All four men's major championships are in the rear-view mirror for 2024.
Anybody else feel like this season - and this summer - are flying by too quickly? I'm probably not alone in that sentiment.
It's a good thing we have a few more prominent golf tournaments to look forward to - the 2024 Olympics outside Paris in less than two weeks, followed by the Tour Championship and the Presidents Cup.
Surely, Xander Schauffele - the defending gold medal champion - will be favored at Le Golf National to build upon the historic year he's putting together. He already squashed the "best to never win a major" label in May by capturing the PGA Championship and The Open with cold-blooded 65s during each final round. So much for the narrative that he couldn't close.
With the most important moments of the golf season behind us, now's as good a time as any to take stock of the state of men's professional golf. There's been a lot of chatter about lagging TV ratings and general malaise among golf fans about the ongoing LIV Golf-PGA Tour negotiations, but there's one thing nobody can deny: The majors were as exciting and engaging as ever, highlighted by Bryson DeChambeau's bunker shot for the ages for a rare walk-off major at the U.S. Open.
Let's analyze the state of men's professional golf in its current form:
Our love affair with links golf
The more blurry the camera lens got during the third round of The Open, the better the viewing experience got for those watching along at home. If you've never experienced links golf overseas, Saturday's round gave fans on the couch a wonderful taste of its challenges. Players hit drivers on par 3s...and came up short. They danced the rain gear cha-cha, peeling layers on and off and flipping hats backwards so rain drops wouldn't bother their line of sight.
Between new tees stretching the layout an extra 200 yards, two of the hardest holes in golf (the Postage Stamp par 3 and the Railway at no. 11) and the dicey weather, Royal Troon acquitted itself quite well after its last major in 2016 when a pair of 63s made the historic links seem almost too easy.
We loved watching the pros struggling to reach par 4s in regulation and hitting sloppy shots out of neck-deep pot bunkers and into unplayable gorse bushes. Welcome to our world. Only nine pros finished under par when it was all said and done.
The Open leaderboard had the perfect mix of old guys (Justin Rose), studs (Schauffele, Scheffler and Rahm), underdogs (Billy Horschel), fan favorites (Shane Lowry) and relative unknowns (Thriston Lawrence, Daniel Brown) to be compelling. The Masters might be the most popular major, but for my money, The Open provides the best spectator experience year after year. It's so cool waking up to watch and having all the action wrap up early enough to enjoy the rest of the day.
American domination
Americans are dominating professional golf like they haven't in more than a generation. All four men's major titles are currently held by the Red-White-and-Blue, something that last occurred in 1982. Could the Stars and Stripes sweep gold, silver and bronze at the Olympics? It's not likely, but that patriotic fever-dream at least seems possible with a U.S. squad of Schauffele, world number 1 Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark. Team Ireland (Rory McIlroy and Lowry) and Spain's Rahm - among others - will do their best to intrude.
The American team should have no problem winning the Presidents Cup in Montreal, but are they peeking too early for 2025 Ryder Cup redemption? Maybe. Probably, if history is any indication.
A peek at the 2025 major championship schedule
If we were grading next year's major championship schedule, we'd hand out a solid 'B'. The PGA Championship returns to Quail Hollow, which isn't all that compelling, given that it hosts the Tour every year anyway. Where things get interesting is the U.S. Open's return to demanding Oakmont Country Club followed by The Open at Royal Portrush's Dunluce Course in Northern Ireland.
The return to Royal Portrush is particularly thrilling. Portrush's 2019 Open - the first on the Emerald Isle since 1951 - brought out the Irish in droves. With Lowry defending and McIlroy looking to rebound, the fans will be boisterous for their guys.
Stock report of the stars
Golf is such a volatile game that it's hard to figure out who's hot and who's not based on one or two tournaments. A pro can find their footing, or slip into a funk, at a moment's notice. Even so, it's hard not to rush to judgment after what we saw the past two weeks in Scotland. Here's a stock report on the six names who move the needle the most:
Xander Schauffele - Buy. His all-around, consistent game is finally living up to the promise he's held for years. Now that he's figured out how to win, look out.
Scottie Scheffler - Buy. His putting was, no doubt, painful to watch, but that makes the fact that he manufactured a top-10 finish with no touch on the greens only proves that he's a threat even with his C-game.
Rory McIlroy - Hold. His mind might not be ready to finish strong this year, but 2025 is set up for the perfect redemption tour. McIlroy will be a favorite at both Quail Hollow (where he's won four times) and Portrush (in his homeland). Winning either of those will more than make up for the soul-crushing near-miss at the U.S. Open and the missed cut at The Open.
Bryson DeChambeau - Hold. It's not a surprise to see Bryson miss the cut after posting big numbers on a course like Royal Troon where driving accuracy is paramount to survival. His game is best suited for PGA Championships and U.S. Opens, and his new-found fanfare could serve him well in future U.S.-based majors.
Tiger Woods - Sell. We all love seeing Tiger tee it up, and he's earned the right to play as long as he wants. Just get used to the middling finishes and missed cuts.
Jon Rahm - Sell. He's still adjusting to the LIV life and the fact that he's not as beloved by fans as he once was.
Best player without a major
The dreaded torch signifying the best player who hasn't won a major has been passed to Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg and Patrick Cantlay. Hovland's my bet to break the curse next.
What's your thoughts on the current state of men's golf after 2024's four major championships? Let us know in the comments below.
Tiger is interesting, I think, just because of his historical contribution to golf as possibly the greatest player of all time. Yet Woods’ odds to win any major in 2024, according to Las Vegas, were all extremely long. Those odds were borne out.
Compare that to the period when he won 93% of his majors (14/15) from 1999 to 2008. During the 11-year stretch from 1997-2007, he typically played between sixty and 80-something rounds. His scoring average was very close to 68.
This year his scoring average was seven shots higher than in his glory years at 75.27 (more than 4 over par). Granted, 90% of these rounds were in majors, but 50% of those rounds were 77 or higher–a massive difference from his prime. Injuries have taken a toll on his performance, resulting in minimal playing time, which contrasts strongly to how much Woods played during the late 90s/Ott decade. When he is 49 next year, the single person who will have won a major at an older age (fifty) is Phil Mickelson. As great as Woods has been, there will almost certainly be even longer odds against him in 2025.
I agree with your prognostications about both Xander and Scottie as the two most promising players for 2025 among those you’ve assessed. Based upon this year’s overall results, certainly, they should have the most confidence going forward.
Tiger either needs to play more often or just completely retire. Playing a handful of times a year is just a waste and he's never going to be competitive with that approach. If I was him, I would risk injury and play more often.