GWD_MAY_16

WHO WILL DOMINATE THE MAJORS?
We predict how McIlroy, Spieth and Day will fare in this year’s ‘big four’.
Jordan Spieth Rory McIlroy Jason Day
54 out of 72 greens in regulation
(75%), but Ian Poulter hit five more
(81.94%). And he was actually the
third best putter, three-putting three
times on the weekend and averaging
1.5 putts per GIR for the week -
.03 behind both Steve Stricker and
Johnson (Johnson won the driving
distance and putting categories, but
his irons failed him. Of the 55
players that made the cut only six hit
fewer greens over the 72 holes).
Spieth’s combination of second in
GIR and 3rd in putting proved
potent. Retaining an unmatched
command of his game and emotions
at all times, he made a recordsmashing
28 birdies, along with eight
bogeys and one double-bogey. He just
did everything well or very well,
avoided disasters, and finished
12-under for the 16 par 5s.
Fields says the Spieth of today isn’t
too different from the kid he coached
at UT. “He has the same competitive
tenacity,” he says. “His swing is
tighter and strikingly more repetitive,
but that’s about it.”
About to embark on his 19th
season at Texas, Coach Fields isn’t
surprised Spieth worked out how to
win the Masters at such a young age.
“He always had the belief and vision,”
he says. “His game fits the course,
and every other major venue, very
well. He’s consistent, has a great short
game, and is a superb putter.”
MASTERS RECORD
Spieth has shown you don’t need
experience at Augusta to master it.
04 03 02 01
DNP
DNP
DNP
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
2
1
The
Masters:
Augusta
National
US Open:
Oakmont
CC
The
Open:
Royal
Troon
US PGA:
Baltusrol
Becoming only the
third man in history,
after Jack Nicklaus
and Nick Faldo, to win
back-to-back Green
Jackets is surely about
as likely to happen as
a middle-distancehitting
21-year-old
winning the
tournament by four
and tying Tiger
Woods’ 72-hole
scoring record.
The last five winners
of the US Open at
Oakmont have been
Angel Cabrera, Ernie
Els, Larry Nelson,
Johnny Miller and
Jack Nicklaus – a
disparate collection
of heavy hitters,
awesome iron players
and superlative
putters. It’s easy to
see Spieth joining
them.
Two indifferent starts
at the Open were
followed by a T4 at St
Andrews last year.
He’s trending in the
right direction, and
Troon will hold no
great fear for him.
At 7,462 yards,
Baltusrol’s Lower
Course is pretty long,
although nothing the
world’s top players
aren’t accustomed to
each week. Likewise,
it’s only 27 offcial
yards longer than
Augusta National
where Spieth shot
-18 last year. He can
probably handle
the extra length.
In 2012 and 2013,
McIlroy finished T40
and T25 suggesting a
somewhat negative
reaction to 2011’s
back-nine disaster. He
has righted the ship
the last two years,
however, recording
two top-10s. One
good putting week
and it’s feasible he
could go where Spieth
went in 2015.
Hosting its ninth US
Open, Oakmont is the
muscular, demanding,
thoroughly exacting
sort of course on
which you expect a
player like McIlroy to
excel and
distance
himself
from
merely
good
players.
Much depends on the
weather in Ayrshire.
McIlroy has never
made a secret of the
fact that he doesn’t
favour playing in the
wind and rain. But if it
remains fairly calm
and the sun shines for
much of the week, as
it did at Hoylake in
2014, he is sure to be
very hard to beat on
a running links course.
Rory’s temperament
might just be bestsuited
to Kerry
Haigh’s set-up. Two
wins in four years
shows he
enjoys the
length and
rough
constricted
fairways
and
concrete
greens.
Brilliant tie for 2nd in
his 2011 debut will
surely not be his top
finish. The distance,
shape, and height of
his shots, are custombuilt
for Augusta.
Cabrera, Els, Nelson,
Miller, and Nicklaus
don’t have much in
common besides
talent, determination,
and a redoubtable
selfconfidence.
Day, like
Spieth, fits
the mould.
He’s the
ultimate
fighter.
Until last year at The
Old Course, where he
finished with 12 pars
to wind up a shot out
of the play-off, Day
hadn’t contended in
an Open. Now, with
the confidence of a
major champion and
former world number
one, you expect him
to be in the mix every
year. Troon will suit
him just fine.
Baltusrol is 22 miles
north of Plainfield CC,
where Day won the
Barclays last August.
Like Plainfield, the
Lower
Course at
Baltusrol,
designed
by AW
Tillinghast,
has Bent
grass
greens.
May 2016 Golf World 33