Breakfast Ball #8: Majors of Major Importance

The feel good story in the golf world this weekend came from the Magical Kenya Open, where Ronald Rugumayo became the first Ugandan player to make the cut on DP World Tour. His post-round interview is must watch stuff.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Golf’s Four Majors: How did we get here and what are their importance today?

Tiger Woods returning to win at Augusta in 2019. Padraig Harrington beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff at Carnoustie in 2007. Rory McIlroy destroying the field at Kiawah Island in 2012.

Most of golf’s most memorable and historic moments happen at the majors. My favorite moments might be different than yours, but when most people think about golf, they think about the majors. The four major events (The Masters, The US Open, The Open, and the PGA Championship) are the highlights of the golfing calendar every single year. However, this wasn’t always the case. In the early 20th century, golf’s four majors were The Open, The Amateur Championship (British Amateur), The US Open, and the US Amateur. Amateur golfers were regarded as highly as the pros in the late 1800s and early 1900s, before professional golf took over and became the ugly but somewhat beautiful behemoth it is today.

The majors were major box office events through most of the 20th century for one main reason. US players usually played on the PGA Tour and Europeans primarily played on the European Tour, which meant that the four majors were the only events each year in which the world’s best would all play against one another. However, with most of the world’s best moving to the PGA Tour in the 2000s, the events began to feel like an extension of the PGA Tour. The last major champion that wasn’t a current member of the PGA Tour at the time of their win (apart from Brooks Koepka last year) was Danny Willett in 2016. Three (Henrik Stenson the other) of the last 45 major winners were non-PGA Tour members at the time of their win.

But now, this dynamic has returned. LIV Golf has turned the golfing world on its head and the major championships are more anticipated than they have been in years. The majors will once again be the only four events in the golfing calendar where the world’s best tee it up alongside each other. There can be no doubt that they have been the biggest winner from the introduction of LIV Golf in 2021.

Only 6 weeks ‘til Augusta.

Jake Knapp wins the Mexico Open ahead of Sami Valimaki, Darius Van Driel wins the Magical Kenya Open

Jake Knapp secured his spot in this year’s Masters with a two shot victory ahead of Finland’s Sami Valimaki. The rookie was working as a bouncer in a nightclub just two years ago as he tried to make it on the PGA Tour, and now he is a winner in his first year as a full Tour member. It was a valiant effort from Valimaki, who has given himself a great chance at qualifying for the next signature event in Bay Hill next week.

Valimaki shot rounds of 64, 67, 67, and 69 to earn his first top five finish on tour. This was only his 5th event as a full member and should give him the confidence to continue to produce these kinds of results for the rest of the season. Stephan Jaeger continued his streak of making the cut in every event since last April with his second top five finish of the year in T3. Bob MacIntyre also had a much needed top ten finish after missing the cut in his last 3 events.

On the DP World Tour, Darius Van Driel won the Magical Kenya Open by two shots after leading the competition wire-to-wire. Van Driel lost his DP World Tour card last year and had to fight through Q School to regain his status. It was his first win in his 112th start on tour. This event is typically one of the lower ranking events on the schedule. Only thirteen players in the field of 144 ranked in the top 200 of the OWGR, with the highest ranked player Rikuya Hoshino coming in at 77th.

However, this allows for stories of success not typically seen in the pro golfing landscape. Joe Dean, who was ranked as the 2390th best golfer in the world prior to this weekend, was a delivery driver for Morrison’s supermarket as recently as last week. He finished 2nd and pocketed €200,000 in the process. Ronald Rugumayo was the first Ugandan to ever make the cut in a DP World Tour event with a birdie on the 36th hole. An event in Africa, with an African making history. That is growing the game.

Other Results:

• LIV golfer Carlos Ortiz won the Oman leg of the International Series on the Asian Tour, 4 shots ahead of Louis Oousthuizen

  • Spaniard Carlos Puig led after day 1, but a 75 on Saturday left him out of contention going into the weekend

Coming up this week on Tour:

• The Cognizant Classic (formerly the Honda Classic) takes place in Palm Beach Gardens, FL on the PGA Tour

• The DP World Tour continues its tour of Africa with the SDC Championship in South Africa

• LIV Golf’s 2024 season resumes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia