Catch any good golf tournaments lately? If not, then you better check your local listings for the next big tournament, because the sport has been incredible lately. We’d even go so far as to say it’s better than it’s ever been. Even better than when a certain Tiger was tearing through the competition. It’s been that good.
Still not convinced? Well, here are five reasons that show just how exciting golf is right now, and why people should start taking notice.
Get a taste of that great golf action in the upcoming Open Championships. Check out our complete Open Championship preview, as well as our Open Championship sleeper picks.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]5 Reasons Why Golf’s Been So Great
No More Tiger
Tiger Woods’ decade-plus-long reign at the top of the PGA Tour was fun while it lasted. His dominance drew so many people to the sport, some of which were eventually converted into lifelong fans. Who could forget his unbelievable chip-in on the 16th hole at Augusta? The transcendent talent that was Tiger took golf to the mainstream, and the sport has been so much better for it.
[sc:Golf240banner ]However, Woods was such a larger-than-life figure that, apart from a select few like Phil Mickelson, he overshadowed just about everyone else on Tour. His presence on the course – and at the top of leaderboards – got a tad stale and boring.
But with Woods’ powers waning for some time – he’s seven years without a major and counting – the vacuum he’s left at the top has finally given other players the opportunity to shine under the spotlight. And shine they have, especially this year.
McIlroy-Spieth is the Next Top Rivalry in Sports
No two golfers have seized that opportunity better than Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, the two faces of golf’s new generation.
McIlroy, who succeeded Woods off the course by taking Tiger’s place in the popular EA Sports video game, has also succeeded Woods on the course by claiming four majors in the past five years.
Meanwhile, Spieth has surged onto the scene just this year with back-to-back majors. And with McIlroy out injured, the 21-year old Spieth is big a +400 favorite to make it three majors out of three at the upcoming Open Championship.
Neither has the clout that Prime Tiger had, or at least they don’t have it yet. But together, they are on their way toward forming a terrific rivalry – possibly the Arnold Palmer-Jack Nicklaus of the modern age – that will captivate golf fans for years to come.
The Next Generation is Really Good at Golf
McIlroy and Spieth aren’t the only young studs, though. Not by a long shot. They only headline what has been golf’s incredible talent boom over the past few years.
Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott and Martin Kaymer are all under 35 years old, and they’re really, really good. They’re all currently inside the top 20 in the World Golf Rankings, and they have either won a major (Rose, Scott, Kaymer) or have gone incredibly close to one. Johnson, Day and Fowler have already had multiple runner-up finishes in majors during their relatively short careers.
It’s certainly within the realm of possibility to see one or two of them make the leap in those majors a la Mickelson in 2004 and enter the McIlroy-Spieth level within the next few years. That would make the battle at the top even more exciting than it’s already been.
The Next Generation is Really Good… Looking
These next generation stars definitely aren’t your daddy’s golfers. They don’t have that Phil Mickelson “dad bod” that makes people think golfers aren’t real athletes. But the younger players these days are now implementing the type of modern training methods athletes in other sports use. Take one look at McIlroy lifting some serious weights and see that these guys are truly serious “athletes.”
Not only are the modern golfers fitter, they’re also a lot easier on the eyes. Just get a look at the likes of Adam Scott (above), Rickie Fowler, and Dustin Johnson. (Fowler and Johnson, not surprisingly, have the two hottest WAGs on Tour today.) Their presence on Tour can only be a positive step in helping the sport reach an entirely new demographic (i.e. the ladies).
The Field is Stacked
The immensely talented next generation joins the old guard (Mickelson, Jim Furyk) and the “middle-age” group (two-time Masters champ Bubba Watson, Zach Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia) to form one heck of a competitive field slugging it out for honors.
Since there’s no Tiger-like dominant force in the field today (although Spieth could still change all that), every major has the feel of being a wide-open race with a host of contenders. That’s in stark contrast to Tiger’s heyday, when it seemed like it was just Woods vs. the field for well over a decade.
The change in power dynamics has given new life to golf, and with the help of all the promising young talent coming through, it should see the sport reach even greater heights for many more years to come.
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