Rozner: Looking for next Tiger? Spieth says forget it
Ever since Jason Day cleaned up at Whistling Straits, seven straight major championships have gone to first-time winners.
And we may very well see another this week at the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
The pick here is Jon Rahm, the Spaniard who won the Irish Open two weeks ago and has been arguably the most productive player in golf since winning low amateur at the 2016 U.S. Open and turning pro 12 months ago.
But there are so many - dozens - for whom you could make a great case.
There's Rafa Cabrera Bello, who won the Scottish Open last week, though Phil Mickelson is the only player ever to win the Scottish-British double in the same year.
There's Hideki Matsuyama, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, and Tommy Fleetwood, who finished fourth at the U.S. Open last month and grew up walking distance from Royal Birkdale.
There's Alex Noren, the most underrated player in the world, ranked ninth and virtually unknown, even with 5 worldwide wins in the last 13 months. He's looking to follow up on fellow Swede Henrik Stenson's win a year ago in a brilliant match with Phil Mickelson on Sunday.
What about Rickie Fowler? He's done everything except finish. It's only a matter of time.
Thomas Pieters? Justin Thomas? Daniel Berger? Paul Casey? All good enough, and any of them could be holding the Claret Jug come Sunday in North West England.
"There's a lot more guys (in the field) who haven't won majors than guys who have, so the chances are it's going to be somebody that hasn't won," Jordan Spieth told the media Tuesday. "It's very difficult to do the first time. Mentally, it's that much harder than winning a tournament in general, and those are very difficult to win.
"It speaks to the state of the game. There's a lot of tremendous young players right now. It could be anybody this week. At this tournament, kind of cut half the field, depending on the draw.
"Sometimes, it's more or less 75 percent, but most of the time there's at least a group that gets the worst weather, and it's almost impossible to win in that circumstance at an Open Championship."
Just a year ago, there was talk of a "Big Four," with Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, but Johnson hasn't been the same since falling on the stairs in Augusta. McIlroy is messing with putters and has missed three straight cuts. Day is struggling. And Spieth has been inconsistent, though he does have 2 victories this year.
He said Tuesday there is no Big Four.
"I don't think so. I'm not sure who it would be," Spieth said. "It would be difficult to put anybody in that role right now.
"Look at a guy like Jon Rahm. How does he deserve not to be in a conversation like that? What he just did at the Irish Open and what he has been able to do this year, he did it two weeks ago at links golf. He destroyed the field. Won by six or seven, right?
"It really could be anybody at this point, and it's pretty exciting when you've got to beat that many great players with that much confidence."
So if you're looking for someone to take over the game again like Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods, Spieth said you can pretty much forget it.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Spieth said. "What Tiger's done, I experienced a year like he (had) for years. It takes a lot out of you. It's very tough to do. And you have to have a lot of things go right at the right times.
"I doubt you'll see dominance like that ever again in the game. Guys are learning, guys are getting stronger and athletes are going to golf. Guys are winning younger, playing more fearless, even in major championships.
"You'll see a group of 10 to 12 guys over the next 15, 20 years that are going to have a lot of different competitions that come down the stretch with each other. I think it's exciting."
Once again, Jordan Spieth is exactly right.
brozner@dailyherald.com
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