Professional golf is entering another Golden Age. The first one started in 1958, when Arnold Palmer won the Masters.
By John A. Schwarz
Professional golf is entering another Golden Age. The first one started in 1958, when Arnold Palmer won the Masters. He would go on to win it again in 1960, 1962, and 1964. Shortly after his first major win, he was joined on the PGA Tour by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player from South Africa. Those three, known as “The Big Three,” dominated golf for nearly 20 years. Between them, they won a staggering 34 Majors. Nicklaus won 18, Player 9, and Palmer 7. Since golf was just starting to be televised and these three men were spectacularly great athletes the popularity of golf soared through the 1960s and 1970s.
We now have another trio of fabulous young golfers. We got a glimpse of what was developing five years ago when Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland burst on the scene. What we didn’t know then was that he would be joined on the PGA Tour a few years later by Jordan Spieth from Texas and Jason Day from Australia. These three should give us much watching pleasure for many years as they dominate the game and accumulate many majors as their predecessors did in the first Golden Age.
McElroy, Spieth, and Day, who are all in their 20s, have combined to win ten PGA Tour events this year and five of the last six Majors. Pretty soon you’ll begin to read about the 21st-century’s “Big Three”.
