Pro Golf Now
Fansided

Six players could make history at this year’s British Open

By Bill Felber

PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND - JULY 16: Brooks Koepka of the United States plays a shot during a practice round prior to the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 16, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND - JULY 16: Brooks Koepka of the United States plays a shot during a practice round prior to the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 16, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 7
Next
Jason Day of Australia plays his shot from the third tee during the second round of the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on July 20, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Jason Day of Australia plays his shot from the third tee during the second round of the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on July 20, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images) /

Jason Day

Like McIlroy, Day is enjoying his best major season in several years, one that has reinvigorated his move up the career list.

The 2015 PGA champion peaked at No. 36 on the men’s career list at the end of 2016, but missed cuts at the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Open prompted him to fall back to the mid 50’s. Day this year has only strongly contended in one of the majors – he tied for fifth at Augusta. But he landed low 20s finishes at the PGA and U.S. Open, which boosted his career total, however modestly.

His career score now sits at -15.27, 40th among men all-time. So he has already gained about 15 spots this year.

The Brit, then, presents a chance for Day to consolidate and even accelerate that climb. Were he to win, it’s possible to envision him climbing as many as five additional spots on the career list. That would be significant because it would move ahead of some legends: Roberto DeVicenzo, Tommy Armour and Tom Watson, who for the moment ranks 36th.

And as with Mcilroy, Day doesn’t need to win in order to make this a good season. In the first three majors, he’s averaged a -0.83 standard deviation gain per tournament, his best showing since 2016. Were Day merely to match that level of excellence at Royal Portrush, his career rank would improve to -16.10, and he would surpass all of the previously named individuals except for Watson.

Home/British Open News