This may have come up before - the state of golf - PGA

[cliffs]

I am 68 yrs of age and I have seen some very great golf(ers) in that time. I say thank you to those pros that have entertained us.

But now I must say that the PGA has changed. Not in a bad way (for some/most) but in a way that every week the leaderboard is so different. There are not any "leaders" anymore. Doesn't seem to be a consistency to the pros game. How many back to back winners have we seen in the last, say, 10 years? Not Majors, just the weekly grind. Maybe not back to back weekly but even play, skip the next and win the 3rd tourney.
I think that is why Phil's recent win was a huge boost for the PGA. His is a name most can identify with but look at today's leaderboards and it is like....who's that?
It could also be that I don't watch as much golf as I used to, even though I have tons more time, therefore I am not as familiar with these new names.

Well that is what I think....what about the rest of you.

[ErixonStone]

I think it's just that the talent pool is deeper and it's much harder to reach a level where one player can dominate for a long period of time. This is more like the time period between Jack and Tiger, where there was a deep pool of very good players and some absolute legends, but not someone who could dominate the sport for a decade.

We've seen flashes of dominant play, but no one has been able to sustain it for a long period of time.

[cliffs]

This weekend proves my "theory". Look at the top ten....WHO? for the most part.

[dime5150]

No one is going to match Tiger, probably never even come close. But the top 10 right now is nothing but young guys cementing their name in golf history.

There is a reason its only a dual for GOAT. But for instance Koepka (arguably the most heard name in golf right now) has more majors than Phil by the time they were both 31 by margin of 4:1. There is plenty of firepower on tour.

[cliffs]

This guy proves my thoughts perfectly.


Richard Bland is leading the way at the U.S. Open ... wait, who?


TORREY PINES, Calif. — Let’s start with the hat — black, with a swan on it.

“This is just my golf club back home,” Richard Bland said. “I don't have a hat kind of deal at the minute. So if anyone is offering ...”
The guy co-leading the U.S. Open (along with Russell Henley) doesn’t have a hat deal. And that’s just the start of it.
If you’re wondering who the hell Richard Bland is, well, join the club. He’s not some newcomer. He’s a 48-year-old Englishman. He played his first major — The Open — in 1998. He missed the cut. He played his second major — the U.S. Open — in 2009. He missed the cut there, too. He played his third major in 2017 — The Open again, where he briefly held the lead for a single hole and wound up finishing 22nd. And now this, the 2021 U.S. Open. That’s the entirety of his major career, spread out over three decades.
Along the way he played in 477 European Tour events … and never won once. The 478th start proved to be the charm, a win at the Betfred British Masters in May, which vaulted him 100 spots up the world rankings (to 134) and more importantly qualified him for the U.S. Open.

So, that’s the backstory.