Rory

Is Rory Golf’s New King?

Now that Rory McIlroy has won this year’s PGA Championship as well as the British Open Championship there is talk that he is new King of Golf. While that makes sense let’s not be so quick to crown him because there have been other players who have enjoyed similar success who did not go onto become King. Let’s take a look at these players & the reasons why they didn’t go onto become King.


First up is Lee Trevino. He had the most sustained period of success (1968-1984) & won the most majors (6) than the other golfers that will be talked about. What’s really impressive is his first win was a major (1968 US Open). In 1971 he became the first golfer to win the US, Canadian, & British Open(s). The only other golfer to accomplish this is Tiger Woods. What makes this achievement really noteworthy is he did it in the span of 20 days! He would defend his British Open Championship in 1972 & won the PGA Championship in 1974. He won his last major in 1984 (PGA) at the age of 44. Unlike a lot of other golfers he had a great sense of humor & he was unique in that he was a minority (Mexican, this inspired his nicknames-the Merry Mex & Super Mex). The reason he didn’t become the King is Jack Nicklaus was still in his prime & Tom Watson would emerge a few year later.

Up next is Nick Price (you probably thought I was going to write Nick Faldo).  His dominant period was during a really weird period for golf Nicklaus & Watson hadn’t won a major for a while (Nicklaus hadn’t won one since 1986 & Watson hadn’t won one since 1983) and it didn’t appear that a dominant golfer was on the horizon. He won his 1^st major in 1992 (PGA Championship). His best year was 1994 (he won the British Open & PGA Championship sound familiar). The reason he didn’t become the King is a combination of things his age (he was 37 during his best year) and timing as you can see it was only a few years before Tiger would emerge.

 



The final golfer is Padraig Harrington. His dominant period occurred when Tiger was out due to injury. He won his 1^st major in 2007 (the British Open). His best year was 2008 (he won the British Open & the PGA Championship sensing a theme!) He’s unique in that he was the first Irish golf to win the British Open in 60 years and the first from the Republic of Ireland. His PGA Championship win is noteworthy because he was the first European to win in 78 years and he was the first from Ireland. The reason he didn’t become the King is similar to Nick Price (he was 36 in his best year) and a younger player would soon emerge (Rory McIlroy.)
These golfers show that just because a player is somewhat young (Trevino was 28 when he won his first major) and wins multiple majors in a year or many in short period of time doesn’t mean he’ll become the King of Golf.