Reports from Baltusrol

a typical US Open is all about the narrowness of the fair ways and the thickness of the rough, which makes straight driving a pre-requisite of success.

The Open Championship is always played by the seaside, where the tidal winds invariably ask very different questions of the player’s shot-making and shot-shaping abilities. Only the US PGA Championship comes close to the “normal” conditions players face week-to-week on the various tours.

So winning a Major requires a highlevel of expertise in a particular area of the game. And winning multiple Majors requires a versatility owned by only a few.

Still, for all that this year three talented individuals have disappeared from the dreaded “best player never to win a Major” list, other notables remain. Sergio Garcia by way of example,p has 22 top-10 finishes in the four evevents, including top-fives in the two momost recent.

Lee WWestwood, perhaps the most “unlucky”unluc non-Major winner of the modern era, has nine times finished in the toptop-three. Rickie Fowler, at the age of 27, alalready has five top-five finishes. And SouthSo African Branden Grace has been a member of the top-five at three of the lastla six Majors.

All fourfou would be worthy — and more than dedeserving — winners of the 98th USPGA this week. But so would many others. “TodaToday’s golf is in fantastic hands,” said WWillett. “We’re going to see more and mmore scoring records broken oveover the next 10-15 years. And I ththink we’ll see a lot more different

MMajor champions.”