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2023 Golf Majors recapped

7 months ago
| BY News Team

With The Open Championship drawing to a close last weekend, we now have all four Majors behind us with the Ryder Cup to look forward to.

We take a look back at this year’s Majors and their winners below.

The Masters – Jon Rahm

The 2023 Masters saw a new name presented with the infamous Green Jacket as Jon Rahm picked up his first win at the tournament at the seventh time of asking having frequently been among the favourites in previous years.

Jon Rahm was consistent throughout a week ravaged by variable weather conditions ranging from storms with high winds and driving rain to some serene settings with calm skies and sunsets.

Rahm didn’t kick off in classic Masters champion fashion as he four-putted for a double bogey on the first hole of the tournament, but the Spaniard finished the first round tied for the lead at -7.

Rahm continued well in the second round to get to -10, two shots behind leader Brooks Koepka. The third round was delayed due to weather conditions causing many to struggle including Rahm who shot one over par leaving him two shots back heading into the final round.

Rahm would hold his nerve much better than Koepka as the two went around together, with the Spaniard carding an impressive 69 to finish four shots clear and pick up his first Green Jacket of his career.

PGA Championship – Brooks Koepka

The PGA Championship has been Brooks Koepka’s tournament for the past five years and 2023 only solidified that as Koepka picked up his third win at the tournament since 2018. This feat was emphasised by the fact that he also became the first active LIV Golf player to win a Major.

Koepka didn’t exactly seize control of the tournament from the outset as he carded a two over par 72 in the first round. His second round was impressive enough to see him make the cut as he shot a 66 to get to -2 heading into the weekend.

Koepka didn’t look back after that second round as he shot -4 again in the third round and for the first time in the tournament, he became the outright leader ahead of Corey Conners and Victor Hovland who were just one shot behind at -5.

Koepka managed to put his Masters collapse behind him to finish the tournament with a 67 and a final score of -9 which saw him win his third PGA Championship by a two-shot margin.

US Open – Wyndham Clark

The 2023 US Open was held in sunny Los Angeles and the American players certainly dominated. Wyndham Clark was the pick of the bunch as he fought off some of golf’s biggest names to secure his first Major win.

The first round kicked off the tournament with some seriously low scoring as Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele both went round in 62 to get to -8, with Clark just two behind at -6. The second round saw some less outstanding scoring, but the leaders kept it ticking over nicely with Clark heading into the weekend outright second at -9 just one shot behind leader Rickie Fowler.

The third round saw some more standard Major scoring as Clark was only able to shoot 69, but that was enough to take him joint top of the leaderboard with Fowler, as McIlroy stalked the leaders just one shot back in third at -9.

To the crowd’s dismay, Fowler wilted away in the final round and played himself out of contention fairly early on with McIlroy now the only real challenger. Clark was three shots clear at the 14th hole as he secured a birdie while McIlroy could only manage a bogey, but it wasn’t over yet as Clark would go on to bogey the next two. With McIlroy unable to capitalise as he parred the final four, Clark was able to cling on to win by one shot to land his maiden Major title.

The Open Championship – Brian Harman

The 2023 Open Championship threw up a serious curveball with many thinking it was McIlroy’s year to finally end his nine-year wait for another Major win, back at the course where he last tasted success, but Brian Harman was there to spoil the party.

Not many fancied Harman before the tournament started with a few of the bigger names taking the headlines, but the American went about his business in spectacular fashion.

Tommy Fleetwood was the first player to really make an impression as the local lad topped the leaderboard at -5 along with two others after the first round; Harman quietly got around at -4 to keep in touch with the leader.

However, the second round was where Harman took control of the tournament as, out of nowhere, he carded a round of 65 whilst others struggled in the wet and windy conditions and the American found himself five shots clear heading into the weekend. With others being willed on behind, he gave up no ground in the third round and moved to -12 to put himself five clear atop the leaderboard heading into Sunday.

With many predicting, and some praying, on a collapse for the leader, it was not to be. Harman asserted his dominance once again as he steadily made his way round the tough links course. The nerves may have jangled when he was two over through the first five holes, but he held it together and carded four birdies in the rest of the round to finish -13, six shots clear of his nearest challenger, to win the Open in the dominant style of a true champion.

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