Golf’s Favorite Major

by M. Wangerin on July 13, 2009

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: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The third major championship of the 2009 PGA Tour season fast approaches. In a few days, 156 of the world’s best players will compete in the 138th Open Championship, or British Open as we Yanks would say.

I’m trying to decide if the Open Championship is my favorite major tournament or not. I believe, that at least for 2009, it is.

This year’s Masters provided a dramatic sudden-death playoff. As the players battled the final few holes at Augusta National, we witnessed professionals hitting shots that we might see in our weekend Nassau matches. Angel Cabrera managed his swing better than his competitors and earned his second major title.

Mother Nature was leading last month’s U.S. Open Championship until she relented in Monday’s final round. Lucas Glover played smart, consistent golf and won his first major title holding his own against both the elements and the sentimental challengers he faced.

The PGA Championship (to be played next month) has always seemed like the runt of the litter. While we’ve certainly seen some very memorable moments at the PGA, it has never felt as prestigious as the other three majors to me.

Here are the things that I like best about the British Open:

that it is played five hours ahead of my time zone – I know that seems strange, but there is something I love about waking up at 5:30AM and watching live championship coverage while I drink my coffee.
the announcers – One of the reasons I like to watch coverage of the European Tour is because of the announcers, and during the Open Championship, we get to hear those accents ascribed to players we are all familiar with. The phrases and descriptions they use are both amusing and refreshing – I can’t get enough…
the golf courses – I have never played golf outside of the continental United States but watching the British Open courses and seeing the players try to navigate the “links” routing is always fun.
the history – The Open Championship has a longer history than the other majors, but even moreso, this is golf going back to its birthplace. Thinking about the thousands and thousands of players who have walked those fairways in the past–both professionals and amateurs–sort of gives me goosebumps. I can only imagine how it would feel to do it in person!

I am really looking forward to this year’s Open. The Ailsa Course at Turnberry is back for its fourth Open Championship (also hosted in 1977, 1986 and 1994) with a few changes which will really challenge the field.

So my major championship rankings for 2009 are: