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The great golf season is over. Not just the 2021 season, but all the extravagance of seven majors in 11 months ended with Collin Morikawa’s victory at the 149th Open Championship. It was a turning point in how it started last August when Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. He had a whole career in just 11 months.
After the PGA Tour returned amid the COVID-19 pandemic last summer, and as the majors began to announce their championship dates, it became clear that the next major championship year would be just as compact and wild than it has ever been. It mostly played out among the seven majors as we had six world class champions and countless memorable moments.
Since we’re at the very end of this banana race, I thought it would be fun to look back and rank the seven majors we’ve had in the past 11 months by quality and memory. It’s hard to believe that a year ago around this time we were sitting here discussing all that could take place. Now it’s over. Every blow has been hit. There are no major championships for nine more months. Sad as it may be, we still have the previous seven to dissect, overreact, and discuss until then. Let’s get started.
1. PGA Championship 2021
This one is so easily No.1 and the weekend alone could be No.2. Phil Mickelson’s victory over Louis Oosthuizen and Brooks Koepka has seemed the most surreal of the seven as it unfolds. was taking place. Most of the time when looking at major championships the thought is, “Oh, that has been great. I will remember this one for a long time.” But this week? The thought was, “Wow, there are going to be books written on what I’m looking at right now.” The result still doesn’t make sense and probably never will. Sometimes that makes it an unforgettable major. When one of the top 10 golfers in the history of the sport is involved, that makes him the major of the year by one standard deviation.
There’s a million things that could be said about this week, from Kiawah himself (good off the charts) to the revival of the Bryson DeChambeau-Brooks Koepka feud. But the lasting image for me will be the 18th Sunday. Mickelson had just finished doing a par of nails on the 17th after changing his (normal) mid-championship putting grip, and that whole 15 minutes on the last hole is etched on the film strip that goes through my head to always. Everyone’s drone plans, after almost a year without fans in the majors, closing in on Mickelson. The double fist pump he gave after hitting his approach. The Atlantic Ocean framing it all, and Mickelson warding off the night with one last impossible climb. Transcendent major championships don’t happen that often, but we’ve had two in the past three years.
2. Open Championship 2021
This one found its soul early on, and I’m probably blowing it up a bit because 1) It just happened, 2) I hadn’t watched golf links in two years, 3) It was four big winners on a Sunday on an excellent course and 4) Jordan Spieth was involved. I’m naturally geared towards Opens because I think they are the most fun watching experience and produce the best champions. In reality, you could rank any of the five in the middle of this list at # 2, and I would at least listen to the argument.
For me, the length of the week was good enough to overwhelm what wasn’t an incredible home stretch. If the result is an average winner, it probably won’t be ranked as high, but the result was not an average winner. Perhaps it was the emergence of the world’s best ball forward to Collin Morikawa, who fended off three other top champions to win the first Open he has ever played. This narrowly borders the next four.
Rick Gehman is joined by Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman and Greg DuCharme to crack and react to Collin Morikawa’s victory at the Open Championship 2021. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple podcasts and Spotify.
3. United States Open 2021
It looked a bit like the Masters 2013. The ending was as good as professional golf can be, but I’m not sure about the rest. One of the issues with ranking these majors is that we tend to overestimate the end. The last nine holes of a tournament on a course that produces a group ranking often make the whole tournament – and the week – look better than it actually was. That’s how I feel about the 2021 US Open versus the 2021 Open Championship. The US Open produced a much better ending, but was it a better championship and tournament overall? Was it nicer from start to finish? I don’t really think so.
On the other hand, it is It’s hard to imagine the last hours of a tournament better! The ranking was good but not great for 63 holes and then it suddenly felt like a Hall of Fame induction ceremony. These last nine covered a plethora of sins throughout the week and gave us both two lasting punches from Jon Rahm as well as a 44 from the defending champion.
4. 2020 PGA Championship
It was a prelude to the 2021 US Open. A good but no wonder West Coast course that produced some fun golf in prime time. From the solid first three days that led to a chaotic final three hours where it looked like any of the 11 guys could win the tournament. The 2020 PGA produced an iconic shot – Morikawa’s run on the 16th par 4 that led to the eagle and victory – and that home stretch was fun after more than a year without any major championships. This one will age pretty well if Morikawa continues to win.
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5. Masters 2021
He’s the one I’ve struggled with the most. It was not a dramatic Masters as Hideki Matsuyama was relentlessly good from Saturday afternoon to the conclusion. But it also produced two iconic shots when Matsuyama’s younger brother bowed to the course, then the still stoic, still serene Matsuyama crashed on the step from the 18th green to the scoring hut. Fair broken. It is difficult for us to understand what this victory meant (and will mean) because it is difficult for us to him to understand, but this 15 minute stretch seemed a lot more important than golf and sports. While the entire tournament hasn’t been one of the best Masters ever, it’s hard to think of any singular moments over the past few decades that are much better than these.
6. United States Open 2020
This one is tough because it produced one of the least exciting Sundays in recent years, but it also serves as an inflection point for the whole sport. If and when sweeping changes in equipment come to golf, it won’t be hard to follow in their footsteps to Winged Foot. This US Open won’t be the genesis of change, but it will be a big part of history. In this sense, Bryso DeChambeau did two things. He has proven to himself and to us that what he does works and he has put the spotlight on a future that I’m not sure anyone wants to exist. It may have been the most historically significant major championship of the Seven, but it wasn’t the most memorable.
7. 2020 Masters
It’s a clear # 7 for me. It was memorable in the sense that it was weird and I will never forget being there for, but it was the least dramatic of the seven majors. Maybe it’s because it was clientless and the weekend had no juice at all. Maybe it’s because Dustin Johnson did the thing where he makes you wonder how he could possibly not win a golf tournament. Maybe he’s been buried a bit by football and the holidays. Probably all of the above. I will remember that DJ was impeccable for 72 straight holes and finally broke down when everything overwhelmed him in the post-tour interview with Amanda Balionis. I will remember being one of five people watching Rory McIlroy play a real competitive round at Augusta National. I will remember doing nine practice holes with Tiger Woods and a handful of other people. I will remember how strange it all was, but I won’t remember much else.
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