Diaz
The Most Promising First Majors
Golf Digest Senior Writer Jaime Diaz ranks the five biggest breakthroughs in major championship history
June 23, 2011
The winning of a first major championship sees certain players projected onto a path toward greatness. No question Rory McIlroy, after his dominating eight-stroke U.S. Open victory at Congressional last week, fills the bill. The 22-year-old Ulsterman is extraordinarily talented, precocious, and seemingly ambitious to make history. Other first-time major winners have possessed similar qualities and been marked as destined for special things. Sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn't. Here are the five most prominent examples.
1. Tiger Woods: 1997 Masters
Woods had already demonstrated he was extra special by winning three straight U.S. Juniors, three straight U.S. Amateurs, and, in his first eight months as a pro, three PGA Tour events. But he had yet to come close in a major, and when he shot 40 on his first nine at Augusta, it seemed he was out of another one. Instead the 21-year-old unleashed the most devastating onslaught the tournament had ever seen, playing the next 63 holes in 22-under par. The power golf and superb short game and putting that he displayed unmistakably declared a new era as he won by 12. As Ben Crenshaw said before Woods began the final round with a nine-stroke lead, "It feels like a passing."
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- Jaime Diaz
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