where are the aMericans?
as soon as his long par putt on 18 dropped, robert garrigus (above) rejoiced. he
pumped his fist, waved to the crowd, then marched contentedly off the green en
route to signing his scorecard. it was a clutch putt that allowed garrigus to tie for
low american at six under par … just 10 strokes behind winner rory mcilroy. if you’re
looking for a snapshot of where america now figures in the global golf landscape,
look no further than the leader board at congressional, where garrigus and pga tour
rookie kevin chappell, each t- 3, were the lone u.s. players in the top 10. for the first
time in a century, the u.s. has gone winless in five straight majors, and there’s no
05
guarantee the streak will end soon. with the likes of phil mickelson, tiger woods and
Jim furyk all showing their age, american hopes ride on a core of promising young
players that includes dustin Johnson, rickie fowler, hunter mahan and bubba watson. but Johnson finished well out of contention, and the most noise the other three
made was in a farcical music video that debuted earlier in the week. “everything goes
in streaks,” said davis love iii, the 2012 u.s. ryder cup captain who finished t- 11 at
one under. “we might be talking about how four americans win the next four.” if this
open was any indication, we shouldn’t get our hopes up. —Sam Weinman
david cannon/getty images
cover // contents // 10 things // twitter // rank & file // equipment // tim rosaforte
