Rory McIlroy collapsed at a major last week and Scottie Scheffler won his sixth tournament of 2024 at the Travelers Championship this weekend — nothing new there.
While a major wedding took us out of commission for the U.S. Open last week, we’re back to talk about what another major would mean for both Scottie and Rory.
We also jump into Tom Kim’s low-key play and what it was like for us to play 12 at Augusta without knowing.
The leading edge
Main takeaway(s) from the weekend, by Myles & Nate
If Rory is the pinnacle of the last generation, Scottie is well on his way to becoming the rightful crown of this one.
But don’t get it twisted, there is no ceremonial passing of the torch in this duel. As far as world ranking, they are one and two on the podium.
To lay the groundwork, we know Rory has four majors and none in the last 10 years. He’s had close calls at the 2011 Masters, 2019 Open, 2023 U.S. Open, and of course just last week at the 2024 U.S. Open (check out this article for all 37 majors Rory did not win). The best way to describe this drought is sunk stomachs, what ifs, and a nasty medley of regret and resilience.
On the other hand, Scottie has two majors, both green jackets. While one can be befuddled by his ‘aging’ physical presence (he’s only 28), Scottie has only competed in 20 majors and hasn’t had the time or lack of game to develop scar tissue. He’s on a meteoric rise to greatness.
So with one major remaining in the 2024 season, we pose an important question: who would an Open win at Royal Troon mean more for?
Nate’s case for Rory
After missing two short putts on 16 and 18 at the U.S. Open, Rory’s dreams at another major exited almost as quickly as his flight out of there. Unfortunately, this pain has become commonplace for one of the greatest golfers of all time. At this point, Rory is known just as much for his collapses as his triumphs.
I heard this somewhere else, but Rory’s last ten years are trending toward a Shakespearean tragedy. The ‘hero’ who tries to save the PGA Tour from the evil LIV Golf is given nothing in return.
But if there are gods we can all believe in, it’s the golf ones, and I’m bullish that they’ll come through for the Northern Irishmen.
A fifth major would tie Brooks Koepka, Seve Ballesteros and Byron Nelson. It would get him one shy of Phil Mickelson and Nick Faldo.
In the neighbouring country of Scotland, Rory would certainly have the crowds in his corner. The energy would be palpable, the tabloids would be trembling, and finally, the weight of this drought would be over and done.
Myles’ case for Scottie
It’s been a weird season for Scottie, eh?
Six legit wins, including The Players and The Masters. In a vacuum, that’s an incredible season. Also in real life, it’s incredible.
But is it so good that, somehow, it should have been even better?
Here’s where some of that weirdness comes in — maybe he wins the PGA if he doesn’t get arrested on Friday morning (which is still unbelievable to type!) or if Ted Scott is available to caddy on Saturday.
It was weird to see the wiregrass mess with Scottie’s head so much at Pinehurst, though that’s the game.
But now there’s only one major left, and if Scottie finishes one of the best seasons in golf history with just one major … was it really one of the best seasons in golf history? Or, in the history books (/Wikipedia pages), will it be looked upon as more of a missed opportunity?
A win at Troon would cement the legacy of Scottie’s 2024 season. It would give him his first non-Masters major, proving he can win in different conditions. And it would push him ahead of the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas — all two-time major champs — in the career trophy standings.
We’ll have to sit on all that for now though. Still three-and-half weeks to go until tee times at Troon.
The false front
A take one of us needed to unload, by Myles
Tom Kim will win a major one day. I can keep this one short and sweet: he’s 22, a three-time PGA Tour winner with clear ball-striking skills and has already lingered around the top of major leaderboards.
Kim’s age might be the biggest factor here. If we agree that there’s a long career ahead of him, which seems likelier than not at this point, let’s give him another 15 years, which is 60 majors. There will be good seasons and bad, but that’s a lot of opportunities for a talented golfer like Kim.
Now, his three Tour wins are a bit fugaze due to timing and field strength. But there’s still something to learning how to win, and if his trajectory is anything like his golf swing, it’ll be slow, steady and on target.
And the talent is there. He can compete in a birdie-fest like at Travelers, where he lost in a playoff to Scottie on Sunday. Kinda sounds like a PGA Championship? He finished T2 at the Open last year on an injured ankle, passing a completely different test of golf than TPC River Highlands.
Kim’s smiley demeanour may not be for everyone, but he seems unfazed by the moment. There’s always heartbreak lurking around the corner (see above on Rory), but for now, there’s warranted optimism for his major hopes.
Links roundup
Golf content we consumed over the past week…
Amy Yang had an epic champagne celly after winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Cameron Young went lights out and became the 13th player ever to break 60 on the PGA Tour — it’s pretty electric.
Lexi Thompson shot one of the more wild 74s you’ve ever seen, carding four bogeys and two doubles on the front, and five birdies on the back.
Swing thoughts
Something about playing golf, by Myles
I stepped up to a par-3 at Wooden Sticks Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ont., last week with about 150 yards to the hole, water protecting the green from the front and two nasty-looking bunkers lurking just behind it.
Naturally, I duffed my tee shot. With about 100 yards in from there, I sailed a gap wedge into one of those bunkers, leaving myself a nasty downhill lie. Hey, at least the ball wasn’t wet.
I recovered with a sand-shot to about 15 feet, then two-putted for double-bogey. Was it a well-played hole? No. But I was reasonably happy with the 5 given my first two shots.
And then it hit us: that was 12 at Augusta!
See, eight of 18 holes at Wooden Sticks are replicas. But there’s no signage on the course indicating so — just on the scorecard. And none of our foursome was particularly interested in looking at our scores.
We proceeded to play the par-5 13 at Augusta, which was adorned with a Masters leaderboard behind the green. There was also 1 and 18 from St. Andrews (surprisingly confusing to play with a shared fairway!), 17 at Sawgrass (lost two balls to the island green) and the postage-stamp par-3 from Royal Troon.
With the imitations done reasonably well, it was fun pretending to play all those famous holes, and even a reason to forget about scores and just enjoy the golf.
For $175, including green fees, cart and a post-round meal, it makes for a perfect yearly round — not worth over-playing, but definitely worthwhile on occasion.
Now to figure out a way to play the real Augusta…