It is perhaps just as well Brian Harman collected the Claret Jug in front of a few hardy souls holding umbrellas, against a light backdrop more akin to November than July and having refused to let excitement get in the way of the final round of the Open Championship. Anybody gripped by an alternative scene would soon have been struck by the harsh realisation that more than 260 days will pass until the next major championship ball is struck in anger.
Jon Rahm was crowned as the Masters champion on 9 April. Harman’s finest hour arrived on 23 July. In between, Brooks Koepka took delivery of the US PGA Championship and Wyndham Clark won the US Open. If one supposed benefit of this brief major run is to develop a seasonal theme, Hercule Poirot is required to determine it. At face value, nothing links the 2023 majors at all besides a desire to get them out of the way as promptly as possible. The delay between final putts dropping at Royal Liverpool and opening drives being struck at Augusta National is great for the Masters, which will benefit from fevered anticipation. It surely cannot be regarded as much use to anybody else.
Eyeballs have been drawn to golf due to the advances of LIV and associated chaos. Yet the Open demonstrated the ongoing challenges this sport has, despite hugely positive participation figures, to capture hearts and minds beyond dedicated supporters. The lead‑up is dominated by Wimbledon. The clash with a key Ashes Test – a concern of the Open’s organisers a decade ago – and the beginning of the Women’s World Cup was hardly helpful.
The R&A is not to blame for the BBC’s shocking indifference towards golf but the paywalled nature of live Open coverage in the UK is clearly problematic when placed against the visibility of Wimbledon. A Rory McIlroy victory or an epic stumble from Harman over the closing stretch at Hoylake would have elevated the tournament but neither transpired. The R&A will be correct to hail an Open attendance in excess of 260,000 but these are golf fans; sometimes you need more than that.
More than a decade ago, Open champions and the R&A would return to the venue on Monday morning to reflect on the week’s events. Darren Clarke and Royal St George’s is a particular classic of this genre. Winners of the Claret Jug duly decided they had better things to be doing and R&A executives felt they were being needlessly placed in stocks so the follow-up stopped. On Sunday Harman delivered exceptional golf under pressure before offering details of his new tractor. This is all lovely stuff for a golfer who had not won since 2017 but it was difficult to see how it resonated more widely.
The scheduling of tournaments – an eternally complex affair – has to factor in the PGA Tour’s desire for its FedEx Cup playoff series to be afforded prime billing before the NFL season starts, the wish for a meaningful tournament run on the DP World Tour, golf’s return to the Olympics and the fact that in years where Europe do not face off with the US, there is a Presidents Cup.
Golfing bodies jostle for relevance. Yet at a time when the traditional system has kissed and made up with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, a model must be delivered that elongates the majors beyond a measly 16 weeks. Three of the four were played inside 10. Blink and you missed them.
It currently looks as if the switching of the US PGA from August to May was an error. As “Glory’s Last Shot” that tournament had a calling card. However proximity to the Open – in 2014, McIlroy won at Hoylake on 20 July and Valhalla on 10 August – never felt satisfactory, either. In isolation, this year’s US PGA at Oak Hill was actually a terrific tournament.
More intriguing was a hastily aborted plan to play the PGA outside the US. Australia, for example, would offer a captive audience and new date ranges. Golf likes to present itself as a global sport and in so many ways it is; but three out of four majors in one country undermines the claim.
Next year, the Open returns to Royal Troon. In 2016 this was the site of Henrik Stenson’s jaw‑dropping battle with Phil Mickelson. Another Valhalla US PGA stop automatically creates a storyline around McIlroy. Pinehurst, where the US Open will take place, is one of the finest traditional courses in that country. The trouble is, by the time everyone packs up and leaves the Ayrshire coast another painful break will ensue. The remainder of 2023 in men’s elite golf is at least boosted by the Ryder Cup. Without that, we would be staring at barren lands.
After the deluge that overshadowed round four, the sun split the skies over Royal Liverpool on Monday morning. It is not in the power of the R&A to organise the weather for its marquee championship. There must, though, be a more collaborative approach to ensure majors gain the wider credence they deserve. The present wham-bam configuration does them all a disservice.
