And, just like that, our major championship season is over.
Here are 18 Parting Thoughts on the action at Hoylake.
There is so, so much to discuss.
1.The phrase drive for show, putt for dough has largely been disproven by modern statistics.
BUT…and its a huge but…for one week, a hot putters often the difference.
That was the case this week.
Brian Harman didnt win this tournament with his ball striking.
He won it with that spaceship of a flagstick.
He picked up over 4 shots putting in each of his first two rounds.
He gained over 11 shots for the tournament, best in the field.
He went 13/14 from 5-10 feet, always the money range.
So yes, its inaccurate to suggest that ball striking is merely for show.
But its also not fair to say that putt for dough is some quaint axiom of a bygone era.
2.The pre-tournament discourse about the new par-3 17th, Little Eye, was laughable in the moment.
You had swing instructor Pete Cowen suggesting it mightruin some players' careers.
No, really, he said that.
Then there was Matt Fitzpatricks caddie, Billy Foster, calling it a monstrosity.
Sometimes our sport really puts the golfers-are-soft storyline on a tee.
Yes, there were stiff penalties for hitting a poor shot.
But there were also rewards for hitting a good one.
But these are the best golfers in the world!
They should have a small target with a wedge in their hands!
The R&A didnt put the pins in any silly spots really, either.
The hole played to a 2.93 scoring average on Saturday, sixth-easiest on the course.
On Friday, it was 3.23.
Little Eye presented a gut-check late in the round, as did the internal out-of-bounds on 18.
Thats a good thing.
3.Scottie Scheffler suggested in his Tuesday press conferences that his putting struggles were essentially a media creation.
He’s struggling again."
The thing is, we have stats to back this up, and they tell a clear story.
Schefflers ball striking has been historically great this year.
But the putting has, any way you slice it, been his Achilles heel.
Of those three aspects, starting the ball on line is bar far the easiest to master.
Most 6-handicaps can make a bunch of dead-straight putts consecutively on a perfectly flat putting mat.
But lets not pretend this isnt a very real thing.
Surely not, especially because players try just as hard in designated events as they do in majors.
We dont make the rules, we just acknowledge them.
5.Another extremely disappointing major season for Patrick Cantlay, the No.
4 player in the world.
Thats…pretty poor.
6.On the other side of the why-cant-he-in-majors narrative we have Max Homa.
He finally did it!
Thats a significant monkey off his back and some are calling his finish equivalent to a major.
With that out of the way, youd like to think hell play more freely in majors moving forward.
At 33, he has plenty of time to challenge for one of these.
This was the first step.
7.NBC was all over the Harman-Fleetwood Walker Cup angle.
Harman looked like a younger version of himself.
Fleetwood looked like an entirely different person.
Just ask Cristiano Ronaldo.
Theyll be studying this come-up for generations.
The best we could do was fly 24 hours later from Atlanta, Cink told reporters.
He didnt have to gesture.
Printed in capital letters on the left breast of his quarter-zip: DELTA.
9.One of The Opens main charms is its quirkiness.
Its the oldest major.
They use different terminology.
The official communications begin with British kind-isms like we wish to inform you.
The fans give sheepish applause when a pissed-off golfer plays sideways out of a pot bunker.
And, sometimes, an animal disrupts play.
But not just any animal.
It happened on Saturday morning, when a rare species of toad stopped play on the 13th hole.
Only at the Open.
10.Incredibly, Rory McIlroys major drought will reach its 10th(!)
year after another barren year.
It hasnt been for lack of chances.
With his T6, McIlroy now has 20 top-10 major finishes since his last triumph at Kiawah in 2014.
And the law of averages would suggest one of these days hell stumble into a victory.
That he hasnt won a major in 10 years.
Such is the plight of a generational talent trudging through a most puzzling drought.
11.Justin Thomas is putting U.S. Ryder Cup captain in a tricky position.
That much is for sure after he missed the cut for the third time in four majors this year.
He shot a combined 41-over-par in just 10 major rounds this year.
He is, by all accounts, playing the worst golf he has in the past half-decade.
Then again, hes Justin Thomas.
That youre either in the in-group or youre out.
“He’s a stalwart in that event, Johnson said Friday.
In those kinds of moments like that, he’s one of the best there is.
And later: Let’s hope whatever sort of non-peak he’s in, it’s short.
I know he’s got a great team.
I love his coaches.
I love how he works.
He’s a worker.
It’s just a matter of when, not if.
He’s too darned good.”
Stroke-play success doesnt necessarily correlate with Ryder Cup success.
12.All that said, lets make some post-majors-season predictions for each Ryder Cup team.
All the sudden, the matchup looks a lot more intriguing than you mightve thought a year ago.
The top two Americans this week, Harman and Cameron Young, arent shoe-ins to make the team.
Guys you thought were shoe-ins after Whistling, like Finau and Thomas, are struggling.
Collin Morikawas taken a step back the last few years.
14.The Merseyside crowds didnt take too kindly to Brian Harman.
He missed the cut at the Masters and immediately slaughtered a pig and a turkey.
Ive been a hunter my entire life, he boasted.
I enjoy the strategy of it.
Champions traditionally drink from the Claret Jug.
One is left to ponder what on earth Harman may do with the famous trophy.
Perhaps that explains the extremely tepid responses his birdies received all weekend…Harman certainly noticed.
Asked what, exactly, he heard?
Remember this next time our friends from across the pond insist on the superiority of UK crowds.
I bought a foot massager, and it improved my viewing experience tremendously.
I cant recommend this highly enough.
If youre on the fence about a foot massager, do it.
I promise you wont regret it.
I think this might be my new normal now.
16.Matthew Jordan had himself a dream week.
(He missed the cut at last years Open in his first).
We heard a lot about memberships to UK clubs this week.
Tommy Fleetwoods dad one nearby.
So did his caddie, Ian Finnis.
you could call ahead and get a tee time more often than not.
Some courses have a designated day where theyre open to everyone.
17.The Fitzpatricks were a fun storyline to follow all week.
Matt, of course, ia a top-10 player in the world and a major champion.
His younger brother, Alex, stayed in college a lot longer than Matt did.
Four years, to be exact, and was an All-American at Wake Forest.
At that event in New Orleans, older brother was asked about his relationship with younger brother.
He said theyre polar opposites.
Im organized, hes unorganized.
Hes happy, Im miserable.
Both shot over par on Sunday but Alex came out on top at T17 vs. Matt’s T41.
A massive week for the younger brother and a big confidence builder.
But…man, it just goes by so quickly, doesnt it?
Looking back, the first two majors of the year were won by huge names in Rahm and Koepka.
Its been very fun needing out with you guys this summer.
Thanks for reading, genuinely.
