Three majors left for players to make mark
Sergio Garcia’s sudden-death victory in the Masters marked the completion of golf ’s first major on the 2017 calendar.
Garcia defeated Justin Rose on the first playoff hole by two shots after the golfers were tied at 9-under after 72 holes.
Garcia was 0-for-73 in majors before he earned the green jacket Sunday.
Garcia’s history in major tournaments was ugly before this Masters. It first left a mark with a duel-for-the-ages against Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship. Garcia was only 19 and lost to Woods by one shot.
Now 37, Garcia finally has his major.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Open is just nine weeks away. It will be contested on a new course — Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
Here is a look at the three remaining majors on the 2017 calendar and what people might expect from each:
U.S. Open
Where: Erin Hills, Erin, Wis. When: June 18-15 Defending champion: Dustin Johnson
Buzz: The U.S. Open will feature a new course for the second time in three years. Erin Hills, which hosted the 2011 U.S. Amateur, is expected to play 7,6007,700 yards, but with wide and hot-running fairways, the course won’t play long nor narrow. The course will play as a par-72, marking the first U.S. Open to do so in 25 years. Dry conditions are also expected given Wisconsin’s climate that time of year. We could actually see low scores here. Johnson is both the oddson favorite and defending champion as he looks to recover after missing the year’s first major because of a back injury. As it stands now, the game’s other top names — Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler — are in good shape. This will also be Garcia’s first U.S. Open as a major champion. Will Woods show up at Erin Hills?
British Open
Where: Royal Birkdale, Southport, England When: July 20-23 Defending champion: Henrik Stenson
Buzz: Royal Birkdale has produced Mark O’Meara (1998) and Padraig Harrington (2008) as champions in its last two hostings of the Open. This course can play extremely difficult, as it did with high winds in 2008 (Harrington won at 3 over). Stenson and Paul Casey finished in the top 10 that year, but most of the game’s big names weren’t around for that ’08 Open.
PGA Championship
Where: Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte. When: Aug. 10-13 Defending champion: Jimmy Walker
Buzz: The annual host of the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship, Quail Hollow becomes a major championship course. There have been some big-time winners at this course via the Wells Fargo. Woods captured the tourney in 2007; Fowler earned his first PGA Tour win at Quail Hollow in 2012; and McIlroy is a two-time Wells Fargo champion (2010, ’15). Phil Mickelson also has a fantastic record at Quail Hollow. No victories, but he does have a runner-up showing (2010) and top-four finishes in three of his last four appearances at Wells Fargo.