Major Recap and Ryder Cup Preview

Rory won. Dramatically. My wife, his numero uno fan, almost died like a hundred times when he was on the back nine. Felt bad for Justin Rose, even worse realizing that a guy who is like ten seconds older than me’s time is over. Langer retired, which is too bad. He’s not in contention anymore, but he’s not Doug Ford shooting like 200 and then withdrawing, either. One thing I wish they would do is have the old guys who start at like dawn on Thursday and are likely to retire be a featured group. Some of us would get up early to watch. Fred Couples is appointment television, so televise it. Bryson may not have finished strong, but he still entertained the crowd on Sunday. Best Masters in years. Can’t wait to be at Augusta National in April.

Scottie didn’t get arrested at the PGA Championship this year, and after last year Valhalla might never host a Major again. Instead, Scottie won the whole thing. The cool thing about the PGA Championship has always been the random club pros who qualify. None of them did insanely well this year. That’s not a huge shock, just a mild disappointment. Like most people who live in the North, I’m still bitter about Jay moving the tournament to May and excluding the entirety of the North in the process. Move it back to August, you coward.

JJ Spaun didn’t just win, he sunk a 60+ footer to win. It might not be once in a lifetime, but it is still exceedingly rare for somebody to close one out like that. He didn’t score Par to win, but he wasn’t like thirty under, either. The USGA got it right, it was the toughest test in golf. I’m happy for JJ, but I never would have bet on him. Then again, all of the random dudes who came out of nowhere to win a single Major are awesome. I still regret not going when it was at Brookline. Might go to Pebble Beach. US Open is epic. Love the tennis one, golf one, and hope to some day go to the hickory golf one. I’m open to other ones too if there is a sailing one or something I am sleeping on.

Scottie kinda ran away with it in Northern Ireland. That said, damn, the rest of dat leaderboard. Bryson and Wyndham came back from the absolute brink to finish in very respectable positions. Rory was near the top. Love links golf. An announcer pointed out that no Englishman has won in like thirty years or more. That’s a drought we should talk about more. St. Andrews will be up in the rotation before you know it. Would have loved more wind and rain, but I can’t get everything. I don’t know how many tickets are sold, but the crowd looked smaller this year. Man do they need to move the PGA back to August, no Major golf until April. I love the Florida swing, but it isn’t the same.

Ryder Cup year. This was supposed to be the Phil Ryder Cup until the Mick gambled his way onto LIV Golf. Tiger’s Achilles remains a mystery. So, for now, and probably at least ceremonially, Keegles is captain. The question remains whether or not he will be the first player-captain in decades. I hope so. Man, that would be epic. I’m rooting for him, either way. It is also not like the other ten vice captains won’t be all over the course with headsets on. There is a gentlemen’s agreement on it. Player-captain could work with the technology we have now.

So, who makes the team? I’d leave Finau, Spieth, and Brian Harman at home. If I’m Keegan, Bryson is the first pick, but everyone knows that. Picking himself should be the second pick. Unless he qualifies outright, which seems unlikely but not impossible. JT and Morikawa are not locks, but should both get long looks, at a minimum. Maverick McNealy is in the thick of it. In my biased opinion, Patrick Reed should absolutely be on the team. But he has zero chance, so we’ll just cross him off the list. Cantlay, Burns and Clark all make compelling cases. Burns has had ice water in his veins with the putter. He’s not the most likable guy, but the putting stats are hard to argue with. Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Akshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler, and Will Zalatoris are too far back to be in consideration. Same for the LIV crew. So, who are the final six? Bryson, Keegan, Mav, JT, Morikawa, and Burns. Clark too, if Keegles doesn’t select himself. Part of me hopes Clark is not only on the team, but secures the winning point. I really want him to do well, despite his various well-documented struggles.

On the other side, there are six automatic selections and six wild cards. I will never root for Europe, but Sigma Chi’s own Luke Donald is a gentleman and a great captain. I am 50-50 of Jon Rahm is one of those wild cards. Sergio is out, even though old guys making noise at the Ryder Cup is always fun. It would be a folly to even try to guess who Luke will select. I won’t even try. But I am looking forward to him joining the Champions Tour in a few years. 2025 was a great year in golf.