Here’s yet another reason why golf is so different to any other sport you care to name: In other sports you’ve usually got to believe you are a winner before you can become a winner. In golf, often your best chance of winning is to believe you’ve got very little chance of winning.
Take Webb Simpson in the US Open. Four shots off the pace with one round to go, he figured he was in with a decent chance and was intensely focused on getting off to a good start over the tough opening stretch of holes at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. But instead of putting pressure on the leaders
Webb Simpson and Graeme McDowell check out the big names
on the US Open trophy. McDowell won the Open in 2010.
with a couple of birdies, he bogeyed two of the first five holes and was seemingly out of contention.
Standing on the sixth tee, he figured he was a goner – and promptly birdied four of the next five holes and parred home the rest.
Just imagine what would happen if a tennis player walked out to a Wimbledon final resigned to defeat or if a footballer ran out for a Grand Final thinking his opposition was over the line. They would get creamed but in golf that resignation often releases tension and enables more fluent stroke-making than those still under the pressure of expectation.
Simpson did not take the outright lead in the tournament until he was safely in the clubhouse. He had steadfastly refused to look at a
leaderboard until after his final drive on the 18th, although in such a dramatic setting with so many spectators he obviously knew he was thereabouts.
In contrast, overnight leaders Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell knew exactly what was going on and
played their final 18 under the most intense of pressure. The pair sit 1-2 on the statistical list of fairways hit on the Tour this year –yet in that final 18 holes, McDowell hit just four and Furyk only five.
Furyk, in particular, will long be remembered for a ragged finish
Jim Furyk in despair during his Open crash.
when victory was his for the taking with three holes to go, including two par fives. But he wasn’t alone – Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, John Petersen and even Australia’s John Senden put themselves in contention at various stages only to fall away.
Harrington played a similar round to the winner, dropping early shots only to go on a birdie blitz when all seemed lost, grabbing five of them. One more on 18 would have got him into a play-off; instead he bogeyed.
Harrington deserves a special mention for another reason because the longer the New Age of golf goes on, the better his achievements of 2008 are looking. His British Open and US PGA wins that year make him the most recent winner of more than one major. Since then, there have been 14 majors for 14 different winners
(including the last nine in a row as first-time major winners).
None of those 14 winners go by the name of Tiger Woods, although he did win the major immediately preceding Harrington’s double. Woods’ tumble from the 36-hole lead at The Olympic Club, in
particular his atrocious start to his final round when he was six over after six, has triggered more talk of him being finished as a major contender.
That’s patent nonsense because it is clear that anyone can win on their day these days and Woods is no
Jim Furyk in despair during his Open crash.
different to any golfer in that respect. In fact, after a career in which he stood alone, Woods is no longer different to any other golfer in any respect.
In this New Age where the depth is such that the majors are not being dominated, it might be hard to see him winning the four he requires to match the Jack Nicklaus record of 18 – but neither could you rule out at least one more.
The prospect of any golfer winning all four majors in a season seems incomprehensible at the moment and a Tiger Slam no easier. What is still alive, though, is the prospect of what could be called a God Slam, with this year’s Masters winner Bubba Watson and US Open winner Simpson both committed and earnest Christians.
Simpson said he prayed throughout his final three holes in the Open. Regardless of what religion a golfer supports, perhaps the transfer of responsibility for what happens to a higher power is another way of reducing pressure.
Simpson had a quiet start to 2012 but his 2011 was a breakout year, winning twice in the Wyndham and Deutsche Bank Championships and very nearly claiming the $10 million Fedex Cup after leading the standings into the final tournament. He finished the year with ten top-10s and won the prestigious all-around ranking stat.
Now he is number five in the world, one behind Woods, one ahead of Watson and one of about 150 golfers who could win the next major without surprising.
Major Winners since 2009
| Year |
Major |
Winner |
| 2012 |
U.S. Masters
U.S. Open
British Open
U.S. PGA
|
Bubba Watson
Webb Simpson
|
| 2011 |
U.S. Masters
U.S. Open
British Open
U.S. PGA
|
Charl Schwartzel
Rory McIlroy
Darren Clarke
Keegan Bradley
|
| 2010 |
U.S. Masters
U.S. Open
British Open
U.S. PGA
|
Phil Mickelson
Graeme McDowell
Louis Oosthuizen
Martin Kaymer
|
| 2009 |
U.S. Masters
U.S. Open
British Open
U.S. PGA
|
Angel Cabrera
Lucas Glover
Stewart Cink
Y.E.Yang
|
You're going home in