When you watch golf through the middle of the night for four days straight, you realize a few things.You have a couple of wires crossed and that major professional golf championships are insanely good television. The second of which, we already know.
I didn’t say the coverage was great, but the golf was amazing. Xander Schauffele became the 12th, single season, double major champion since 1974. How did he do it? A sensational weekend performance, capped with a bogey free 65 on Sunday. If you don’t think that there is a debate on “Player of the Year,” you might be as delusional as me after watching 47.5 out of 49 hours of televised coverage.
Xander and his Olympic teammate, Scottie Scheffler, have both had quite the year. If you ask me, winning 2 major championships supersedes anything else. It’s not a knock on Scottie. His numbers this year and results are impeccable. What’s lost in the shuffle of the two majors for Schauffele, is that in the other two he had top 10 finishes as well.
What else did this do? It moved Xander back to second in the FedEx and OWGR right behind, you guessed it, Scottie Scheffler. The gap remains sizable, but the race for the FedEx Cup is going to be insane.
While Xander will take the flowers, my sleep deprived eyes still saw some amazing stuff. The Open Championship is widely regarded as golf’s greatest major. A lot of that is forged in its historical significance to the sport. The rest is the sheer challenge that links golf presents. I wouldn’t say it is my top of the board when it comes to majors. As a left coast kid, I’ve always been more partial to the US Open. But, how do you play favorites on golf’s four toughest tests? They are all unique and amazing in their own right.
The sadness now sets in. For golf diehards like us, there’s 261 days left until Augusta. The 2025 majors provide another unique collection of venues. Augusta, Quail Hollow, Oakmont, and Royal Portrush. We also get the bonus of Bethpage Black and the Ryder Cup that will be highly anticipated.
There were several other players that impressed this week. Billy Horschel played great. A year ago at The Memorial, he was a wreck with where his game was. That was an awesome weekend development. Daniel Brown and Thriston Lawrence will both be around at Royal Portrush next year without needing a qualifier. They both earned their right to be there. Justin Rose, who also had to qualify, will be there next year. Rose was nearly flawless for four straight days.
As always, Shane Lowry played fantastic. One nine-hole Saturday disaster kept him from a chance at his second Claret Jug. Next year? He returns to the site of his first one back in 2019.
Final stats on my run? 47.5/49 hours watched. Seven gallons of water. 18 Silver Bullets and nearly a huge pay day on Shane Lowry. Two cat naps. My body clock is as jacked as the weather at Royal Troon. As crazy as it sounds, I can’t wait to do it again next July.
