Ahead of Thursday’s start of the PGA Championship, players
like Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, South African Louis Oosthuizen and
Lucas Glover, who once only dreamed of hoisting a claret jug or Wanamaker
Trophy now look at their unassuming
practice-round-partners-turned-major-champions and think, “Why not me?”
“It’s more tangible,” said Padraig Harrington, who credits
Michael Campbell of New Zealand with inspiring his major swing. Two years after
Campbell’s victory at the 2005 US Open, the Irishman won the British Open,
quickly followed by a second straight claret jug and the 2008 PGA title. “You
need that familiarity. You had that in the ’80s when Seve (Ballesteros) started
winning majors and other (European) players followed. Mentally, they could see
that it could be done.
“It’s the old story, once the record is broken, a lot of
people can follow.”
Of course, breaking through is a lot easier when Tiger Woods
is playing like a mere mortal.
With his personal life in turmoil, so is Woods’ game. He’s
been stuck on 14 majors since the 2008 US Open, and arrived at Whistling
Straits fresh off the worst tournament of his career. He beat just one player
in the 80-man field last weekend, and shot a whopping 18-over 298 at Firestone
— a course where he’s won seven times.
“I’ll be honest, the feeling in the locker room is slightly
different,” England’s Paul Casey said, choosing his words carefully. “With the
way (Woods) played the past week, guys feel like this is wide open, and that’s
not a feeling that a lot of guys have had before. Graeme McDowell played
tremendous golf at the US Open. So did Louis playing his golf at The Open.
That, combined with the way Tiger played last week, I think guys now feel there
are multiple possible winners this week.
“It’s different. Not a feeling we’ve had in a while.”
Woods could usually be counted on to win at least one major
each season and, as recently as 2006, he won two of them. Throw in Phil
Mickelson, and the world’s top two players combined to win six of the eight
majors in 2005 and ’06. That’s a formidable club for an up-and-comer to crash.
But with every victory by a Glover or McDowell or
Oosthuizen, the majors don’t seem quite so daunting.
Glover was 71st in the world when he won the US Open at
Bethpage Black. McDowell had to sweat out his exemption to the US Open before
holding off Woods, Mickelson and Ernie Els at Pebble Beach. And Oosthuizen had
made the cut at only one of his previous eight majors before winning at St.
Andrews.
“I think the days of no-names getting in contention on
Sunday afternoon and backing up, it doesn’t really happen anymore,” McDowell
said. “Guys only have forward gears now, as opposed to anything else. Guys are
not scared anymore.”
As if there was any doubt, McDowell turned to some unlikey
sources for inspiration Sunday at Pebble Beach, when Woods, Mickelson and Els —
multiple major winners — were chasing him.
“Y.E. Yang, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson — I was taking
some belief from those guys doing it,” McDowell, the first European in 40 years
to win the US Open, said, rattling off a list of first-timers. “There’s no
doubt, it has a knock-on effect.”
So who’s next?
Rory McIlroy is always a popular choice. McDowell’s fellow
Northern Irishman tied the major-championship record with a 63 in the first
round at the British Open, only to blow up with an 80 on Friday afternoon. But
the 21-year-old player showed his mettle, closing 69-68 to finish in a tie for
third.
There’s Ryo Ishikawa, the Japanese phenom who earlier this
year shot a 58, the lowest score ever on a recognized tour. Paul Casey’s run at
becoming the first Englishman since Faldo to win the British Open might have
disappeared in a gorse bush, but his tie for third at St. Andrews shows he is
as dangerous as he was last summer, when he climbed to No. 3 in the world
before being sidelined by a rib injury.
Hunter Mahan is fresh off a win at Firestone. And don’t
forget about local favorite Steve Stricker, whose rock steady consistency has
him in position to claim the world No. 1 ranking — although he’d need a bit of
help from Mickelson and Woods.
“Anyone that tees off in any of these events can win it,”
Oosthuizen said. “I just think it’s getting to a stage where you can have, in
the majors, different winners all the time.”
All that being said, no one’s about to count out Woods or
Mickelson.
Woods’ debacle at Firestone allowed him to put in some extra
time at Whistling Straits, and he sounded genuinely excited Tuesday about the
progress he’s seen in his game. Mickelson may have stumbled in his
opportunities to claim the world No. 1, but those struggles were put in a
different light after he revealed Tuesday that he has psoriatic arthritis,
which causes his immune system to attack his joints and tendons.
Mickelson first felt symptoms of the condition five days
before the US Open began, and experienced such intense pain he couldn’t walk.
Medication has brought the illness under control, and Mickelson said there will
be no long- or short-term negative effects on his health.
This major free-for-all may be maddening for golf fans who
got used to having to worry about only a handful of players. But rather than
seeing it as a sign the game is in disarray, McDowell said it’s a celebration
of golf’s strength.
“We have such a wealth of talent all over the world — from
Asia, from Europe, from the British Isles, from America,” McDowell said. “It’s
just strong right now, the sport, and I think long may it continue.”