Players get down to business at ‘fifth major’
For months now, there has been no consistency (apart from the Masters) to the tournament participation of the world’s best players but that all changes from this week.
Widely regarded as golf’s unofficial fifth major, the TPC has all the hallmarks of a major championship — the prize money, the status, and the playing exemption for the winner. It can live with the very best in terms of shot-making skills and course drama on display.
But it still lacks the emotional clout associated with the four big ones and the leading lights will see this week’s test chiefly as a means of amassing as many World and Fed-Ex ranking points as possible while also fine-tuning their games for next month’s US Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
That said, there are a number of interesting talking points this week; among others, the revamped golf course as well as the re-emergence of fit-again playing partners Dustin Johnson and Rory Mcilroy.
Pete Dye changed golf course architecture for all time with this 1980 design of the TPC at Sawgrass. With a spectacular mix of serpentine waste bunkers, endless water hazards, semi-blind shots, and 18 incredibly varied green complexes, it quickly established itself on tour as the ultimate test of tournament golf.
The emergence of greater player athleticism, coupled with more consistent technology in recent years, has forced most tournament golf courses into finding ways to continually test the players and while most have opted for length, happily TPC Sawgrass has put a greater emphasis on risk-reward, skill-sets, and ball control.
The status of this week’s event will come as a welcome relief to messrs Johnson and McIlroy, both of whom spectacularly compromised their chances at last month’s Masters.
For the laid-back Johnson, his forced withdrawal from the Masters after a “tumble down the stairs” seems to be just another saga in his “free-spirited” life but given his blistering form leading into the event, it was a costly error and yet another opportunity to add to his major tally lost.
McIlroy’s poor tournament preparation for major championships is now even more alarming but now that he has finally married (it seems like he has been wanting to tie the knot for some time) and “tied down” a frankly unbelievable commercial deal with TaylorMade — especially given they are up for sale — one hopes he can put recent distractions to one side, string a consistent schedule of performances together, and give himself every chance of being at his competitive best over the coming months.
With new clubs and a new ball in the bag for his first competitive round this week, I am not expecting much but time and again Rory has proven that if he has a good tournament on the greens then he will be competitive.
Of the others, I am very keen to see how golf’s latest major champion Sergio Garcia performs this week. Will the confidence gained from his victory drive him on to even greater heights? Hopefully so.
Of the Irish in the field, it is nice to see Graeme McDowell finding some form again. He is a big-time player on tough courses and hopefully he can keep his good form from last week going with one of the Tour’s most lucrative prize pots at stake.
For Shane Lowry, it is more a case of building form. He has proven himself competitive on this course but his inconsistencies in the heat of battle have hurt his game — none more so than his disastrous Saturday round last year while in contention.
