The major season may be over for another year, following Justin Thomas’s win in last month’s PGA Championship and his subsequent victory in the FedEx Cup, but it won’t be too long before the cycle begins all over again, and the world’s top players start turning their thoughts to next year’s Masters.
A glance at this year’s quartet of major champions reveals that American golf is clearly in the ascendency, with Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas winning three of the four, and only Sergio Garcia flying the flag for Europe at Augusta.
And there is every chance of that trend continuing, as there is an ever-growing group of young, hungry and talented US golfers seemingly ready to take on the world.
Of this year’s major champions, Spieth is a player who seems destined for greatness, as he is blessed with an incredible battling quality and will to win not seen since Tiger Woods, while his ability to sink clutch putts is second to none in the game today. He claimed his third major at this year’s Open Championship, and it is surely only a matter of time before he completes the grand slam with the US PGA Championship.
A bet on the Texan to finish in the top 10 is pretty safe these days, and for those who like a flutter on golf, check bookmaker advisor’s bonuses for all the best free bets and enhanced odds on offer. He is 7/1 to win a second Masters title next April, with Dustin Johnson also on offer at the same price.
Johnson, the world number one, has won four times this year, and while he did not secure a major, his all-round game means he is a near certainty to claim number two sooner rather than later. Johnson’s ridiculous length off the tee reduces even some par fives to a driver and a short iron, and it gives him so much of an advantage over the majority of the field, while his short game has improved significantly over the year, making him a hard man to beat.
Justin Thomas finally broke his major duck at the US PGA and is now ranked inside the world’s top five. His talent was obvious to see from an early age and, while it has taken him slightly longer than Spieth to come through, he is now a serious player on the world stage. Four wins in 2016-17, plus his triumph in the FedEx Cup, prove he is the real deal, and the 24 year old can be backed at around 28/1 to win the Masters next year.
Europe’s leading man, Rory McIlroy, has not won one of the ‘big four’ since 2014, and although he has suffered injury problems this season, and some issues swapping over to new equipment, the Northern Irishman does seem the best equipped player to challenge the Americans if and when he rediscovers the form that brought him four major titles before he was 25.
Scheduled to take a break from tournament golf after this month’s Dunhill Links, a refreshed and reinvigorated Rory could get his major career back on track in 2018, if things all fall back into place – including finding a new permanent caddie.
With Woods now seemingly out of the picture, there is a sense that the new kids on the block are sweeping away the old guard, with the likes of Hideki Matsuyama (20/1), John Rahm (22/1) and Jason Day (14/1) very much part of the new breed.
Day has not enjoyed his best year, but knows how to win majors and, at 29, probably still has his best years ahead. There have been a hatful of first-time winners in the majors over the past three years, but with many of the youngsters now up and running, that trend may now be over – and multiple winners may be the way ahead.
Rickie Fowler is the one player that has yet to strike who is surely a major winner-in-waiting. He seems to have the game for the big stage, and with six top 10s in the past four years, the door will open before too long.
Whatever 2018 has in store, there is a definite sense there has been a changing in the golfing guard over the last 12 months. And while experience will always count for something in this game played between the ears, the new breed of golfers seem to know no fear and are tearing up the record books like never before.