Over the next seven days, you will see, hear and read a lot on the majesty of Oakmont – the depth of its crude crude criminal, the siren call of its church benches and its piano keys, the miracle eliminatory series between Johnny Miller in 1973.
This is what is happening when you organize the most difficult golf test during one of the best most revered golf course – the history swirls and increases, resides the memories of past glories and honoring the gods of sport.
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No sport loves its past with fanatic devotion just like golf. If you spent more than 10 seconds in the game, you have heard of Nicklaus and Palmer and Tiger Woods and all the other Goliaths who have traveled the Fairways of Oakmont and his legendary colleagues. The involvement in all this reverence is obvious: the biggest days of golf are in the past. Today’s players could play the same holes, but they are far from the icons of the great classification of sport.
Allow me to offer a different perspective: what happens if these are the good last days when we will talk about decades in the decades? What if it is another golden age, and we cannot see the glow because we are too close?
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Admittedly, no player can today correspond to the extent of the popularity of Arnie’s army, or to the ruthless brilliance of Woods, or to the overall excellence of the golden bear. But consider what we have at that time:
• A generational player of Scottie Scheffler who makes comparisons with the career trajectory of Woods and Nicklaus. It is too early to put it in their class, but with each victory, with each adult, he stays in hunting.
• An icon by Rory McILroy who has just conceived the best morality in the history of the game, a trip from the top of the mountain to the depths of the underworld and back at the top of the mountain.
• A fascinating enigma of Jon Rahm, a talent at the level of the renowned temple which may have made the most stupid career decision in the history of golf.
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• A pioneer in Bryson Dechambeau, who creates an entirely new brand frame for a professional athlete, combining talents, a sense of staging, social media know-how and a niche obsession in a way that few people in all areas of entertainment have succeeded.
• A competition in the Ryder Cup which becomes more vibrant, crucial and popular each time it arrives.
• A flourishing golf ecosystem that extends beyond the PGA Tour de Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods to encompass everything, from golf to YouTube influencers to an energetic independent golf media. Consider Dechambeau, for example – his day work is as a liv player, his most notable performances inside the strings come to Majors, and he is a YouTube star. (Her Oakmont overview accumulated more than 2 million views in its first four days.) The world of golf continues to grow … But not in a way which, let’s say, Arnie’s army would have waited or predicted.
Bryson Dechambeau reacts after winning the 124th United States Championship in Pinehurst n ° 2 a year ago. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox / Pga Tour via Getty Images)
(Tracy Wilcox via Getty Images)
It is too easy to focus on exasperating distractions, the obsession with stock market sizes, the small factionism and the bureaucracy that have shred down golf in the past four years. And yes, many of those who are responsible for protecting this game and passing it forward have sacrificed long -term stability for short -term pockets.
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But as the last major arrives, take a look at what we have seen in recent years in the biggest moments of sport. Scheffler, Mcilroy, Rahm and Dechambeau accumulating victories. Dramatic finishes that raise spring and summer in terms of art. Epic tournaments – like Pinehurst 2024 and Augusta 2025 – which will rank among the largest in golf. Regardless of what is going on outside the strings, the game and its best players are increasing to meet the moment.
Another Oakmont element that you will often hear this week: the declaration of the WC Fownes club (alleged) than in Oakmont, “a badly played blow should be irrevocably lost. Let the clumsy, the without spin, the artist alibi are away! ”
This warning also applies to the game outside of Oakmont. The best of golf intensifies and book, major after major. I would say that we should hope that this glorious race will continue this week … But at this point, I expected roughly.