Every sport has its numbers to determine greatness whether we're counting career home runs or Super Bowl trophies or NBA most valuable player awards. Whenever people debate greatness in golf, the conversation invariably turns to the accumulation of major championships. Very few people recall that Frank Beard was the PGA Tour's leading money winner in 1969. Beard was a very good player in the era of Nicklaus-Palmer-Player-Trevino, but he never won a grand slam title. Instead fans of the game know that Jack had 18 major wins, Arnie had seven, Gary had nine, and Lee had six. Beard's money title helped his bank account but it did little for his legacy when compared to the aforementioned foursome.
As the calendar continues to move towards the end of 2023, it's time to take a look at those golfers who enhanced their career legacies by winning one of golf's four majors, namely the Masters, the PGA Championship, the United States Open, and the British Open.
In April Spaniard Jon Rahm won the Masters to collect a second major title. He had previously won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. He was the fourth Spaniard to win a Masters alongside countrymen Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Sergio Garcia. In the end Jon won the Masters in dominating style, finishing four strokes ahead of Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. Rahm opened play on Masters' Thursday with a 65 to leave him tied atop the leader board with Viktor Hovland and Koepka. A second round 69 by Rahm left him two behind Brooks. Saturday's round had weather issues with most of the field returning on Sunday morning to finish. Koepka and Rahm carded 73s. After 54 holes Koepka was -9, Rahm was -7, and Hovland was lurking in third at -6.
Sunday's round featured slow play issues that seemed to adversely affect Koepka. He crossed the finish line with an unimpressive 75 while Rahm posted a 69. Rahm ended up at -12 while Koepka finished at -8. Mickelson joined Koepka in second place with an impressive Sunday 65.
The PGA Championship was held in mid-May in Rochester at the iconic Oak Hill Country Club. This time around Brooks Koepka wouldn't let the trophy slip through his hands. He opened with a 72 that left him six strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau. It was a crowded first round leader board with 15 golfers within three strokes of the lead. Following round two on Friday, the threesome of Corey Connors, Viktor Hovland, and world number one Scottie Scheffler were atop the leader board at -5 under par. Koepka made a big move with a 66 to get into sixth.
Brooks Koepka made another big step on Saturday by posting a second 66 to take the 54 hole lead at -6 with Connors and Hovland just one stroke behind. Sunday dawned and it would end up becoming a three horse race between Koepka, Hovland, and Connors. Viktor and Corey would card scores of 68 while Koepka would post a 67. He finished at -9 to win by two strokes. More impressive was the fact that it was Brooks' fifth major triumph, putting him one ahead of Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy. Koepka competes on the LIV Golf Tour outside of the majors and his win at the PGA Championship was a nice feather in the cap of the Saudi funded circuit.
The 123rd annual United States Open ventured to a new locale at a historical golf course of note, namely the iconic Los Angeles Country Club, a haven for the old money business community of Los Angeles. Wyndham Clark, a journeyman professional who had never finished higher than 75th place in one of golf's majors, failed to blink all week as he won the National Open by one stroke over Rory McIlroy. The course was set up too easy on Thursday as Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele set Open records with scores of -8 under 62. Clark was two strokes back at 64 alongside Dustin Johnson. On Friday Rickie maintained his lead with a 68 to get to -10 under. Wyndham was one back after a 67 while Rory and Xander were two back.
LACC was toughened up by the USGA for weekend play and the result resulted in little movement on the leader board. Clark carded a 69 to catch Rickie at -10. After 54 holes it was Clark and Rickie on top with Rory one back. Long gone were the days of 62 and 64. The story remained the same on Sunday as Clark carded an even par 70 to stay at -10 under and win by one stroke over Rory who also shot 70. Scottie also shot even par and moved up to third place at -7 on a day when no one could make a run at the leaders. As for Wyndham Clark, it was his day in the sun. He will probably be a one hit wonder with one major triumph.
The 152nd British Open was all about Brian Harman, an American pro in his mid-30s who can either be described as a solid top 25 golfer or as an underachiever. He won the game's oldest major by six strokes at Royal Liverpool. A Thursday round of 67 left Harman one stroke back of the trio of Emiliano Grillo, amateur Cristo Lamprecht, and local hero Tommy Fleetwood. Harman took over the British Open from that point onward, shooting a Friday 65 to take a five stroke lead over Fleetwood. His 69 on Saturday maintained his lead, this time over American Cameron Young who finished runner-up at St. Andrews in 2022.
Brian Harman's lead was down to three strokes on Sunday after two early bogeys, but he drained a pair of long putts on holes 6 and 7 to regain his lead. He finished with a final round 70 to finish the Open at -13 under, a most impressive six strokes ahead of the foursome of runner-ups that included Jason Day, Sepp Straka, Tom Kim, and Jon Rahm. It was the most dominant major win of the year and it was accomplished by Floridian Brian Harman in England.
The LPGA Tour has five majors. American Lilia Vu won the AIG Women's British Open and Chevron Championship (formerly the Dinah Shore) to win two grand slam titles. Yin Yuoning of China captured the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. American Alisen Corpez won the U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach while Celine Boutier won the Evian Championship in France. Celine is French and her win was a big deal among France's golf fans. Steve Stricker won three Champions Tour majors while the ageless Bernhard Langer captured the U.S. Senior Open and Alex Cjeka won the Senior British Open in Wales.
When all is said and done, a golfer's legacy will ultimately be based on major championships. For Rahn, Koepka, Clark, Harman, Vu, Yuoning, Corpez, Boutier, Stricker, Langer, and Cjeka, it was a very good year.
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