If you are of a certain age, you remember when pitchers in a baseball game actually could go nine innings then come back after four days’ rest and do it again.
Days when the NFL stuck to playing on Sundays and colleges kept autumn Saturdays sacred.
A time when … never mind, I’ll stop there and get to the point.
The days of professional golf being dominated by one kick-ass, “he’s going to win and everybody knows it” player may be gone, if not forever then at least until another golf comet comes streaking our way like Tiger Woods did 25 years ago.
The thought was raised recently, not surprisingly, by Rory McIlroy when he was asked the familiar question about the depth of talent on the PGA Tour and professional golf in general.
McIlroy cited Keith Mitchell as an example, pointing to a 7-iron shot from a fairway bunker in the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship in May (which McIlroy won) as an eye-opening example of how fame doesn’t necessarily equate with talent.
And winning, well, it may be harder than ever – the prime Tiger years excluded.
“It’s tough to win, right?” McIlroy said. “I’ve had a couple of seasons where I’ve won four and five times and I think nowadays that’s an achievement.
“The seasons of, sort of 10 wins, like Vijay (Singh) and Tiger obviously multiple times, maybe I’ll be wrong, but I don’t know if we’re going to see them again. I think a really good season nowadays is sort of three wins is exceptional, two wins is very good, and then anything like above three, you’re the best player in the world at that point.”
Five players have won five times on the PGA Tour in a single season since 2009. Justin Thomas did it in 2016-17, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day did it a season earlier and Woods did it in 2013.
“There you go, DJ’s the second-ranked player in the world and he didn’t win on tour last year. It just shows you how tough it is.”
RORY McILROY
Until Patrick Cantlay won four times this past season (that’s what the record shows though some quibble about Jon Rahm’s WD at the Memorial and the weighted format at the Tour Championship), three wins a season had become the magic number. That was the most any player won in five of the previous seven seasons. In the 2017-18 season, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Bubba Watson and Thomas all won three events.
Winning has always been hard and it’s not getting any easier.
McIlroy was reminded of that while having breakfast with Johnson at the CJ Cup. They were discussing their playing schedules and McIlroy is mulling whether to start his 2022 in the Middle East on the European Tour or in Maui, Hawaii, with the PGA Tour winners.
“I said, ‘Oh, are you going to start in Maui like you usually do?’ ” McIlroy said. “(Johnson) said, ‘I'm not in.’ I was like, ‘Oh, sorry.’
“There you go, DJ’s the second-ranked player in the world and he didn’t win on tour last year. It just shows you how tough it is,” added McIlroy, who spent a good portion of the past year answering questions about why he hadn’t won more.
The Wells Fargo Championship and the CJ Cup flattened the froth on that discussion for a while.
Because the subject is winning – or, more accurately, why players don’t win more often – let’s take a moment to remember how dominant Tiger Woods was in his glory days:
He won seven consecutive starts in 2006-07 (eight if you count his boutique Target World Challenge win). He also won six consecutive starts in 1999-2000. And he won five consecutive starts in 2007-08.
McIlroy, Johnson and Singh are the only players other than Woods who have won three in a row since David Duval did it in 1997.
We’re not getting what Tiger gave us again.
Could someone win five or six times this season?
It’s certainly possible but recent history suggests it’s unlikely. Dominance is good in sports. It sets a bar and forces others to jump over it.
Jon Rahm was nominated by McIlroy as the player most likely to go on a tear and he’s right. Rahm has earned the distinction of being the best player in the world at the moment and his two-event flameout in Spain can be attributed to fatigue or temporary burnout after a grueling season.
Who else could do it?
Collin Morikawa. He’s won five times and two majors and he’s just getting started. Not only does Morikawa have the technical precision to dominate, he’s not afraid. The moment doesn’t scare him.
Bryson DeChambeau dreams big enough to imagine winning 10 times in a season but it feels at times like the burden of being Bryson makes sustaining success harder for him. He has dynamic stretches but the constant tinkering gets in the way at times.
Justin Thomas? Maybe.
Jordan Spieth? It’s a nice thought.
McIlroy? He’s got one this season already.
Brooks Koepka? If he could only stay healthy long enough.
Johnson? If he plays like he did at Whistling Straits.
Cantlay? If he putts like he did at the BMW Championship.
Xander Schauffele? He just needs to win again. Rickie Fowler has won a PGA Tour event more recently than Schauffele.
As the saying goes, if it was easy, everyone would do it.
The question is will anyone do it again?
Top: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas
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