The boys of the PGA Tour are taking a break this week from the FedEx Cup Playoffs but that hasn’t stopped the chatter about the New Big 3 or Big 4 depending on who is doing the chatting.
Indeed the young bucks have laid claim to the 2015 season and have certainly made it a season to remember.
Jordan Spieth with his Masters and U.S. Open wins had us on Grand Slam watch most of the summer and his near misses at the Open Championship and the PGA made his season as one of the best in recent history.
Jason Day had already won the Farmer’s when he made an heroic effort at the U.S. Open as he battled vertigo that may have cost him his first major. Then his hot summer continued with a close call at St. Andrews but he bounced back with a win at the RBC Canadian Open.
Day worked his way into our hearts with a dogged win at the PGA Championship where he held off Spieth to finally capture his first major. As tears flowed from Day and his family it capped off an amazing season for Day.
But he wasn’t quite done yet as he opened the FedEx Cup Playoffs with a win at The Barclays.
These two had monopolized the spotlight as Rory McIlroy nursed his injured ankle.
Rory’s season was cut short by his soccer injury and he already had notched two PGA Tour wins.
So these three, The New Big 3 as they have been crowned have definitely had a great season.
And when we consider all there accomplishments together we can be forgiven for so desperately wanting to recreate that Golden Age of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.
Rory, Jordan and Jason are three of the most appealing players in the game. They’re young, personable and playing the best golf of anyone on the planet. Now Rickie Fowler’s name has been tossed about in an attempt to make the three a four. And that’s understandable.
Fowler has been a fan favorite for longer than any of the other three but is just a bit late to the party with significant victories. But with his PLAYERS Championship and recent Deutsche Bank win he himself has said his goal it to make it the Big 4.
But we need to take it slow with the coronation of a New Big 3…or 4.
The truth is that during Arnie, Gary and Jack’s heyday as the big three there was more going on than just winning tournaments.
Good golfers are measured by wins and great golfers are measured by majors. And while these young bucks have captured our imagination the original Big 3 were in a different class all together. That’s not to say that the younger version won’t attain that same stature in time but it will take some time…time and majors.
Arnie, Gary and Jack traded majors back and forth for a decades. And their threesome transformed into a foursome and maybe a fivesome during the course of their careers.
Lee Trevino won his six majors battling these icons. Billy Casper stole a few majors form them and Tom Watson joined the party and made his case for being included in this Mt. Rushmore of great golfers.
Watson captured eight majors and bested Nicklaus on many occasions. Trevino was a thorn in Nicklaus’ side with the Golden Bear finishing runner up to The Merry Mex in four different majors. Palmer and Nicklaus finished in the top two of a major on five different occasions.
The point is that these golfers forged their legends by competing against each other at their peak over a long period of time not just one magical season.
What made their playing days so special was that it was a true rivalry. A rivalry born out of head to head competitions on the biggest stages. Each respected the other as both a golfer and a sportsman and when their games were on they left everything on the course trying to top each other.
Nicklaus has said that while he was friends with Palmer on the course “we’d beat each others brains in.”
The emergence of McIlroy, four majors, Spieth (2) and Day(1) is a welcome sight for the game of golf. Fowler whose popularity is deeper than his resume is on the verge of joining them but only time will tell if they are truly worthy of that title being bandied about now.
Only a rivalry, a long, intense rivalry will make them deserving of that title. A true rivalry that sees each of them take down the others on a major stage.
It is the rivalry the fans wanted so from Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson but only existed in the press and never really took place on a major stage.
The seeds are sown but this new rivalry of younger golfers will need some time and nurturing to grow.
Rory, Jordan, Jason and Rickie are certainly an entertaining group of golfers and maybe after a few more majors and some head to head competition they will come to earn that numerical designation. But right now it needs time.
Time and a few more majors.
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