This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
In the past six months, we've seen the young phenoms arrive on the PGA Tour in waves. Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Champ and, just two weeks ago, Cameron Smith have all won. That doesn't even include Sungjae Im, Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler.
But don't put the older guys out to pasture just yet. As the sun rose around the world on Sunday morning, 41-year-old Matt Kuchar won in Singapore and then 46-year-old Lee Westwood did the same in Abu Dhabi. As the sun set in the California Desert, there was no trifecta, however, as Andrew Landry, more of a middle-ager at 32, emerged.
We'll address all three, but let's start with the biggest win of the week.
Lee Westwood just won't go away. Not that we want him to, but every time it seems age has caught up to him, he's able to sprint a little bit ahead. The Englishman held off a loaded field that included No. 1 Brooks Koepka to capture his 44th worldwide title at the Abu Dhabi Championship, opening a boatload of opportunities for him. First, he's back to No. 29 in the world, a position he hadn't been in in almost five years. It will get him into all the big tournaments, including next month's WGC-Mexico. By winning for the 25th time on the European Tour -- which is eighth all-time – Westwood also puts himself into the conversation for a coveted Ryder Cup berth
In the past six months, we've seen the young phenoms arrive on the PGA Tour in waves. Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Champ and, just two weeks ago, Cameron Smith have all won. That doesn't even include Sungjae Im, Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler.
But don't put the older guys out to pasture just yet. As the sun rose around the world on Sunday morning, 41-year-old Matt Kuchar won in Singapore and then 46-year-old Lee Westwood did the same in Abu Dhabi. As the sun set in the California Desert, there was no trifecta, however, as Andrew Landry, more of a middle-ager at 32, emerged.
We'll address all three, but let's start with the biggest win of the week.
Lee Westwood just won't go away. Not that we want him to, but every time it seems age has caught up to him, he's able to sprint a little bit ahead. The Englishman held off a loaded field that included No. 1 Brooks Koepka to capture his 44th worldwide title at the Abu Dhabi Championship, opening a boatload of opportunities for him. First, he's back to No. 29 in the world, a position he hadn't been in in almost five years. It will get him into all the big tournaments, including next month's WGC-Mexico. By winning for the 25th time on the European Tour -- which is eighth all-time – Westwood also puts himself into the conversation for a coveted Ryder Cup berth later this year.
He now has a tournament win in a fourth different decade. Westwood had gone four years before winning in South Africa in 2018, his most recent win before Sunday. They were getting few and far between.
"I can't believe I'm that old," Westwood said, according to the European Tour website. "It's getting harder. It's just nice to come out and keep proving that you've still got it."
For the record, Westwood's first win came at the Scandinavian Masters in 1996, which makes this even more impressive. When you hear about an athlete associated with four decades, it's usually partly because of the luck of happening to begin in, say, 1979 or 1989. No small feat regardless, but 1996 puts you in the middle of that decade. (Fun fact: David Feherty was in the field that week in Sweden.)
So where does this leave Westwood for the rest of the year? He's still mostly Euro-based, but we'll see him at all the majors. He had already qualified for the Masters, based on tying for fourth just six months ago at Royal Portrush. He didn't qualify for Augusta the past two years, but he's definitely a consideration this time. Remember he's been runner-up there twice and also tied for third. In fact, he's finished top-three in all four majors, albeit having never won one.
If Westwood isn't the dreaded Best Golfer Ever to Have Never Won a Major, he's certainly in the conversation now.
There are worse things to say about a 46-year-old professional athlete.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Matt Kuchar
We're not going to spend a lot of time here. This was not a strong field, but it did include Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and emerging Jazz Janewattananond. Kuchar had a renaissance last season that was so front-loaded you had to wonder how temporary it was. He hadn't had a top-10 in six months, even in some tiny fields (30-man Tour Championship, 18-man Hero World Challenge and 34-man Tournament of Champions).
Phil Mickelson
While we're still on the subject of old(er) guys … Ernie Els made his Champions Tour debut at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, and wound up in a playoff with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Fred Couples. We know there's no DFS for the seniors, but Mickelson is less than six months from becoming eligible. Els has embraced it. But Mickelson, asked about it upon arriving as the playing host at The American Express, said that he'd stay on the regular Tour as long as he kept hitting "bombs." He can keep hitting them for maybe five or 10 more years, based on what Els, Jimenez, Couples and lots of over-50s do. But what he can't do is compete for titles. Mickelson missed the cut at The Amex by six strokes. He's MCed in nine of his past 21 starts, with just one top-25 in that time – at the Masters, where, like Westwood, he could probably play the course blind-folded. For those of you thinking that Westwood is 46 and only three years younger, the difference between 46 and 49 in golf can be enormous. Mickelson has fallen to 82nd in the OWGR. Like we said, it's still about six months away till Mickelson turns 50. Maybe his decision will be different then. Oh, and by the way, Jimenez won the playoff, denying Els a victory in his debut.
Andrew Landry
Landry won The Amex even though he tried really hard not to, blowing a six-shot lead with a few holes to spare. That allowed him regroup and birdie Nos. 17 and 18 to win by two strokes. Landry is now a two-time winner, having won the 2018 Valero. But heading into last week, he had played eight events this season and missed the cut in seven of them. He also finished second at La Quinta in 2018. So what does it tell us about Landry? That he's found something in his game or just really does well at this event? Probably the latter.
Abraham Ancer
Ancer is 28, so he no longer needs to be carded. But no matter, he's an up-and-comer. And coming fast. He hasn't won on the PGA Tour, but was second at the opening playoff event last season and now a runner-up again after a 9-under 63 on Sunday. Ancer was T4 at the WGC-HSBC in the fall and also was awesome at the Presidents Cup. He's up to 30th in the world. Hard to imagine him not winning soon, just like this next guy ….
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler definitely belongs in the same sentence as all the young stars mentioned up top. Maybe at the start of the sentence. Even though he couldn't get over the hump on a so-so Sunday, he tied for third. He also has a T5, T7 and two other top-20s as a rookie after being the best golfer on the Korn Ferry Tour last year. Scheffler is up to No. 51 in the world and therefore should be in the top-50 by the time the WGC-Mexico arrives, so he will get to test himself against the very best.
Rickie Fowler
Walking alongside Landry and Scheffler all day Sunday was this guy, an after-thought. Fowler had perfectly positioned himself in the final group to stare down these less-accomplished golfers and … zippo. He shot only 1-under to fall into a tie for 10th. Fowler is now down to No. 25 in the world. Not exactly Jordan Spieth territory – yet.
Bryson DeChambeau
Helluva week for DeChambeau. He went halfway around the world to flex his muscles – literally but certainly not figuratively. He shot 72-77 to miss the Abu Dhabi cut by six strokes, then took a second beating from Brooks Koepka on Twitter. DeChambeau is still 17th in the world and plays well some weeks, but he's now getting known less for golf and more for other stuff. That's never a good look, and we don't see how he gets in a lineup until things start to change.
