2020 Golf Major Championships
Happy New Year everyone!
Looking ahead to this year's major championships, the 2020 golf season will have some great venues on display. Of course we start at Augusta in April, then May brings us to TPC Harding Park in San Francisco for the PGA Championship, followed by the US Open at Winged Foot in June and we wrap up the year with the Open Championship in July at Royal St George's in England.
It will be hard for the Masters to outshine Tiger's comeback win in 2019, but every Masters tournament is full of excitement and 2020 will be no different. It's difficult to pick a favorite 3 months ahead of time, but I really like Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. I'm not sure Jordan Spieth will be fully out of this slump and although Tiger played great at the President's Cup, I find it hard to see a repeat victory in 2020.
The PGA in May (remember they moved it last year from its traditional August slot) will head west for the first time in ages. Not many PGA Championships have been held on the west coast, with the last true coastal venue being Pebble Beach in 1977. But in 2020 we go to San Francisco and TPC Harding Park. The weather in May in San Francisco is likely to be a factor, with cold winds swirling off the multiple bodies of water that surround Harding Park. There isn't a long history of play to draw conclusions from, but I expect the course to play similar to 2005 when Tiger beat John Daly in a playoff to win the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship. They tied at -10 that year, but I expect a slightly higher score in 2020.
Winged Foot in June will be a monster once again. The course has historically been a bear with long rough, tight fairways and diabolical greens that have a lot of slope made even more severe by U.S. Open green speeds. Hale Irwin survived at +7 in 1974 and Geoff Ogilvy was the last man standing in 2006 when Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie both double bogeyed the 72nd hole. The 2020 U.S. Open will almost certainly see over par win again. We will not see -13 like last year at Pebble Beach,
And finally in 2020 we head to the east coast of England and Royal St George's. This course has hosted 14 Open Championships, the last being in 2011 when Darren Clarke held on for a very emotional and popular victory. That tournament saw all kinds of weather off the coast, including 35 mph winds, torrential rain (check the waterproof shoes!), and cold weather. There is no reason to doubt that Mother Nature will once again be a factor in 2020.
This will be another great year for Major Championship golf, and not just with the men. The women will play some great venues including Champions in Houston, Aronimink Golf Club and Royal Troon, in addition to the terrrific courses they play annually.
It's shaping up to be one heck of a year for us Major golf fans! Enjoy!
