With yet another season of golf majors gone by, another season that saw 4 different winners (and none the same as any of the nine previous major winners), I think it is time to reflect on the most recent champion and what his win means for the game of golf and the PGA Tour.
To the untrained eye, or for the person who flicked their television on way too late, the finish to the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club may have seemed good, even thrilling. It was, however, not that at all. Sure a three-hole playoff is exciting, but Keegan Bradley’s win was yet another page in the recent dark history of major golf championships. I don’t dislike Keegan Bradley, I am happy for the youngster that he was able to shake off a collapse that had occurred only a week prior and win the PGA Championship, but I merely question if his win was good for the game of golf or not.
The clear answer to this question is that his win is NOT good for the game, but it is not just his victory, it is his victory in combination with the previous 12 victors of major championships. I had previously written a blog about the seemingly bleak future for American golf, but this instead is about the future of golf—period.
Why you ask is Bradley’s win so bad for the game? Well, there are a couple of reasons.
The first is simply something that is found in his bag. While some know, but others may not, golf purists across the globe cringed or rolled over in their graves when Keegan Bradley raised his belly putter in triumph on the 18th green. The 93rd PGA Championship marked the first time that a major championship was captured using either a belly or long putter. The golf world mourns because this is yet another display of the smash-and-grab style of play that has become indicative of so many young players on the Tour. The true touch of a champion can now be imitated by jabbing one’s putter into their stomach or holding it at their chest, as opposed to the necessary skill of their hands.
The second is the manner in which Keegan Bradley won the tournament. The golf world was excited when Charl Schwartzel became the first man to win a major by making birdies on the final four holes at Augusta in the year’s first major. In the 93rd PGA Championship, the golf world had to endure Keegan Bradley triple bogeying the 15th hole and Jason Dufner limping home hauling a bag full of bogeys. There was no one charging after golf balls with dramatic fist pumps, instead their were people watching golf balls with agony trying their best to give the championship to the other. The two putt from 18 feet for Keegan Bradley’s victory seemed like nothing but defeat for the golf world. The Tour thirsts for the days of Tiger Woods electrifying fans with chips that sit on the edge of the cup before dropping, or following putts in the growing darkness as they drop into the center of the cup.
Finally, and most obviously, the golf world needs someone to take charge and separate himself from the pack. While I believe Rory McIlroy will become an increasingly great golfer, the fact remains that he has blown the lead in more majors than he has won. Dustin Johnson chokes so often that Greg Norman feels bad for him. Darren Clarke’s victory at the 2011 Open Championship was his first top 10 finish in a major in 10 years, and he would then miss the cut at the PGA Championship just weeks later. None of the previous 13 major champions have the charisma that captured the attention of the golf world as Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and so many other major champions did.
This is not intended to take away from the victory that Keegan Bradley had at the Atlanta Athletic Club in the 93rd PGA Championship. It is also not intended to paint a bleak picture of the future of golf. Instead, it is intended to point to the depth of bleakness that faces the current state of golf. We need someone, and I will mention the name of golfer who, while they are notoriously not a major winner, initially captured the world with energy and charisma and if they could find the top of the leader board may be good for the game—Sergio Garcia. Do you have any more jumps from behind trees left in your Sergio? I know it is a long shot, but think about it?
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