vineyard country at its most picturesque. Valleys, waterfalls, ravines and white-sand bunkers abound across this wonderful, 750-acre location, so it’s no surprise that the European Senior Tour will be visiting here once again in October for the French Riviera Masters. Terre Blanche also has the European Tour’s seal of approval for its Albatros golf performance centre which features a 64-tee, two-tier driving range, an indoor putting green, two outdoor greens, practice bunker and chipping facilities, and a David Leadbetter teaching academy. After an enjoyable round, visitors can relax in the pleasing ambience of Terre Blanche’s tastefully appointed clubhouse and perhaps indulge in some fine dining in the Restaurant Les Caroubiers. In addition to golfers, the resort appeals to a multitude of visitors, be they couples in search of a romantic hideaway,

families with young children or business folk who require state-of-the-art communications and conference facilities. The hotel has a total of 115 independent rooms, a mixture of suites and villas, and other activities on offer include tennis, swimming and a full range of spa treatments. For those who like to explore when on vacation, the nearby villages are well worth a visit along with numerous local attractions, including the Verdon Canyon and Esterel Mountains.

Terre-Blanche.com

Aphrodite Hills

As that angry old mercenary Othello discovered, Cyprus is both infuriating and intoxicating—a seductive gateway to the east and a defiant outpost for the west. It is also the ideal European holiday destination.

This mesmeric eastern Mediterranean island is blessed with beautiful sandy beaches, a sparkling sea and year-round sunshine, not to mention the countless antiquities that testify to its infinite history and rich mythology.

The streets and squares of its towns teem with market stalls, friendly cafes, sumptuous restaurants and natives who enjoy an enviably easygoing lifestyle. Nowadays, though, there’s another really good reason to visit—golf.

There are four courses open to the public on the island, all located near the port of Paphos in the south-west. From a geological

viewpoint, Cyprus is reminiscent of many parts of Spain with its vegetation-clad mountains and natural fertility—ideal as a setting and backdrop for golf. The game’s outstanding destination on the island is the 5-star resort at Aphrodite Hills, 12 miles east of Paphos.

Designed by Cabell Robinson and opened in 2002, this hauntingly beautiful 18-holer is laid out on two parallel plateaux flanking a cavernous gorge and offers glorious views of the Randi Forest public nature reserve and the cobalt-blue Mediterranean more than 1,000ft below. Cutting an elegant swathe through ruggedly fertile, indigenous terrain and some 7,000 olive and carob trees (interspersed with larger oaks and conifers), Aphrodite Hills marries meticulously manicured fairways and greens with cunningly positioned pot bunkers redolent of a bygone era. Spread out alongside the course is the sumptuous, 290-bedroom InterContinental hotel while 850 villas, townhouses and apartments are scattered in village-style clusters on the surrounding hillside.

AphroditeHills.com

WINSTONgolf

The words ‘well-kept secret’ and ‘hidden gem’ have attained cliché status amongst travel writers, but they could have been coined precisely for a delightful golf resort in northern Germany, well off the beaten

track about two hours’ drive east of Hamburg.

Located near the historical city of Schwerin in Mecklenburg, a sparsely-populated region that borders the Baltic Sea to the north and Poland to the east, WINSTONgolf is home to 45 holes laid out across rolling landscape owned

by Dutch businessman Wijnand Pon. Just over 10 years ago, Pon commissioned German course designer Holger Rengstorf to build 18 holes, the WINSTONopen course. A 9-hole, par3 academy layout, WINSTONkranich, named after the cranes that are common to the area, followed a few years later. Then July 2011 saw the crowning glory for this ambitious golf

The popular Montgomerie, like all Belek’s courses, was car ved from a pine and eucalyptus forest

The European Senior Tour has been visiting WINSTONlinks since 2012

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resort, the only one for a radius of 50 miles, when WINSTONlinks was opened. This haven for broom, heather and fescue grasses was designed by Canadian architect David Krause and has hosted an annual tournament for the European Senior Tour since September 2012.

In terms of accommodation, the complex is not only well-served by what’s on offer in Schwerin, but also has two hotels of its own.

Built around 1890, Schloss Basthorst is two miles from WINSTONgolf. Across the original castle and the newer extensions, it offers 100 bedrooms, suites or apartments plus a spa centre, a restaurant specializing in seasonal creations enriched with herbs from the on-site kitchen garden and glorious views of nearby Lake Gambeck. Set beside the River Warnow, in the heart of the WINSTONgolf estate, is the much-smaller Gut Vorbeck, which has 19 bedrooms and one apartment.

WinstonGolf.de

PGA Catalunya

Golf first arrived in mainland Spain at Sant Cugat in the hills north-west of Barcelona in 1914. But the game was slow to catch on and the next notable course to be built in the Costa Brava over the subsequent half-century was Real Club El Prat in 1954. Nowadays, this is one of the country’s more popular golf regions and much of the limelight is now attracted by the 36-hole PGA Catalunya Resort just south of the ancient Catalan city of Girona. The Stadium Course, where this year’s Spanish Open took place, is the culmination of more than a decade of planning and design by the European Tour, beginning with its original 1999 design by Neil Coles and Angel Gallardo.

Consistently ranked amongst Europe’s best ten courses, the Stadium, with its abundance of fir trees, lush vegetation and purple heather, is especially popular with leading professionals as well as a thing of undeniable beauty.

Certainly, it can do considerable damage to a scorecard and makes no concessions with its trees pressing onto fairways, strategically placed bunkers and lakes that come into play on no fewer than seven holes. It is rare to find so many memorable holes on one course and despite the many ups and downs, the tees are generally elevated, with stunning views, and very few fairways are uphill. For a slightly milder challenge, the Tour Course, another

Coles-Gallardo design, is ideal for resort golfers. The fairways on most of the holes are pleasingly wide while the bunkers, though strategically placed, can be quite forgiving.

The venue also boasts a spacious modern clubhouse, offering excellent food and service, and a stylish onsite Melia hotel.

PgaCatalunya.com

The Montgomerie Maxx Royal

Golfers seeking outstanding courses, continuous sunshine and round-the-clock luxury at affordable prices less than four hours’ flying time from the UK are strongly advised to explore south-west Turkey. Back in 1994, Belek was an obscure village best known for turtles laying eggs on its beaches and dazzling views of the snow-capped Taurus Mountains.

Since then 11 immaculately maintained golf developments have been carved from the native pine and eucalyptus forest. Forty minutes’ drive from the international airport at Antalya, Belek is awash with five-star hotels

PGA Catalunya is consistently ranked amongst Europe’s ten best courses

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where full-board means virtually unlimited food and drink. So whether you’re golfing, enjoying a spa treatment, soaking up the sun, dining out, exploring the local antiquities, or simply shopping, the deal you get is second to none. A recent addition to Belek’s dazzling array of palatial accommodation is the Maxx Royal Golf & Spa Hotel, owners of The Montgomerie course where the Turkish Airlines Open, the third leg of the European Tour’s Final Series, is played in November.

Last year, world No.1 Tiger Woods was in the field. Laid out in 2008 by former European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie in conjunction with European Golf Design, the course has been carefully shaped to blend naturally with both its indigenous trees and age-old sandy ridges. The magnificent, 445room Maxx Royal hotel, less than a mile from Belek’s bustling centre on a 300-metre stretch of beach with its own pier, is the perfect complement to this world-class golf facility.

MontgomerieMaxxRoyal.com H

THE ULTIMATE CHOICE FOR GOLFERS IN THE ALGARVE.

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OCEAN GOLF COURSE VALE DO LOBO

Conrad Algarve Estrada da Quinta do Lago 8135-106 Almancil Telephone +351 289 350 700 www.conradhotels.com

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Three courses from opposite ends of golf ’s time spectrum will stage the US Open, Open and PGA Championships in 2015. Chambers Bay in Washington State is the imaginative selection of the USGA for the first US Open in the Pacific Northwest while the Straits Course at Whistling Straits on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin will host the PGA Championship for a third time in 11 years. Sandwiched between is the most venerable layout of them all — the Old Course at St Andrews, where the Open will take place for a record 29th time. Tony Dear and Peter Phyllisen run the rule over these contrasting venues Photography by STONEHOUSE GOLF 148

the majors 2014

(stonehousegolf.com)

Patrick Drickey

U.S. Open

Mike Davis has taken many calls over the years from course developers saying they have a great US Open site. The USGA’s former rules and competitions chief, now its executive director, assesses each approach, but most don’t quite fit the organization’s stringent specifications. Occasionally, though, something comes across his desk that demands closer scrutiny.

When John Ladenburg, the Pierce County executive in Washington State, called Davis in late 2005 and told him of a serene, 1,000acre coastal site hard against Puget Sound, 45 minutes south of Seattle, Davis took notice.

After Ladenburg added that the land was sandbased and the course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr, would be links-like in style and open to the public, Davis felt compelled to cross the country and see the place for himself.

Davis first visited Chambers Bay early in 2006 and was mesmerized. “The location, the sand and Bob’s routing were all very exciting,” he recalls. “The fact John made it clear that bringing the US Open to the area was his dream, and he was obviously able to get things done, just made the project all the more compelling.”

Having taken the size of grandstands, roadways, exhibition space and corporate entertainment tents into consideration

when designing the holes, the hard work of Jones’ team paid off when it was announced the course had been selected to host the US Amateur Championship in 2010 and the US Open five years after that. It will be the first US Open ever held in the Pacific Northwest.

The terrain and coastal setting is ideal for a links—open to the elements, firm underfoot—where players need imagination rather than reliance on a yardage book. “At too many modern courses, the psychology of the game is diluted,” says Jones. “Links golf is the opposite. We wanted players to have options for every shot, and make the course more about the ground game.”

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Dan Murphy

Reviews following the 2010 US Amateur believes it’s unlike any other bunker on the course. Northwest are usually fairly wet,” says Davis. (won by Peter Uihlein) were overwhelmingly “Most of the exposed sand is in waste areas that “So the course will be softer in June than it was positive, though Jones and Davis both knew look wild and unmaintained,” he explains, “but for the 2010 Amateur, which was played in tweaks were necessary before the world’s best this bunker looks trim. It’s out of character.”

August. We’ll need some wind to challenge the players arrived to contest the 115th US Open.

Perhaps the most significant change players, and I hope it changes direction every Numerous alterations—Jones calls them since 2010, though, has been the hiring of day. Whatever happens, though, the 2015 US refinements—were made; most noticeably Eric Johnson as director of agronomy. Johnson Open is going to be a memorable occasion.” at the difficult par-4 7th, where the putting moved to Chambers Bay from Bandon The Open surface was flattened and lowered to prevent Dunes Golf Resort in July 2012, linking up The Open Championship returns to its spiritual balls hitting the front of the green and with his former assistant Josh Lewis. Since home next year. The Old Course beside the spinning back 100 yards; at the downhill par-3 then, Johnson has had a profound impact ancient university town of St Andrews on 9th, where a tee to the right of the 8th fairway on the quality of the turf and greens. At the east coast of Scotland has played host to was added to create a different perspective; the 2013 Washington State Men’s Amateur golfers for nigh on 600 years. and at 18 (which will play as both a par-4 and Championship, competitors complimented Beginning and ending under the par-5) where Jones expanded a strategically- the grass coverage and remarked how imposing eye of the R&A clubhouse, it follows placed bunker on the right side of the fairway. smoothly the surfaces were rolling. a path that heads broadly north from the Auld Davis has also insisted that a trap be built Johnson and his team spike and spot-feed Gray Toun in the direction of the distant Tay in the center of the 18th fairway, 15ft deep, the greens every week, adding fertilizer where estuary. Shaped like a shepherd’s crook, the about 110 yards short of the green and named necessary and irrigating every day. Places Old Course’s features are the stuff of golfing ‘Chambers Basement,’ from which it will be where turf has stubbornly refused to grow dreams, including the Swilcan Burn, the Road virtually impossible to reach the green. have been re-sodded. Johnson also believes Hole, the Valley of Sin and seven double greens “I have the utmost regard for Mike Davis,” the experience his staff members have gained on which putts can measure up to 100 yards.

Jones says. “But I didn’t agree with his idea from volunteering at PGA Tour events and This haunting linksland on the northeast for that bunker. When we finished the first USGA championships has been crucial. “Their shores of the Kingdom of Fife is the world’s version, it was about three or four feet deep. basic understanding and knowledge were oldest stretch of land in continuous use for Mike said double it. So we made it eight feet always there,” he says. “But they needed a little deep, and Mike said double it again.” more freedom to utilize and build on their skills.” golf. A 1552 charter signed by Archbishop John Hamilton gave the town’s citizens the right to Jones thinks players should at least have a Johnson, Jones and Davis are all hoping use the links for “golf, futball, shuteing at all chance to recover from any bunker with a well- for a variety of conditions during the times with all other manner of pastimes.” executed shot. Besides being too deep, he also championship. “Winter and spring in the

Patrick Drickey

By 1599, though, it was an offence to play golf on Sundays. The first two instances resulted in fines, a third breach brought a trip to the ‘repentance pillar,’ while a further lapse led to the ultimate punishment—excommunication!

Centuries later, the Old Course continues to hand out Sunday punishments, especially over the closing holes in the final round of the Open. “You have to make your score over the first 12 holes of the Old Course,” Seve Ballesteros, winner of the Claret Jug at St Andrews in 1984, once said. “Then you just try to hang on to it. If the wind blows against you, the 13th is the start of a very tough finish.”

Its sand traps, each with a special name like Hell, Strath or Hill, are legendary, and the pot bunkers, the legacy of those who dug for shells, are especially penal. Bernard Darwin described how the Road Hole bunker seemed to eat “its way into the very vitals” of the 17th green. And the Beardies —a trio of pot bunkers in the middle of the 14th fairway—provided just enough room, according to Darwin, to accommodate “an angry man and his niblick.”

The Old Course is one of seven publiclyowned layouts administered by the St Andrews Links Trust under an Act of Parliament, and the R&A is but one of several clubs with playing rights. Its debut Open, in 1873, was won on a cold, bleak October day by Tom Kidd, a local

caddie with a 36-hole score of 179. However, the first great champions to be crowned there were J.H. Taylor (1895 and 1900) and James Braid (1905 and 1910), by which time the Open was being contested over 72 holes.

In 1927, Bobby Jones defended the title he won the previous year at Lytham over a course he had detested on his first visit in 1921. After equaling the course record in the first round with a 68, he led from start to finish and his four-round total of 285 lowered the tournament record by six strokes.

Other distinguished Open winners over the next three decades included Densmore Shute (1933), Sam Snead (1946), who churlishly likened the experience to “camping out,” Peter Thomson (1955), Bobby Locke (1957), after the R&A overlooked his failure to return his ball-marker to its correct spot on the final green, Kel Nagle (1960), when Arnold Palmer made his entrance and came second, and Tony Lema (1964). Jack Nicklaus won twice over the Old Course—in 1970, following a playoff with Doug Sanders who famously missed a two-and-a-half footer to win outright, and again in 1978. John Daly won the next playoff at St Andrews in 1995, besting Costantino Rocca who had followed a fluffed chip from the Valley of Sin by holing a monster putt to tie the long-hitting American.

Green Glory Many of the world’s most famous golf courses, including every Major venue since 1955, are given star treatment in a fantastic new book from Stonehouse Publishing. Green Glory features stunning pictures from renowned photographer Patrick Drickey and beautiful paintings from esteemed landscape/course artist Linda Hartough.

Stonehouse’s photographs are especially popular with readers of Arnold Palmer’s Kingdom Magazine and many of the upcoming Major courses—Royal Liverpool, St Andrews, Pinehurst, Chambers Bay, Oakmont, Valhalla and Whistling Straits—feature prominently.

For further information, or to order prints, please visit stonehousegolf.com

In benign weather, many players have mastered the Old Course, including double US Open winner Curtis Strange, who carded a 10-under-par 62 during the 1987 Dunhill Cup. In the 2000 Open, Tiger Woods strolled serenely to an eight-shot victory without visiting a single bunker in 72 holes. Woods won again in less clement weather in 2005, this time by five shots, and Louis Oosthuizen blew the field away by seven strokes last time out in 2010. The 2015 Open will be St Andrews’ 29th. Yet in an age of 300-yard drives and automaton swings, it provides as unique a challenge today as it did to its celebrated scions, ‘Old’ and ‘Young’ Tom Morris, back in the mid-19th century. After his victory during a sun-kissed July week of serial low scoring in 1990, Nick Faldo pointed out: “You should play it in a 40mph wind when you can’t get over the burn in two at the 1st. This is still a great test.”

PGA Championship

To say Herb Kohler is one of America’s most successful citizens is an understatement. He has been president and CEO of the Kohler Company, best-known for its plumbing and household products, for nigh on four decades. But he has yet another claim to fame—as the creator of what independent travel newsletter, Golf Odyssey, has dubbed “the best 72 holes of golf in the world.”

Designed by husband-and-wife team,

Pete and Alice Dye, Blackwolf Run is just south of the eponymous town of Kohler by the Sheboygan River while the newer 36-hole complex, Whistling Straits, where the PGA Championship will be staged for the third time in 11 years in August 2015, is laid out beside Lake Michigan near the village of Haven, a few miles north of the city of Sheboygan.

Should anyone doubt his commitment as a fully paid-up golfing romantic, Kohler also owns a serious chunk of St Andrews—the 5-star Old Course Hotel beside the Road Hole 17th, the Duke’s Course a few miles inland and the Hamilton Grand collection of private residences next door to the R&A clubhouse.

After collaborating with the Dyes to create Blackwolf Run in 1988, Kohler soon found the vicinity was overrun with visitors wanting to play golf and it became apparent the initial 36 holes were not enough. “It was then we decided we wanted a links,” Kohler explains. “We found a two-mile stretch of land, owned by a power company, alongside a disused military airfield on the western shore of Lake Michigan. I had to buy an adjacent farm as well, but we still had to persuade the state of Wisconsin to permit construction on wetland.” Eventually that difficulty was resolved and the Straits Course at Whistling Straits opened in 1998, followed shortly afterwards by the Irish Course, which is

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more of an inland grass-and-dune layout.

“We want our courses to be as natural as possible—no home developments,” Kohler says. “Pete’s designed all four. They’re only ten miles apart and there are no houses round any of them. “Pete and I often go over to Scotland and Ireland to travel and play. We absolutely love links golf—you’re so much a part of the elements, and influenced by them.”

In 2004, six years after it had opened, the Straits Course hosted the 2004 PGA Championship, won by Vijay Singh following a three-man playoff involving Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. The tournament was hailed a great success by the media, the PGA of America and the players as well as the owners, and in 2010 it returned to the Straits Course, with almost indecent haste. The outcome then was another playoff, won by Germany’s Martin Kaymer at the expense of Bubba Watson, who has since donned two Green Jackets.

Indeed, it should have been a three-man playoff in 2010, but, infamously, Dustin Johnson grounded his club while playing a recovery from what he thought was a sandy waste area way right of the 18th fairway only to discover that it was officially a bunker. The fact that an army of spectators were standing in the trap as he played his shot clearly communicated the wrong signals to the poor chap’s brain. Still, he took

Patrick Drickey

the news that his infringement meant missing out on the playoff and dropping into a tie for fifth far more philosophically than many of his contemporaries would have done. It’s a safe bet, though, that any doubts about what exactly are and are not official hazards will have been ironed out before next year’s PGA Championship, not to mention the 2020 Ryder Cup which the Straits Course is also scheduled to host.

Purists insist the course, which can stretch to almost 7,800 yards off the tips, is not an authentic links, especially as 800,000 cubic yards of dirt and sand were imported onto the site. But it has many links features. It’s open, rugged and windswept with vast rolling greens, deep pot bunkers, grass-topped dunes, stone bridges, numerous elevation changes (up to 80ft)… and a flock of Scottish Blackface sheep.

“The Straits course looks tremendous in August when the fescues contrast strikingly against the background of Lake Michigan,” Kohler adds. That background is visible from all 18 holes on the Straits Course, thanks to a twotiered amphitheater effect, and at least eight holes actually hug the shoreline. With an almost uncountable number of bunkers strewn around the course and its perimeters—some wild guesses put the figure at more than 1,000— this is a layout that would not look out of place on, say, the southwest coast of Ireland. ★

Confirmed dates and venues for future Major championships Year

Major

Dates

Venue

2014

US Open Open PGA Championship Masters US Open Open PGA Championship Masters US Open Open PGA Championship Masters US Open PGA Championship Masters US Open PGA Championship Masters US Open PGA Championship Masters US Open Masters US Open Masters PGA Championship

June 12-15 July 17-20 August 7-10 April 9-12 June 18-21 July 16-19 August 13-16 April 7-10 June 16-19 July 14-17 To be decided April 6-9 June 15-18 To be decided April 5-8 June 14-17 To be decided April 11-14 June 13-16 To be decided April 9-12 June 18-21 April 8-11 June 17-20 April 7-10 To be decided

Course No.2, Pinehurst Resort, NC Royal Liverpool GC, Merseyside, England Valhalla GC, Louisville, KY Augusta National GC, GA Chambers Bay Golf Course, Tacoma, WA Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland Straits Course, Whistling Straits, Kohler, WI Augusta National GC, GA Oakmont CC, Pittsburgh, PA Royal Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland Lower Course, Baltusrol GC, Springfield, NJ Augusta National GC, GA Erin Hills Golf Course, Hartford, WI Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, NC Augusta National GC, GA Shinnecock Hills GC, Southampton, NY Bellerive CC, St. Louis, MO Augusta National GC, GA Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, CA Black Course, Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, NY Augusta National GC, GA West Course, Winged Foot GC, Mamaroneck, NY Augusta National GC, GA South Course, Torrey Pines, San Diego, CA Augusta National GC, GA Trump National GC, Bedminster, NJ

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 2021 2022

Roll of Honor THE MAJOR WINNERS

“ While we may not have expected it originally, we have created a tournament of such importance that we are bound to see that it continues�

Augusta National Golf Club co-founder Clifford Roberts in 1939

Gene Sarazen playing the Par-3 course in 1977

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The Masters

Played every year at Augusta National Golf Club, Georgia

Year

1934 1935

Winner (USA unless stated)

Score

Horton Smith Gene Sarazen

284 282

Sarazen (144) beat Craig Wood (149) in a playoff over 36 holes

1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942

Horton Smith Byron Nelson Henry Picard Ralph Guldahl Jimmy Demaret Craig Wood Byron Nelson

285 283 285 279 280 280 280

Nelson (69) beat Ben Hogan (70) in a playoff over 18 holes

1943-45 NO CHAMPIONSHIP (Second World War) 1946 Herman Keiser 282 281 1947 Jimmy Demaret 279 1948 Claude Harmon 282 1949 Sam Snead 283 1950 Jimmy Demaret 280 1951 Ben Hogan 286 1952 Sam Snead 275 1953 Ben Hogan 289 1954 Sam Snead Snead (70) beat Ben Hogan (71) in a playoff over 18 holes

1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962

Cary Middlecoff Jack Burke, Jr. Doug Ford Arnold Palmer Art Wall, Jr. Arnold Palmer Gary Player (South Africa) Arnold Palmer

Palmer (68) beat Gary Player (South Africa) (71) and Dow Finsterwald (77) in a playoff over 18 holes

279 289 283 284 284 282 280 280

1963 1964 1965 1966

Jack Nicklaus Arnold Palmer Jack Nicklaus Jack Nicklaus

286 276 271 288

Nicklaus (70) beat Tommy Jacobs (72) and Gay Brewer Jr. (78) in a playoff over 18 holes

1967 1968 1969 1970

Gay Brewer, Jr. Bob Goalby George Archer Billy Casper

280 277 281 279

Casper (69) beat Gene Littler (74) in a playoff over 18 holes

1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

Charles Coody Jack Nicklaus Tommy Aaron Gary Player (South Africa) Jack Nicklaus Raymond Floyd Tom Watson Gary Player (South Africa) Fuzzy Zoeller

279 286 283 278 276 271 276 277 280

Zoeller beat Ed Sneed and Tom Watson after two holes of a sudden-death playoff

1980 Seve Ballesteros (Spain) 1981 Tom Watson 1982 Craig Stadler

275 280 284

Stadler beat Dan Pohl after one hole of a sudden-death playoff

1983 1984 1985 1986 1987

Seve Ballesteros (Spain) Ben Crenshaw Bernhard Langer (Germany) Jack Nicklaus Larry Mize

280 277 282 279 285

Mize beat Greg Norman (Australia) and Seve Ballesteros (Spain) after two holes of a sudden-death playoff

1988 Sandy Lyle (Scotland) 1989 Sir Nick Faldo (England)

Faldo beat Scott Hoch after two holes of a suddendeath playoff

281 283

1990 Sir Nick Faldo (England) Faldo beat Raymond Floyd after two holes of a suddendeath playoff

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Ian Woosnam (Wales) Fred Couples Bernhard Langer (Germany) Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) Ben Crenshaw Sir Nick Faldo (England) Tiger Woods Mark O’Meara Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) Vijay Singh (Fiji) Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Mike Weir (Canada)

Weir beat Len Mattiace after one hole of a suddendeath playoff

2004 Phil Mickelson 2005 Tiger Woods

Woods beat Chris DiMarco after one hole of a suddendeath playoff

2006 2007 2008 2009

Phil Mickelson Zach Johnson Trevor Immelman (South Africa) Angel Cabrera (Argentina)

278 277 275 277 279 274 276 270 279 279 278 272 276 281 279 276 281 289 280 276

Cabrera beat Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry after two holes of a sudden-death playoff

2010 Phil Mickelson 2011 Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 2012 Bubba Watson

272 274 278

Watson beat Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) after two holes of a sudden-death playoff

2013

Adam Scott (Australia)

Scott beat Angel Cabrera (Argentina) after two holes of a sudden-death playoff

2014

Jack Nicklaus became the oldest Masters winner in 1986

Bubba Watson

279

280

US Open Championship Year

Winner (USA unless stated)

1916

Score

1895 Horace Rawlins (England)

173

Newport Golf Club, RI 1896 James Foulis (Scotland) 152 Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Long Island, NY 1897 Joe Lloyd (England) 162 Chicago Golf Club, IL 328 1898 Fred Herd (Scotland) Myopia Hunt Club, South Hamilton, MA 1899 Willie Smith (Scotland) 315 Baltimore Country Club (East), MD 1900 Harry Vardon (Jersey) 313 Chicago Golf Club, IL 331 1901 Willie Anderson (Scotland) Myopia Hunt Club, South Hamilton, MA Anderson (85) beat Alex Smith (Scotland) (86) in a playoff over 18 holes 1902 Laurie Auchterlonie (Scotland) 307 Garden City Golf Club, NY 1903 Willie Anderson (Scotland) 307 Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, NJ Anderson (82) beat David Brown (Scotland) (84) in a playoff over 18 holes 1904 Willie Anderson (Scotland) 303 Glen View Club, Cook County, IL 1905 Willie Anderson (Scotland) 314 Myopia Hunt Club, South Hamilton, MA 1906 Alex Smith (Scotland) 295 Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, IL 302 1907 Alex Ross (Scotland) Philadelphia Cricket Club (St. Martin’s), PA 1908 Fred McLeod (Scotland) 322 Myopia Hunt Club, South Hamilton, MA McLeod (77) beat Willie Smith (Scotland) (83) in a playoff over 18 holes 1909 George Sargent (England) 290 Englewood Golf Club, NJ 298 1910 Alex Smith (Scotland) Philadelphia Cricket Club (St. Martin’s), PA Smith (71) beat John McDermott (75) and Macdonald Smith (Scotland) (77) in a playoff over 18 holes

John McDermott

307

Chicago Golf Club, IL McDermott (80) beat Mike Brady (82) and George Simpson (Scotland) (86) in a playoff over 18 holes

1912 1913

John McDermott Country Club of Buffalo, NY

Francis Ouimet {Am}

The Country Club, Brookline, MA Ouimet (72) beat Harry Vardon (Jersey) (77) and Ted Ray (Jersey) (78) in a playoff over 18 holes

1914 1915

Walter Hagen Midlothian Country Club, Blue Island, IL

Jerome Travers {Am}

Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, NJ

286

Minikahda Club, Minneapolis, MN

Course

1911

Charles ‘Chick’ Evans {Am}

1917-18 NO CHAMPIONSHIP (First World War) 1919 Walter Hagen 301 Brae Burn Country Club (Main), West Newton, MA Hagen (77) beat Mike Brady (78) in a playoff over 18 holes

1920 Ted Ray (Jersey) 1921 1922 1923

Inverness Club, Toledo, OH

Jim Barnes

Columbia Country Club, Chevy Chase, MD

Gene Sarazen

Skokie Country Club, Glencoe, IL

Bobby Jones {Am}

295

289 288 296

Inwood Country Club, NY Jones (76) beat Bobby Cruickshank (78) in a playoff over 18 holes

1924

Cyril Walker (England)

297

Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI 1925 Willie MacFarlane (Scotland) 291 Worcester Country Club, MS MacFarlane (147) beat Bobby Jones {Am} (148) in a playoff over 36 holes

1926 1927

Bobby Jones {Am} Scioto Country Club, Columbus, OH

Tommy Armour

293

301

Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh, PA Armour (76) beat Harry Cooper (78) in a playoff over 18 holes

1928

Johnny Farrell

294

Olympia Fields Country Club, Matteson, IL Farrell (143) beat Bobby Jones {Am} (144) in a playoff over 36 holes

1929

Bobby Jones {Am}

294

Winged Foot Golf Club (West), Mamaroneck, NY Jones (141) beat Al Espinosa (164) in a playoff over 18 holes

1930 Bobby Jones {Am} 1931

Interlachen Country Club, Minneapolis, MN

Billy Burke

287 292

Inverness Club, Toledo, OH Burke (297) beat George Von Elm (298) in a playoff over 72 holes

1932 1933

1934 1935 1936 1937

Gene Sarazen Fresh Meadow Country Club, Flushing, NY

Johnny Goodman {Am}

North Shore Country Club, Glen View, IL

Olin Dutra

Merion Cricket Club (East), Ardmore, PA

Sam Parks, Jr.

Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh, PA

Tony Manero

Baltusrol Golf Club (Upper), Springfield, NJ

Ralph Guldahl

286 287

293 299 282 281

Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI

1938 Ralph Guldahl

Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver, CO

284

294

1939

304

Philadelphia Country Club, PA Nelson (68, 70) beat Craig Wood (68, 73) and Denny Shute (76, retired) in a playoff over 36 holes

290 297

Byron Nelson

284

1940 Lawson Little 287 Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland, OH Little (70) beat Gene Sarazen (73) in a playoff over 18 holes

1941

Craig Wood Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, TX

284

1942-45 NO CHAMPIONSHIP (Second World War)

156

the majors 2014

1946 Lloyd Mangrum

284

Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland, OH Mangrum (144) beat Vic Ghezzi (145) and Byron Nelson (145) in a playoff over 36 holes

1947

Lew Worsham

St. Louis Country Club, MO Worsham (69) beat Sam Snead (70) in a playoff over 18 holes

1948 Ben Hogan

Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA

1949 Cary Middlecoff

Medinah Country Club (No.3), Chicago, IL

1950 Ben Hogan

282 276 286 287

Merion Golf Club (East), Ardmore, PA Hogan (69) beat Lloyd Mangrum (73) and George Fazio (75) in a playoff over 18 holes

1951

1952 1953 1954 1955

Ben Hogan Julius Boros

Northwood Club, Dallas, TX

Ben Hogan

Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh, PA

Ed Furgol

Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower), Springfield, NJ

Jack Fleck

Olympic Club (Lake), San Francisco, CA Fleck (69) beat Ben Hogan (72) in a playoff over 18 holes

1956 1957

287

Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI

Cary Middlecoff Oak Hill Country Club (East), Rochester, NY

Dick Mayer

281 283 284 287 281 282

Inverness Club, Toledo, OH Mayer (72) beat Cary Middlecoff (79) in a playoff over 18 holes

1958 Tommy Bolt 1959

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK

Billy Casper

283

282

Winged Foot Golf Club (West), Mamaroneck, NY

1960 Arnold Palmer 1961 1962

Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver, CO

Gene Littler

280 281

Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI

Jack Nicklaus

283

Oakmont Country Club, Ardmore, PA Nicklaus (71) beat Arnold Palmer (74) in a playoff over 18 holes

1963

Julius Boros

293

The Country Club (Composite), Brookline, MA Boros (70) beat Jacky Cupit (73) and Arnold Palmer (76) in a playoff over 18 holes

1964 Ken Venturi

278

Congressional Country Club (Blue), Bethesda, MD 282 1965 Gary Player (South Africa) Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, MO Player (71) beat Kel Nagle (Australia) (74) in a playoff over 18 holes

1966 Billy Casper

278

Olympic Club (Lake), San Francisco, CA Casper (69) beat Arnold Palmer (73) in a playoff over 18 holes

1967

Jack Nicklaus Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower), Springfield, NJ

1968 Lee Trevino

Oak Hill Country Club (East), Rochester, NY

1969 Orville Moody

275

275 281

Champions Golf Club (Cypress Creek), Houston, TX

1970 1971

281

Tony Jacklin (England) Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, MN

Lee Trevino

Merion Golf Club (East), Ardmore, PA Trevino (68) beat Jack Nicklaus (71) in a playoff over 18 holes

1972 1973

1974 1975

Jack Nicklaus

280 290

Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, CA

279

Johnny Miller

Oakmont Country Club, Ardmore, PA

Hale Irwin

287

Winged Foot Golf Club (West), Mamaroneck, NY

287

Lou Graham

Medinah Country Club (No.3), Chicago, IL Graham (71) beat John Mahaffey (73) in a playoff over 18 holes

1976 1977

1978 1979

277

Jerry Pate Atlanta Athletic Club (Highlands), Duluth, GA

Hubert Green

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK

Andy North

Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver, CO

Hale Irwin

Inverness Club, Toledo, OH

278 285 284

1980 Jack Nicklaus 1981

Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower), Springfield, NJ David Graham (Australia) Merion Golf Club (East), Ardmore, PA

1982 Tom Watson 1983

272

1990 Hale Irwin

273

Medinah Country Club (No.3), Chicago, IL Irwin (74) beat Mike Donald (74) after one hole of a suddendeath playoff following a playoff over 18 holes

282

Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, CA

Larry Nelson

Oakmont Country Club, Ardmore, PA

1984 Fuzzy Zoeller

280 276

Winged Foot Golf Club (West), Mamaroneck, NY Zoeller (67) beat Greg Norman (Australia) (75) in a playoff over 18 holes

1985

Andy North

279

Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI

1986 Raymond Floyd 1987

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Long Island, NY

Scott Simpson

Olympic Club (Lake), San Francisco, CA

1988 Curtis Strange

279 277 278

The Country Club (Composite), Brookline, MA Strange (71) beat Sir Nick Faldo (England) (75) in a playoff over 18 holes

1989 Curtis Strange

Oak Hill Country Club (East), Rochester, NY

278

1991

Payne Stewart

280

282

Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, MN Stewart (75) beat Scott Simpson (77) in a playoff over 18 holes

1992 1993

Tom Kite

285

Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, CA

Lee Janzen

272

Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower), Springfield, NJ 1994 Ernie Els (South Africa) 279 Oakmont Country Club, Ardmore, PA Els (74) beat Loren Roberts (74) and Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) (78) after two holes of a sudden-death playoff following a playoff over 18 holes

1995

Corey Pavin Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Long Island, NY

1996 Steve Jones 1997

280 278

Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI Ernie Els (South Africa) 276 Congressional Country Club (Blue), Bethesda, MD

1998 Lee Janzen

Olympic Club (Lake), San Francisco, CA

1999 Payne Stewart

Pinehurst Resort (No.2), NC

2000 Tiger Woods

280 279 272

Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, CA 276 2001 Retief Goosen (South Africa) Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK Goosen (70) beat Mark Brooks (72) in a playoff over 18 holes

2002 Tiger Woods

Bethpage State Park (Black), Long Island, NY

2003 Jim Furyk 2004 2005 2006 2007

277 272

Olympia Fields Country Club (North),Matteson, IL Retief Goosen (South Africa) 276 Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Long Island, NY Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 280 Pinehurst Resort (No.2), NC Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 285 Winged Foot Golf Club (West), Mamaroneck, NY Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 285 Oakmont Country Club, Ardmore, PA

2008 Tiger Woods

283

Torrey Pines Golf Course (South), San Diego, CA Woods (71) beat Rocco Mediate (71) after one hole of a suddendeath playoff following a playoff over 18 holes

2009 Lucas Glover 2010 2011 2012 2013 Ben Hogan holds up the trophy after winning the US Open at Riviera Country Club in 1948

276

Bethpage State Park (Black), Long Island, NY Graeme McDowell (N. Ireland) 284 Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey, Peninsula, CA Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 268 Congressional Country Club (Blue), Bethesda, MD

Webb Simpson

Olympic Club (Lake), San Francisco, CA

Justin Rose

Merion Golf Club (East), Ardmore, PA

281 281

The Open Championship Year

Winner (USA unless stated)

1889 Willie Park, Jr. (Scotland)

Score

Course (1860-1870 Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland)

1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870

Willie Park, Sr. (Scotland) Tom Morris, Sr. (Scotland) Tom Morris, Sr. (Scotland) Willie Park, Sr. (Scotland) Tom Morris, Sr. (Scotland) Andrew Strath (Scotland) Willie Park, Sr. (Scotland) Tom Morris, Sr. (Scotland) Tom Morris, Jr. (Scotland) Tom Morris, Jr. (Scotland) Tom Morris, Jr. (Scotland)

174 163 163 168 167 162 169 170 154 157 149

The Belt, contested from 1860-70, was thrice won consecutively by Tom Morris, Jr., and thence became his property. There was no competition in 1871 and a medal was awarded for the only time in 1872

1872

Tom Morris, Jr. (Scotland)

166

Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland The Claret Jug was awarded for the first time in 1873 1873 Tom Kidd (Scotland) 179 St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 159 1874 Mungo Park (Scotland) Musselburgh Links, Midlothian, Scotland 1875 Willie Park, Sr. (Scotland) 166 Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 176 1876 Bob Martin (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland David Strath (Scotland) tied with Martin but refused to play off 1877 Jamie Anderson (Scotland) 160 Musselburgh Links, Midlothian, Scotland 1878 Jamie Anderson (Scotland) 157 Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 169 1879 Jamie Anderson (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

1880 Bob Ferguson (Scotland)

162

Musselburgh Links, Midlothian, Scotland 170 1881 Bob Ferguson (Scotland) Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 171 1882 Bob Ferguson (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 1883 Willie Fernie (Scotland) 158 Musselburgh Links, Midlothian, Scotland Fernie (158) beat Bob Ferguson (Scotland) (159) in a playoff over 36 holes 1884 Jack Simpson (Scotland) 160 Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 171 1885 Bob Martin (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 1886 David Brown (Scotland) 157 Musselburgh Links, Midlothian, Scotland 1887 Willie Park, Jr. (Scotland) 161 Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 171 1888 Jack Burns (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

155

Musselburgh Links, Midlothian, Scotland Park (158) beat Andrew Kirkaldy (Scotland) (163) in a playoff over 36 holes 1890 John Ball, Jr. (England) {Am} 164 Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 166 1891 Hugh Kirkaldy (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland After 1891, the Open Championship was extended to 72 holes and entry money was charged 1892 Harold Hilton (England) {Am} 305 Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland 1893 Willie Auchterlonie (Scotland) 322 Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 326 1894 J. H. Taylor (England) Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England 322 1895 J .H. Taylor (England) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 1896 Harry Vardon (Jersey) 316 Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland Vardon (157) beat J.H. Taylor (England) (161) in a playoff over 36 holes 1897 Harold Hilton (England) {Am} 314 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England 307 1898 Harry Vardon (Jersey) Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 310 1899 Harry Vardon (Jersey) Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England 309 1900 J. H. Taylor (England) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 309 1901 James Braid (Scotland) Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland 1902 Sandy Herd (Scotland) 307 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England 300 1903 Harry Vardon (Jersey) Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 296 1904 Jack White (Scotland) Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England 318 1905 James Braid (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 1906 James Braid (Scotland) 300 Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland 1907 Arnaud Massy (France) 312 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England 291 1908 James Braid (Scotland) Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland 295 1909 J. H. Taylor (England) Cinque Ports, Deal, Kent, England 299 1910 James Braid (Scotland) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 303 1911 Harry Vardon (Jersey) Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England In a playoff over 36 holes, Arnaud Massy (France) conceded defeat at the 35th hole with Vardon ahead by five strokes

158

the majors 2014

1912 1913 1914

Ted Ray (Jersey) Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland J. H. Taylor (England) Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England Harry Vardon (England) Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland

295 304 306

1915-19 NO CHAMPIONSHIP (First World War) 1920 George Duncan (Scotland) 303 1921

Royal Cinque Ports, Deal, Kent, England

Jock Hutchison

296

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland Hutchison (150) beat Roger Wethered (England) {Am} (159) in a playoff over 36 holes

1922

Walter Hagen

1923

Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England Arthur Havers (England) 295 Troon Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland

1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933

Walter Hagen

Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England

Jim Barnes

Prestwick Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland Bobby Jones {Am} Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England Bobby Jones {Am} St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

Walter Hagen

Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England

Walter Hagen

Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland Bobby Jones {Am} Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England

Tommy Armour

Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus, Scotland

Gene Sarazen

Prince’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England

Denny Shute

300

301

300 291 285 292 292 291 296 283 292

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland Shute (149) beat Craig Wood (154) in a playoff over 36 holes 1934 Sir Henry Cotton (England) 283 Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England 283 1935 Alf Perry (England) Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland 1936 Alf Padgham (England) 287 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England 290 1937 Sir Henry Cotton (England) Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus, Scotland 295 1938 Reg Whitcombe (England) Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England 290 1939 Richard Burton (England) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

1940-45 NO CHAMPIONSHIP (Second World War) 1946 Sam Snead 290 1947

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

Fred Daly (Northern Ireland)

293

Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England 284 1948 Sir Henry Cotton (England) Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland 1949 Bobby Locke (South Africa) 283 Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England Locke (135) beat Harry Bradshaw (Ireland) (147) in a playoff over 36 holes 1950 Bobby Locke (South Africa) 279 Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire, Scotland 285 1951 Max Faulkner (England) Royal Portrush Golf Club, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland 287 1952 Bobby Locke (South Africa) Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England

1953

Ben Hogan

282

Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus, Scotland 283 1954 Peter Thomson (Australia) Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England 281 1955 Peter Thomson (Australia) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 286 1956 Peter Thomson (Australia) Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England 279 1957 Bobby Locke (South Africa) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 278 1958 Peter Thomson (Australia) Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England Thomson (139) beat Dave Thomas (Wales (143) in a playoff over 36 holes 1959 Gary Player (South Africa) 284 Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland 278 1960 Kel Nagle (Australia) St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

1961

1962

Arnold Palmer

Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England

Arnold Palmer

1968 Gary Player (South Africa) 1969 1970

289

Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus, Scotland Tony Jacklin (England) 280 Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England

283

Jack Nicklaus

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland Nicklaus (72) beat Doug Sanders (73) in a playoff over 18 holes

1971

1972 1973 1974 1975

278

Lee Trevino Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England

Lee Trevino

Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland

Tom Weiskopf

Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire, Scotland Gary Player (South Africa) Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England

Tom Watson

1977 1978

Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England

Tom Watson

Turnberry Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland

Jack Nicklaus

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

1981

1983

282

1986

281

Bill Rogers

1982 Tom Watson

1985

268

Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland

1987 1988

Royal Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire, Scotland

Tom Watson

1965

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland Peter Thomson (Australia) Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England

1966 Jack Nicklaus

1989 Mark Calcavecchia

1967

276 284 275

275

Royal Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire, Scotland Calcavecchia beat Greg Norman (Australia) and Wayne Grady (Australia) in a playoff over four holes 1990 Sir Nick Faldo (England) 270 St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 1991 Ian Baker-Finch (Australia) 272 Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England

284 276

279

285 282

Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland Roberto de Vicenzo (Argentina) 278 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England

271

Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England Seve Ballesteros (Spain) 276 St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland Sandy Lyle (Scotland) 282 Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England Greg Norman (Australia) 280 Turnberry Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland Sir Nick Faldo (England) 279 Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland Seve Ballesteros (Spain) 273 Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England

Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire, Scotland 277 1963 Bob Charles (New Zealand) Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England Charles (140) beat Phil Rodgers (148) in a playoff over 36 holes

1964 Tony Lema

283

Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England

276

279

Johnny Miller

1980 Tom Watson

1984

279

Seve Ballesteros (Spain) Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England

278

Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus, Scotland Watson (71) beat Jack Newton (Australia) (72) in a playoff over 18 holes

1976

1979

Palmer won back-to-back Opens in 1961 and ‘62

1992 1993 1994 1995

Sir Nick Faldo (England)

272

Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland Greg Norman (Australia) 267 Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 268 Turnberry Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland

John Daly

282

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland Daly beat Costantino Rocca (Italy) in a playoff over four holes

1996 Tom Lehman 1997

Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England

Justin Leonard

Royal Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire, Scotland

1998 Mark O’Meara

271

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

2001 David Duval

272 280

269

274

Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England 278 2002 Ernie Els (South Africa) Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland Els beat Thomas Levet (France), Steve Elkington (Australia) and Stuart Appleby (Australia) in a playoff over four holes

2003 Ben Curtis

Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England

2004 Todd Hamilton

Royal Troon Golf Club (Old), Ayrshire, Scotland Hamilton beat Ernie Els (South Africa) in a playoff over four holes

2005 Tiger Woods

St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland

2006 Tiger Woods

Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England

2007 Padraig Harrington (Ireland)

283 274

274 270 277

Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus, Scotland Harrington beat Sergio Garcia (Spain) in a playoff over four holes 2008 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 283 Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England

2009 Stewart Cink

278

Turnberry Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland Cink beat Tom Watson in a playoff over four holes 2010 Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 272 St Andrews (Old), Fife, Scotland 2011 Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) 275 Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent, England 2012 Ernie Els (South Africa) 273 Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England

2013

Phil Mickelson

Muirfield Golf Course, East Lothian, Scotland

Year

Score

Result of (USA unless stated) 36-hole Final

281

1935 1936

Course From 1916-57, the latter stages of the PGA Championship were contested in a match play format

1916

Jim Barnes

beat Jock Hutchison

1 Hole

Siwanoy Country Club, Bronxville, NY

Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Lancashire, England O’Meara beat Brian Watts in a playoff over four holes 1999 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 290 Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship), Angus, Scotland Lawrie beat Justin Leonard and Jean Van de Velde (France) in a playoff over four holes

2000 Tiger Woods

PGA Championship

1917-18 NO CHAMPIONSHIP (First World War) 1919 Jim Barnes 6&5 beat Fred McLeod (Scotland) Engineers Country Club, Long Island, NY

1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1 Hole

Flossmoor Country Club, Chicago, IL

Walter Hagen

beat Jim Barnes

3&2

Inwood Country Club, New Rockaway, NY

Gene Sarazen

beat Emmett French

4&3

Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh, PA

Gene Sarazen

beat Walter Hagen

1933 1934

1938 Paul Runyan beat Sam Snead 1939

beat Bill Mehlhorn

6&5

Olympia Fields Country Club, Matteson, IL

Walter Hagen

beat Leo Diegel

5&3

Salisbury Golf Club (Red), Long Island, NY

Walter Hagen

beat Joe Turnesa

1 Hole

Cedar Crest Country Club, Dallas, TX

Leo Diegel

beat Al Ispinosa

6&5

Five Farms Country Club, Baltimore, MD

Leo Diegel

beat Johnny Farrell

1941 1942

Park Club of Buffalo, Williamsville, NY

At 38th

Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver, CO

Sam Snead

beat Jim Turnesa

2&1

6&4 1 Hole 2&1 4&3 5&4 At 38th

Manito G&CC, Spokane, WA

Byron Nelson

beat Sam Byrd

4&3 6&4

1947 Jim Ferrier beat Chick Harbert

5&4

Plum Hollow Country Club, Detroit, MI

1948 Ben Hogan beat Mike Turnesa

7&6

Northwood Hills Country Club, St. Louis, MO

1949 Sam Snead beat Johnny Palmer

3&2

Hermitage Country Club, Richmond, VA

1950 Chandler Harper beat Henry Williams Jr. 1951 1952 1953 1954

Blue Mound G&CC, Milwaukee, WI

beat Craig Wood

Vic Ghezzi

beat Byron Nelson

Portland Golf Club, OR

Keller Golf Club, St. Paul, MN

Paul Runyan

1 Hole

Hershey Country Club (West), PA

1946 Ben Hogan beat Ed Oliver

Wannamoisett Country Club, Rumford, RI

beat Willie Goggin

At 37th

Moraine Country Club, Dayton, OH

Fresh Meadow Country Club, Flushing, NY

Gene Sarazen

Henry Picard

beat Byron Nelson

1945

Walter Hagen

beat Frank Walsh

8&7

Shawnee Country Club, Shawnee on Delaware, PA

1940 Byron Nelson beat Sam Snead

French Lick Springs Resort (Hill), IN

Olin Dutra

At 37th

Pittsburgh Field Club, Aspinwall, PA

2 Holes

Walter Hagen

1930 Tommy Armour beat Gene Sarazen

1932

Denny Shute

beat Harold McSpaden

1943 NO CHAMPIONSHIP (Second World War) 1944 Bob Hamilton beat Byron Nelson 1 Hole

beat Jim Barnes

beat Denny Shute

3&2

Pinehurst Resort (No.2), NC

At 38th

Pelham Country Club, Pelham Manor, NY

Tom Creavy

Denny Shute

beat Jimmy Thomson

Sea View Country Club, Atlantic City, NJ

Hillcrest Country Club, Los Angeles, CA

1931

5&4

Twin Hills G&CC, Oklahoma City, OK

Pomonock Country Club, Flushing, NY

1920 Jock Hutchison beat J. Douglas Edgar 1921

1937

Johnny Revolta

beat Tommy Armour

1955

3&2

Scioto Country Club, Columbus, OH

Sam Snead

beat Walter Burkemo

7&6

Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh, PA

Jim Turnesa

beat Chick Harbert

1 Hole

Big Spring Country Club, Louisville, KY

Walter Burkemo

beat Felice Torza

2&1

Birmingham Country Club, MI

Chick Harbert

beat Walter Burkemo

4&3

Keller Golf Club, St. Paul, MN

Doug Ford

beat Cary Middlecoff

4&3

1956 1957

Meadowbrook Country Club, Northville, MI

Jack Burke Jr.

beat Ted Kroll

Lionel Hebert

beat Dow Finsterwald

1958 Dow Finsterwald

Llanerch Country Club, Havertown, PA

Bob Rosburg

Minneapolis Golf Club, MN

1960 Jay Hebert 1961

3&2

Blue Hill Country Club, Canton, MA

Miami Valley Golf Club, Dayton, OH After 1957, the PGA Championship was converted to 72 holes of stroke play

1959

Tiger Woods is a four-time PGA Championship winner. He is pictured here at Medinah with his first Wannamaker Trophy in 1999

Firestone Country Club (South), Akron, OH

Jerry Barber

3&1

276 277 281 277

Olympia Fields Country Club, Matteson, IL Barber (67) beat Don January (68) in a playoff over 18 holes 1962 Gary Player (South Africa) 278 Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, PA

1963

Jack Nicklaus

Dallas Athletic Club (Blue), TX

1964 Bobby Nichols 1965

Columbus Country Club, OH

Dave Marr

Laurel Valley Golf Club, Ligonier, PA

1966 Al Geiberger 1967

Firestone Country Club (South), Akron, OH

Don January

279

271 280 280 281

Columbine Country Club, Denver, CO January (69) beat Don Massingale (71) in a playoff over 18 holes

1968 Julius Boros

Pecan Valley Golf Club, San Antonio, TX

1969 Raymond Floyd 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK

Jack Nicklaus

Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland, OH

Lee Trevino

Firestone Country Club (South), Akron, OH

Dave Stockton

279

281

John Mahaffey

David Graham (Australia)

Hal Sutton

Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA

1984 Lee Trevino 1985

Hubert Green

Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver, CO

Inverness Club, Toledo, OH

Larry Nelson

1988 Jeff Sluman

Oak Tree Golf Club, Edmond, OK

1989 Payne Stewart

Kemper Lakes Golf Club, Hawthorn Woods, IL

1991

276

1992

281

1993

276

272

Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI Graham beat Ben Crenshaw after three holes of a suddendeath playoff

Davis Love III

273

1998

275

Winged Foot Golf Club (West), Mamaroneck, NY Vijay Singh (Fiji) 271 Sahalee Country Club, Sammamish, WA

1999 Tiger Woods 2000 Tiger Woods

273

Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, KY Woods beat Bob May in a playoff over three holes

278

276 287

Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, MN

2003 Shaun Micheel

265 278 276

Baltusrol Golf Club (Lower), Springfield, NJ

282

Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, IN Nick Price (Zimbabwe) Bellerive Golf Club, St. Louis, MO

278 272

Inverness Club, Toledo, OH Azinger beat Greg Norman (Australia) after two holes of a sudden-death playoff 1994 Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 269 Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK 267 1995 Steve Elkington (Australia) Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA Elkington beat Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) after one hole of a sudden-death playoff

277

Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, KY Brooks beat Kenny Perry after one hole of a sudden-death playoff

the majors 2014

2002 Rich Beem

270

276

276

161

Atlanta Athletic Club (Highlands), Duluth, GA

277

272

John Daly

1996 Mark Brooks

2001 David Toms

269

Oak Hill Country Club (East), Rochester, NY 2004 Vijay Singh (Fiji) 280 Whistling Straits (Straits), Kohler, WI Singh beat Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard in a playoff over three holes

Shoal Creek Golf & Country Club, Birmingham, AL

Paul Azinger

Medinah Country Club (No.3), Chicago, IL

274

PGA National Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL Nelson beat Lanny Wadkins after one hole of a sudden-death playoff

276

282

1997

274

Shoal Creek Golf & Country Club, Birmingham, AL

1990 Wayne Grady (Australia)

Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh, PA Mahaffey beat Jerry Pate and Tom Watson after two holes of a sudden-death playoff

1979

1983

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK

277

Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula, CA Wadkins beat Gene Littler after three holes of a sudden-death playoff

1978

1982 Raymond Floyd

1987

Congressional Country Club (Blue), Bethesda, MD

Lanny Wadkins

Atlanta Athletic Club (Highlands), Duluth, GA

276

Tanglewood Park (Championship), Clemons, NC

Jack Nicklaus

Larry Nelson

1986 Bob Tway

PGA National Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL Gary Player (South Africa) 281 Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI

Jack Nicklaus

1981

Oak Hill Country Club (East), Rochester, NY

281

National Cash Registers Country Club (South), Dayton, OH

Dave Stockton

1980 Jack Nicklaus

2005 Phil Mickelson 2006 Tiger Woods

Medinah Country Club (No.3), Chicago, IL

2007 Tiger Woods

276 270 272

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK 2008 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 277 Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Birmingham, MI 2009 Y-E Yang (South Korea) 280 Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, MN 2010 Martin Kaymer (Germany) 277 Whistling Straits (Straits), Kohler, WI Kaymer beat Bubba Watson in a playoff over three holes

2011

Keegan Bradley

Atlanta Athletic Club (Highlands), Duluth, GA Bradley beat Jason Dufner in a playoff over three holes 2012 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) Kiawah Island (Ocean), Charleston, SC

2013

Jason Dufner

Oak Hill Country Club (East), Rochester, NY

272 275

270

Adam Scott dons the winner’s jacket at last year’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf

A Grand Finale W

hen Bubba Watson won the Masters for the second time in three years in April, he became the first player to qualify for the 2014 PGA Grand Slam of Golf from October 13-15.

Once again this glamorous showcase gathering of the year’s four current Major champions will be staged at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda.

Watson was eased into his Green Jacket at Augusta National by defending champion Adam Scott after finishing three strokes clear of young superstar Jordan Spieth and Swedish sensation Jonas Blixt.

It will be the second time that Watson has earned an invitation to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf having finished third behind Ireland’s Padraig Harrington in his previous start in 2012.

The PGA Grand Slam of Golf, hosted by the Bermuda Department of Tourism, Port Royal Golf Course and the Fairmont Southampton Hotel, features a $1.35 million purse, with the winner receiving $600,000. Second place is worth $300,000, third place $250,000 and fourth place $200,000.

TNT’s prime-time broadcast of the event reaches an

162

audience of nearly 90 million viewers across more than 100 countries.

Established in 1979, the PGA Grand Slam of Golf has grown from an 18-hole, single-day charity event to a 36hole annual showdown that matches professional golf’s leading players against each other.

The rest of the foursome for the 2014 PGA Grand Slam of Golf will feature the winners of the US Open, taking place from June 12–15 at Pinehurst No.2, the Open Championship from July 17-20 at Royal Liverpool, and the 96th PGA Championship from August 7-10 at Valhalla.

While the PGA Grand Slam of Golf extends its four invitations each year to the winners of the year’s Majors, there is a contingency plan in place should one of the players be unable to make the trip due to injury or prior commitment, or one man wins more than one Major during the season. In such circumstances, the defending champion, in this case Scott, will be given first refusal, after which a points qualification list, based on finishes in the year’s Majors, kicks in. ★

the majors 2014

THIS IS MAJOR THIS IS THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AUGUST 10 - 16, 2015 • WHISTLING STRAITS • KOHLER, WISCONSIN

To Register for Tickets Go to PGACHAMPIONSHIP.COM