Ranking The Major Championships Of 2017

The Masters

Winner: Sergio Garcia

2017’s major championship golf got off to a flyer, with a gripping, thrilling and simply extraordinary final round that eventually saw Sergio Garcia triumph over Justin Rose in what turned out to be a head-to-head back nine tustle between two of Europe’s most decorated players of their generation.

And it was all played with great sportsmanship.

The Ryder Cup teammates put on a phenomenal show for the fans on Masters Sunday

Whilst Rose was playing perfect golf, finding fairways and greens and looking untouchable, Sergio Garcia was creating history with all the Spanish flare we’ve seen before at Augusta from his compatriots Seve and Olazabal.

His par from the bushes on 13 was exceptional, before an astonishing eagle on the par-5 15th that saw him hit the flag with his second shot before calmly rolling in an 8 footer to tie Rose at 10-under.

It was fantastic for us Europeans to see Sergio’s vast talents finally rewarded with a major title

The Englishman would come back though with a birdie on 16 before bogeying the 17th, and both men were tied after 72 holes when Sergio missed from inside 6 feet on the last to win.

The Spaniard would seal the Green Jacket with a birdie on the first playoff hole in his 74th major championship appearance. What a start to the golfing year.

Entertainment factor: 10/10

US Open

Winner: Brooks Koepka

The US Open at new venue Erin Hills was a success, but with a winning score of -16 it did feel more like a regular PGA Tour event as oppose to one of golf’s big four.

Koepka’s win was classy and clinical, and showed us he has the potential to win more majors

Englishman Tommy Fleetwood was well in contention with 18 to play, starting Sunday one behind leader Brian Harman.

Come the closing stages, Brooks Koepka had pulled clear with some phenomenal golf, proving just how great a player he is – although it did mean that the tournament was practically over with an hour to go. He eventually won by four in an impressive and dominant display.

Entertainment factor: 5/10

Related: Ranking the major championships of 2016

The Open

Winner: Jordan Spieth

Then came the 147th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which saw the largest ever crowd for an English Open Championship.

The course was in stunning condition, with players, fans and media signing its praises, and the good-old British summer threw all four seasons at the players, and then some, to make for a wonderful spectacle.

Spieth was undoubtedly rattled on Sunday, but showed great class to come through and finish in the way he did

Rory McIlroy, who was clearly still suffering with a rib injury, was five-over for his fist six holes, and could have been worse, but battled back to end in T4th place to remind us of just how big a star he is. We will wait for some sparkles in his 2018 season.

Branden Grace became the first man to ever shoot 62 in a major championship on the Saturday before it all came down to Jordan Spieth vs Matt Kuchar on the back nine on Sunday.

The tournament will be remembered for Spieth’s controversial ruling on the 13th hole, where he eventually played a shot from the driving range after 22 minutes mulling over his options.

Kuchar could not have done any more

Little over a year after his Masters collapse, he was clearly rattled on Birkdale’s 13th but somehow made an excellent bogey and then nearly aced the par-3 14th to bounce back with a birdie.

He then went eagle-birdie-birdie-par to blow Matt Kuchar away.

Kuch would argue he couldn’t have done any better, and props to him for playing incredibly well. But it was Spieth who stole the show and picked up his third major title in a fantastic Open Championship.

Entertainment factor: 9/10

USPGA Championship

Winner: Justin Thomas

For us in the UK, with the BBC TV coverage behind the red button in SD prompting huge criticisms, the USPGA Championship was a rather bland affair…until it caught alight on the back nine on Sunday when Justin Thomas blitzed through to secure the Wanamaker and his first major.

Kevin Kisner went out with the lead on Sunday just ahead of playing partner Chris Stroud and the whole thing had a rather dull look about it.

In the end, Kisner finished T7th and Stroud came T9th, whilst Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen, Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas charged home late to ignite the tournament into life.

World #3 Thomas, now a seven-time PGA Tour winner at the age of 24, has plenty more majors in him

Thomas won by two, affording a meaningless bogey on the last, after he had birdied 7, 9, 10, 13 and 17 to close in on his first major just a few weeks after celebrating his close friend Jordan Spieth’s Open triumph.

It was a gutsy performance from the 24-year-old, who would go on to secure two more titles in 2017 plus the FedEx Cup, the Player of the Year accolade and a career-high 3rd in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Entertainment factor: 8/10

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