OH boy, if the standard of golf played at the 96th US PGA Championship is an indication of what’s to come in the years ahead then the game is going to be exciting and fun to watch.
Forget education’s three Rs, in golf circles right now it’s about the two Rs – Rory and Rickie.
The 25 year-olds certainly gave their rivals a golfing education in the majors this year.
While everyone expected Rory McIlroy to be the runaway scoring winner at the completion of the year’s final major, it was Rickie Fowler atop the leaderboard after 16 major tournament rounds.
Rickie finished on a total of 1108 (32-under-par) for the honour of lowest score in the majors.
In fact, the young American, who opened a lunchbox midway through the US PGA’s final round to munch on a sandwich his mum might have packed, finished five shots clear of the Northern Irishman (1113).
Commentator Ian Baker-Finch even suggested it was a peanut butter sandwich. That’s gold, IBF.
Sure, Rory might have won the year’s final two majors, the Open Championship and US PGA Championship, but Rickie posted five impressive top-5 finishes.
He finished in a tie for fifth place at the US Masters, tied second at the US Open and Open Championship and tied third at the US PGA.
Rickie’s stroke average after 16 rounds was 69.25.
Rory tied eighth at the Masters, tied 23rd at the US Open and won the Open and US PGA. After 16 rounds, Rory’s average was 69.56.
Jim Furyk, the 44-year-old American, was third on 1119 – three shots behind McIlroy while Adam Scott, last year’s joint winner with Jason Day, came in fourth on 1122.
Phil Mickelson, runner-up at the US PGA, didn’t qualify courtesy of missing the cut at the US Masters.
Masters champion Bubba Watson missed the cut at the US Open and Open Championship and finished in a tie for 65th at the US PGA.
US Open champion Martin Kaymer was in the mix, but dropped out of contention after missing the cut at the US PGA.
Five other players – Jordan Spieth, Chris Kirk, Stewart Cink, Gary Woodland and Matt Kuchar – were eliminated during the US PGA Championship.
Kuchar withdrew with back pain while the others missed the cut.
The race for the low scoring title in the majors started with 51 players, but only 13 players were left standing.
The money list, a breakdown of the players who made the cut in all four majors, shows that Rory, courtesy of two wins, was way in front with a staggering $US3,779,775.
The world number one averaged more than $US940,000 for each major.
Rock-solid Rickie banked $US2,497,243 while Furyk’s good, honest shifts in the majors earned him $US1,151,059.
Former world number one Adam Scott tied 14th, tied ninth, tied fifth and tied 15 at the Masters, US Open, Open and US PGA respectively and took home $US847,742.
Jason Day (T20, T4, T55 and T15) earned $578,166 for making all four cuts.
THE MAJORS SCOREBOARD 2014
Total Name Four major scores Money (US$)
1108 Rickie Fowler 286-279-273-270 2,497,243
1113 Rory McIlroy 288-286-271-268 3,779,755
1119 Jim Furyk 289-283-275-272 1,151,059
1122 Adam Scott 289-282-276-275 847,742
1127 Jimmy Walker 288-282-284-273 774,065
1127 Henrik Stenson 289-281-287-270 1,091,060
1131 Justin Rose 289-283-283-276 467,718
1137 Jason Day 290-281-291-275 578,166
1141 Louis Oosthuizen 291-289-286-275 291,113
1142 Brandt Snedeker 295-282-291-274 476,023
1145 Bill Haas 290-288-289-278 243,992
1149 Francesco Molinari 299-286-280-284 238,570
1160 Kevin Stadler 288-298-287-287 309,727
Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course. 
