For a third straight week it seemed as though the PGA Tour would serve its elders. Hey, the tour was still in Florida, whose only purpose, after all, is to give comfort to the aged.
But, no, it was one of those flexible Millennials – Rory McIlroy – stepping up to win Sunday at Arnold Palmer’s place in Orlando, ruining a perfectly good trend. It just wasn’t enough that his generation owns pretty much every other aspect of life.
The creaky 40-something player remains a hot topic on the verge of the Masters – including one of them who has consumed all media the past month.
You know who. A certain 14-time major winner whose name needs no further illumination.
Sometimes you challenge yourself. I came to this day determined to write something on golf without mentioning that cat’s name. For, between here and the Masters, there will be a lot more of him to come.
And you challenge the readers, especially those who regularly complain they are weary of having that fellow’s every twitch and emanation turned into a headline, at the expense of so many other worthwhile pros.
OK, here’s your chance to prove it with your eyeballs. Let’s give a few of these alternate pre-Masters storylines a try, and see if anyone cares.
The “old guy” theme is always a popular one come spring in Augusta. Leading the geezers will be Phil Mickelson, 47, whose victory in Mexico to begin this month was his first since 2013. He reminded us of his relevance just in time to make perhaps one last real run at a fourth Masters title, one that would supplant Jack Nicklaus as the oldest winner there.
Paul Casey, 40, won the week after Mickelson, and he requires a major championship to gild his reputation.
Sunday at Bay Hill, it was Henrik Stenson, 41, the third-round leader who shrank beneath McIlroy’s withering fire. When that dude is on, Stenson is to ball-striking what Kenneth Branagh is to Shakespeare. Every swing is perfectly articulated. But he faltered in the fourth round. And, he has never finished better than 14th at the Masters. He was 8-over par and gone after Friday last year.
There are three players capable of winning a career Grand Slam this year. Devoid only of a Masters, McIlroy has the first shot. Oh, and look, he lives. There was a significant sighting at Bay Hill Sunday, as he started canning shots from everywhere, like some kind of zoned-in Steph Curry, only guiding a much smaller ball through a much smaller hole.
The other two are Jordon Spieth (needing a PGA Championship) and Mickelson (a six-time runner-up at the U.S. Open). And whatever happened to Spieth? Didn’t he used to be somebody? He has finished no better than ninth in seven events this year. But the Masters is his tonic, owning a win and two seconds in four appearances. Nothing like a drive up Magnolia Lane to cure what ails you.
Let’s bring up a couple more names that have been eclipsed lately.
There’s defending champion Sergio Garcia, who now has the inspiration of a newborn daughter – named Azalea as a tribute to the site of his breakthrough victory – and the benefit of a nanny. Thankfully he didn’t win something important on a desert course. Because eventually his daughter would have come to resent the name Prickly Pear.
Then there’s world’s No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who avoided the Florida swing, skipping that state like he’s allergic to the sight of sandals and black socks. He’s still pretty good, we hear. The question is, though, after missing last year’s Masters due to a slip and fall back at the rental house, will either he or the Augusta National leadership invest in a protective bubble this year?
Johnson remains by most books the Vegas betting favorite to win the Masters. But there is someone else closing fast on him. Can’t quite come up with the name right now.
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