Second PGA Championship Question: Was Rory's Win The Most Satisfying Major Triumph This Year?

No offense to the first three major winners--Watson, Simpson, Els--but for me the PGA Championship win by Rory McIlroy was the most satisfying win. Even with the golf course so soft, it felt like McIlroy overcame more (varied weather, winds) while having the freedom to separate himself with his supreme talent to drive the ball long and accurately.

The Masters was obviously the most compelling to watch, but the awkwardness of deciding a major with a sudden death playoff and the sad tactics the club must resort to just to make the course playable take a little from Bubba's win.

The U.S. Open and Open Championships were not as satisfying because driver was such a minor player. As was suspected heading into Olympic Club and Royal Lytham, the player able to combine distance with accuracy had very few opportunities to display his talents. Constricting setups resulted in efforts to bring relevancy to architecture long since passed up by modern driving distances.

At the PGA, 7,700 yards that played like it (or longer) allowed McIlroy to display his remarkable talent for length and accuracy. He threw in some amazing short game work and won in a way that left no doubt he was the best player.

So while all the major champions and their pursuers deserve a tip of the cap for giving it their all and putting on great displays of skill this year, Rory's win at the PGA left me most impressed. You?

Comments

[greg c]

The only thing satisfying about the PGA was the paspalum. The Masters was captivating, topped off by one of the greatest shots in major championship history. The US Open was tough to watch, and it really was just a snooze fest, highlighted by a few choke jobs. The Open was interesting, although yet another choke job. I rank them in order Masters, The Open, US Open, distant fourth being the PGA, and I'm talking way out in the distance.

[Hawkeye]

Rory's win was the performance of the year, hands down. And I totally agree that Kiawah was the perfect stage for him to showcase his talents. He could have done it at Augusta too, but fizzled on the weekend.

Speaking of Augusta, I can't help but feel taht it has lost a lot of its buzz. On 13 and 15 the most important shot nowadays is the tee shot; if they get in in the right position then it's an easy midiron into the green, if not, it's a boring layup hole. We don't see those daring two-irons anymore, and that is sad. 16 used to be a nerve-tingler when it was a 5 or 6-iron and the slope was more in play, but now that it's a drop-and-stop 8-iron shot it's fas less captivating. Oh well, that discussion might have to wait eight months...

[walkie talkie banks]

Destroying the best field in golf has to be mightily impressive.
Hawkeye- very very sad- but true.And lengthening the course even further is not the answer.

[UnderTheChin]

Lytham was boring because nobody used driver? There were more players than Tiger there Geoff.

Ironically Adam Scott did destroy it with distance and accuracy (he reached every par 5 in 2 the first 3 days), where as Tiger was laying it back. Sadly it wasn't to be

[No Longer Used to be Former Stack & Tilt Convert]

Rory drove it exceptionally, but I was more impressed with his short game under "weekend major championship" pressure. A lot of those up and downs would have been tough with no pressure.

[KLG]

About the Masters, indeed. Great shots we will never see again:
Faldo's 2-iron on 13 to put Norman out of our misery.
Crenshaw's 6-iron on 16 that was guided by Harvey Penick.
Jack's long iron (4?) from the top of the hill on 15 to set up the eagle in 1986.

And Rory was most impressive, from what I have read and the little I saw this year. Whoever among us said he was giving up cable TV, just do it. Play golf instead of watching Cialis commercials.

[Ian]

Did he have another win this year?

[raggededge]

The Honda.

[Matt H]

The PGA and Open had drama, but to take an overnight lead and keep it was satisfying. I remember a lot of drama at the Masters, and with the PGA being so fresh I'll hold off choosing one of the two.

Olympic looked tricked up and, along with the Open, there was a lot of choking going down the stretch.

[Stord]

None of the majors were particularly thrilling this year.. but then, we were really spoiled in 2011 (Congressional aside)

[Elyse]

Augusta losing its buzz?

shafts are longer, and the number on the sole is different? how is it an easier shot?

anywho...watching rory drive the ball was more exciting than watching ppl lay up all week at the us and british open

[Press Agent]

The Masters for me is almost always thrilling, the time of year, the build up, the telecast...it's just usually great unless it pours rain. I'm no Bubba Watson fan, so his winning it was not a factor. If he wins another, I'll bow down to him. Sadly, I don't see it happening.

I enjoyed the Open Championship and the PGA, then the US Open at the tail end. Rory and Adam had the two best performances in any of the majors, even though Adam didn't win his.

[digsouth]

The Masters was the most exciting, The PGA the best performance, by leaps and bounds, the Open was sad, both in outcome and the course, and the US Open was pathetic.

I might add that if Furyk gets picked for the Ryder, then he'd better perform. Jim would do well to decline and spend his 11 mil and let a closer play, and work on that choke stroke for the next fake event.

Rory Roared and it was awesome. Bubba can be amazing: honestly, I thought he would have already retired. I think I may just be wrong about both of them, as I picked Rory to be beer bellied and retired by his 33rd BD, and Bubba to be fishing with his buds by next spring.

[18 beats 14]

Yes.

[James H.]

Most satisfying?

The two Majors featuring multiple Champions - the Open & the PGA

Els played aggressively to win, hitting driver frequently. The belly putter is unattractive, granted, but 4 time Major winners are pretty much a rarity in the most recent past. Dude has taken a beating from the media derision. Well the media don't have 2 Jugs.

McIlroy's win, like Els' will likely be historic as he is becoming a star.

Bubba? Train wreck wins the Masters. He's John Daly without the substance abuse.

Didn't Bird Boy win the US Open? Haven't made up my mind on Webb Simpson.

[DRM]

Rory's putting is the reason he won by such a large margin, not his driving. The dirty little secret is that the Tour is a putting contest these days. They're all very good ballstrikers, so the only thing to separate them is putting. Rory was lights out with the flat stick on the weekend. I can't remember him missing anything inside 10 feet on the weekend.

[BrianS]

To see Ernie come from truly the depths, at his age and with his personal issues, (which I share), was the most "satisfying" to me. Bubba
s win, and I am not a fan, I was pullling for Phil, was the most exciting and fun to watch. I put the PGA above the US Open, mostly because I see Webb as a substandard Lucas Glover style champ.

[dbh]

PGA, The Open, Masters, with US Open a distant last for me.
I would likely have the PGA third if not for Rory's Sunday display; most impressive.

[Press Agent]

@ DRM

I respectfully disagree. He missed a number of putts during his 3rd round, when they came out to finish on Sunday morning. His putting was superb, but his driving left the analysts speechless. They ran out of words to describe how confident, controlled and massive his drives were. The more striking thing was he seemed to get more and more confident with his driver as the day went on. Really, he was terrific with everything, including his short game, but the driving was quite different from most of the field.

[JJ McNiblick]

Aside from the absolutely abysmal coverage on television these days, I would have to say that the Masters and the Open were the highlights of the year. I loved the Kiawah course and the PGA was a decent championship. The USGA ruined the Olympic course, which is what made it so boring. But Webb is a great golfer!
I have to disagree with all of the commentators about Rory and Tiger and anyone else who wins one of these majors being the best ball striker ; they are always the best putter!
Rory is way down in 60th in Total Driving. Did he miss a putt on Sunday?

The length of the golf course is not the issue everyone makes it out to be. It will always be the best putter on the day who wins.

The really stupid thing about all of these discussions about the game getting ruined by distance is that no one mentions the par of the course. Who gives a rats bottom what the par is? Why is everyone so hung up on it? Change the numbers if you need to see the pros struggling, don't ruin the golf course! If that easy to reach par 5 is a par 4, who gives a damn? The classic courses can handle any of these boys if the numbers are set right. If all else fails; reduce the number of clubs allowed to 7 and take a 1/4 inch off the size of the hole! There is no need to keep going on about length being the evil. Remember Colonel Bogey?

[JJ]

I record and fast forward though all commercials, all talking heads and 90% of the putting. Still I think I heard about the "sandy areas" 20 times, Phil's new putter 4 times and the kid that took up golf after falling down skiing 4 times (thank goodness they were not a factor or the number could be 20 each), etc. etc. It gets hard to watch. But Rory played great, Tiger can't hit the long ball with any confidence, and once again a player and the talking heads showed they don't know and/or understand the rules.

But for an amazing finish I have to vote for the Masters.

[DRM]

Agent,

I didn't catch any of the morning coverage. I just saw the Saturday afternoon part of his 3rd round and he was lights out. I loved how he bounced back from the bad break at the 3rd hole and hit a nice wedge shot, then buried the 7 footer for par. On Sunday, I don't think he missed anything inside 10 feet. Feherty was absolutely speechless about it. Time after time, Rory would bury the 6-8 footer when he needed to (even though he didn't really "need" to with such a big lead). At one point Feherty joked, "Can't you miss just one to make the rest of us feel better about ourselves?" What I saw of Rory's putting this weekend was vintage Tiger/Jack. If he starts putting like that with more consistency, he will be pretty much unbeatable. I still don't see how he ever misses a cut with such an incredibly good golf swing.

[Squire]

One for the Ages.

[jeff]

The PGA was good stuff this year. Not compelling, but a brilliant performance. Every so often the 4th major comes through. 1991. Tiger & Bob May, YE taking down Tiger, Davis' rainbow. Sergio and Padraig having a heated battle in 2008. Sadly the event is saddled with all that CBS/TNT Glory's Last Shot crap.

[Bruce]

Ernie - missed out on Auguta in good form, should have won the US Open, then wins the BO. deserved, for a truely great player

Masters - if Louis had won, far more classy fellow it seems.

PGA - if you drove widly you were reqarded with tight sandy lies. prefer wild driving ending up in BO Rough. course soft, only one winner in those conditions.

[elf]

@DRM nobody putts like that with consistency, not even Jack/Tiger in their primes. He got hot. Same with driver (his accuracy off the tee this yr is not stellar by any means).

I like seeing a variety of different shots, so give me the Open, plus it had a great winner