The next ballot for the World Golf Hall of Fame will include three players born in 1980, all major champions with remarkably similar records in global golf. One of them is Sergio Garcia, who suspects he will be looked upon differently from Adam Scott and Justin Rose.
Garcia was asked who among those three would be considered the leading candidate to be elected for the 2026 class of inductees.
“I went to LIV, so I’m probably a little behind,” Garcia said with a laugh. “Even though things are settling down.”
He thought for a few minutes about the trio and settled on Scott before adding, “If I didn’t go to LIV and everything that happened, probably me.”
That’s hard to dispute, and a case could be made for each.
Garcia has 31 wins around the world, including the 2017 Masters in a playoff over Rose and The Players Championship. He also holds the Ryder Cup record for most points at 28.5, going 3-1 in the last Ryder Cup — his final Ryder Cup — at Whistling Straits.
PHOTOS: Sergio Garcia wonders if playing for LIV Golf will affect his Hall of Fame chances
Scott has 29 worldwide wins including a playoff win at the Masters. He also won The Players and two World Golf Championships, and he reached No. 1 in the world ranking for 11 weeks. Rose won his major in the U.S. Open at Merion, won a pair of World Golf Championships and was No. 1 for 13 weeks.
The Hall of Fame committee that votes on finalists includes PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and European tour CEO Keith Pelley, along with the leadership from Augusta National, PGA of America, the USGA and the R&A.
This won’t be on the table until 2025, and there’s no telling what golf will look like then.
Scott was asked who he thought would be most appealing of the three and said, “The next one to win a major.” For Garcia, who made it through 36-hole qualifying and then made the cut at the U.S. Open, that might be what it takes.
RIVIERA
Work was to begin Tuesday on a few tweaks at Riviera Country Club that are expected to be completed by October, well ahead of the Genesis Invitational.
The right portion of the 10th green, which has built up over the years from sand blasted out of the right bunker, is being slightly lowered. More noticeable is the 15th green, which has what amounts to a gully down the middle and limits pin positions. The back right section is being extended to allow for such a pin.
The 10th - one of the most famous reachable par 4s in America - already has an alternate green to the right that will be used, and the hole would play as a par 3 for members for the first few months. A temporary green is being built on No. 15.
Riviera will be getting plenty of attention in the coming years. Next up is the U.S Women’s Open in 2026, followed by the Olympics in 2028.
And with the USGA willing to take the U.S. Open to smaller footprints, Riviera is expected to get the U.S. Open in 2031. An announcement could come as early as this week.
MILLER TIME
On the 50-year anniversary of Johnny Miller shooting a 63 on Sunday to win the U.S. Open, he was asked how he would feel the day someone shot 62. After all, it was bound to happen, considering scores have been coming down for a century or more.
And then it happened the next day - first by Rickie Fowler, then by Xander Schauffele.
Miller’s response nailed it, though, as he often did when he was in the television booth.
“The secret of a 63 is the fact that I shot it on Sunday and it was enough to win the U.S. Open,” Miller said. “There will be guys that will shoot 61 or 62, but can they do it on Sunday to win? That’s what makes the round what it is.”
Miller and Henrik Stenson at Royal Troon in the 2016 British Open are the only major champions to win with a 63 in the last round.
RANKING RECORD
Jin Young Ko is on the cusp of the record for most weeks at No. 1 in the women’s world ranking.
Ko tied Lorena Ochoa’s record of 158 total weeks atop the ranking, which dates to 2006. She breaks the record provided she stays at No. 1 after the KPMG Women’s PGA. Nelly Korda (No. 2) and Lydia Ko (No. 3) are best poised to catch her at the LPGA Tour’s second major of the year, which starts Thursday at Baltusrol.
Ko, a 27-year-old from South Korea with a silky putting stroke, has been No. 1 for parts of every year since 2019. Her longest stretch was 100 weeks in a row.
Ochoa’s 158 weeks were consecutive, and it ended when the Mexican star abruptly retired from competition to start a family.
TAKING A BREAK
Nick Taylor never would have imagined skipping a $20 million tournament like the Travelers Championship at the start of the year. This hasn’t been just any year.
It already was off to a solid start - he had four top 10s, including a runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler in the Phoenix Open - when Taylor won the RBC Canadian Open by making a 70-foot eagle putt in a playoff over Tommy Fleetwood.
It was a draining win as the first Canadian champion of his national open since 1954. And with no time to digest it all, Taylor was on a plane to Los Angeles for the U.S. Open. He missed the cut, and he needs a moment to recharge and take it all in.
He can afford that. Taylor is No. 8 in the FedEx Cup, all but certain to reach East Lake for the Tour Championship for the first time. His season earnings of $5,677,835 are more than his previous five seasons combined on the PGA Tour.
And he’s locked into all the elevated events for next year, along with all four majors for the first time in his career.
“There’s never been a better time to win than now,” he said before leaving the U.S. Open.
That’s a popular theme this year.
DIVOTS
Jon Rahm has not missed the cut in a major since 2019 at Bethpage Black in PGA Championship. His 16 straight cuts in the majors is the longest active streak. … The John Deere Classic keeps an eye on emerging college players and this year awarded exemptions to past NCAA champion Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt and Michael Thorbjornsen of Stanford. Thorbjornsen is playing this week in the Travelers Championship, where a year ago he finished fourth. … Xander Schauffele has never finished worse than a tie for 14th in his seven U.S. Open appearances. … U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett and Ben Carr, the runner-up, both made the cut in the U.S. Open. That had not happened since the 1957 U.S. Open when Harvie Ward (tie for 26th) and Chuck Kocsis (tie for 32nd) made the cut at Inverness.
STAT OF THE WEEK
U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark has made $7,200,000 in his two victories this year. He earned $7,815,024 from his other 135 starts on the PGA Tour.
FINAL WORD
“Take the time to enjoy those moments just because they’re not easy to come by.” - Jon Rahm on winning a major.
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