Big summer for - Backspin Golf Magazine

The Major Championships
It’s not easy becoming a
BUBBA
WATSON
Only a select few Major winners strike again
Newly crowned Masters champion Bubba
Watson became the 27th first-time Major
winner since the start of 2001, the 11th since
the start of 2009 and the 4th first-time winner of
The Masters since 2007.
But don’t be fooled by these stats. Winning a
Major Championship remains an elusive target for
many top class golfers and the majority of those
who crack the code then find it extremely difficult
to win another Major.
All eyes will be on Bubba as he chases back-toback
Major wins in the US Open in June, but to
date only four of the other 26 first-time winners
since 2001 have tasted success again in the Majors
- Goosen, Mickelson, Cabrera and Harrington.
Retief Goosen broke his duck in the 2001
US Open at Southern Hills and won the title again
at Shinnecock Hills in 2004.
It took Phil Mickelson 47 attempts to become a
Major winner. Since his breakthrough victory at
Augusta in 2004 he has become a three-time
Masters champion and he won the USPGA
Championship in 2005.
In 2009 Angel Cabrera added a Masters Green
Jacket to his 2007 US Open victory at Oakmont.
And, of course, Padraig Harrington successfully
defended The Open Championship in 2008 and
added the USPGA title a few weeks later to become
a three-time Major winner in the space of thirteen
months.
continued...
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