By Will Pearson, europeantour.com
at Whistling Straits
Jason Day's brilliant belief, Jordan Spieth the gracious runner-up, European promise, Asia's new hero and a world-class venue. We discuss five lessons learned as the season's final Major came to a close in Wisconsin.
1. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again
If you ever wanted a perfect example of just how crucial, how invigorating, how important the power of self belief and hard work is - just look at 2015 US PGA Champion Jason Day. Twice in the last two Major Championships the Australian had led after 54 holes and twice he had to settle for top ten finishes as Jordan Spieth and then Zach Johnson prevailed in the US Open and Open respectively. Three times previously Day was forced to watch on as a Major runner-up as Charl Schwartzel won the 2011 Masters Tournament, as Rory McIlroy romped it at Congressional two months later, as Justin Rose was the one to break his Major duck at Merion in 2013.
Paired with Spieth on Sunday in Wisconsin, knowing one of golf's hottest, most relentless stars would be breathing down his neck for all four or so hours on a baking hot final afternoon at Whistling Straits, Day banished the demons of Majors past, kept his cool, and then some. Seven birdies and just two dropped shots, a closing 67, and at 20 under par the lowest 72-hole winning total in the long and storied history of golf's four grandest events, the Queenslander didn't just creep into life as a Major Champion, he tore up the record books in the process. The tears on 18th green were inevitable, the emotion-fuelled embraces with wife Ellie and son Dash were heart warming; remember the date - Sunday August 16, 2015 - this was finally, at long last, Jason's day.
"There were plenty of times when I got out of it, more so just thinking about the future, especially on the back side there were a few times where I had to pull myself back in and say it's not over, you've got to keep grinding, keep fighting," said Day. "It was a fantastic day for me, personally, and something I'll never forget."
2. Jordan Spieth is a brilliant loser
Maybe it was, in part, the knowledge that there was a pretty decent consolation prize at the end of the US PGA road. More likely, it was his hugely likeable, down to earth persona. Spieth, going for his own piece of history this week, ultimately ran up three strokes shy but boy did he give it a great shot. Finishing second alone, the 22 year old Texan deposed Rory McIlroy as World Number One as a result, becoming the 18th different player to reach Number One since the rankings began in 1986 and the second youngest, too. Apart from all that, Spieth was gracious until the last - perhaps exemplified best by the thumbs up he gave to playing partner Day when the Australian lagged a brilliant 65ft birdie putt down the mountainous 17th green to all but secure victory, or the genuine hug they shared on the 18th green. There'll be plenty more 'Ws' to come for Jordan Spieth, but he does losing better than anyone, too.
3. The European Tour has some more Major contenders
With the likes of Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Rose and Charl Schwartzel having paved the way over the last couple of years, in recent times the likes of fellow European Tour members Branden Grace, Brooks Koepka and George Coetzee have continued their development by beginning to contest at the very highest level.
In the case of Grace, the hugely talented South African, it is all becoming a bit of a habit. The six-time European Tour winner finished in a tie for fourth at the US Open, before bettering that with his third place finish here at Whistling Straits. His countryman Coetzee has long been regarded as a player to watch out for, and his tied seventh finish in Wisconsin is his best in a Major.
Add to those results, Koepka and Anirban Lahiri finishing in a tie for fifth spot, and you get the sense that the future is bright. If this emerging crop continues to develop at the staggering rate they have been of late, perhaps they too will soon be able to lift one of golf’s Major prizes, as Rose, who finished in fourth here, did for the first time himself back in 2013.
4. Anirban Lahiri is Asia's new hero
Six years ago, Korean YE Yang became the first Asian player to win a Major Championship when he held off Tiger Woods down the stretch at Hazeltine National. Anirban Lahiri may not have quite been able to match that feat at Whistling Straits, but in finishing tied fifth, he certainly announced himself to the world as the latest star to emerge from Asia. Lahiri’s rise over the past 12 months has been as remarkable as it has been rapid. Remember, he claimed the 17th card on offer at the European Tour Qualifying School as recently as November, before winning the Maybank Malaysian Open at the start of February followed by the Hero India Open two weeks later. His final round of 68 on Sunday means he is the first Indian player to finish in the top five in a Major Championship, eclipsing the tied ninth place achieved by one of his own heroes, Jeev Milkha Singh, in the 2008 US PGA Championship. From 53rd to 38th in the new Official World Golf Ranking, a likely spot on the International Presidents Cup team now beckons. Not only can he play, he also won the long drive contest on Tuesday.
5. Whistling Straits is some venue
The players loved it, the crowds loved it, the pundits loved it, the media loved it and the fans around the world watching loved it. The praise for Pete Dye's masterpiece, Whistling Straits, a tribute to the great links of Ireland and Scotland carved out of two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, was universal this week. Spectacular vistas, glittering blue waters, driveable par fours, brilliant par threes, lengthy par fives, a Dyeabolical closer - this Wisconsin gem has a bit of everything. "It's going to be a brilliant Ryder Cup venue in 2020," said Phil Mickelson. It's hard to disagree.
