When you win four majors in two years, as Brooks Koepka did between June 2017 and May 2019, you don’t have to worry about your reputation for performing under pressure. The proof is in the pudding — you can’t succeed that many times on the game’s biggest stages unless you’re clutch. That was Koepka’s life, and it helped his image that everything he did, from his game to his personality, spoke of a confidence bordering on aggression. He was the consummate killer, having filled the void left by Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, and it didn’t seem at all unrealistic to argue about whether he might threaten 10 majors by the time his career was spent.

Things changed.

Or, more accurately, they were already changing even in the midst of this run. Here’s how Koepka has fared in the last six majors when he’s been somewhere near contention:

• 2019 Masters: Tied for the lead heading into 12, makes double bogey, plays 3 under the rest of the way but loses to Tiger by a shot.
• 2019 PGA Championship: Holds a seemingly insurmountable seven-shot lead on the field heading into the final round, reaches 13-under by the 10th hole, then falls off a cliff, making five bogeys in the last eight holes. Only Dustin Johnson’s equally rough pressure play down the stretch saves the day for Koepka, who nearly blew the biggest final round lead in major history.
• 2019 US Open: Fights to within a shot of Gary Woodland on the back nine, but plays the last seven holes in one-over, with no birdies, to lose by three.
• 2021 PGA Championship: Takes a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson on the first hole on Sunday, immediately makes double-bogey, finishes with a 74, the second-worst score of anyone in the top 16, to lose by two.
• 2021 US Open: Shoots a respectable Sunday 69 to finish T-4, but was arguably never a real threat to Jon Rahm.
• 2023 Masters: Starts Sunday leading by four strokes, and the final round leading by two, shoots 75 — tied for the worst score among anyone in the top 33 — to lose by four.

Even with the lone win in that stretch, that’s clearly not the record of someone who plays his best golf under pressure, and I only list them all to illustrate how quickly things change in professional golf (and in Koepka’s case, how that change can get worse). When we think of someone who “chokes” — a harsh word, and not very accurate even in the best cases — what comes to mind are players who have never won a major. What’s harder to understand is that this particular phenomenon of choking can happen to anyone, including players who have previously won majors and been among the best pressure performers in the game.

Rory McIlroy. Christian Pietersen

McIlroy is the best possible parallel here. Like Koepka, he won four majors in a short span of time — in his case, just over three years, culminating in the two-major season of 2014. Like Koepka, his game (when healthy) has remained at the upper echelons of the sport, and like Koepka, he’s found himself in contention time and again. And like Koepka, he’s managed to lose in what seems like every conceivable way, and is no longer what anyone objective would consider a strong pressure performer in majors.

Spieth’s career has always been a little more chaotic, but he’s another near analogue — he wins three majors in just over two years, and while his game dipped for various mechanical reasons (unlike Koepka whose form seems to have been almost wholly the result of a serious injury), he too hasn’t been the same player under the gun. Spieth and McIlroy even seem to share the habit of making runs at majors late in the game when their surging momentum is exciting, but past the point at which they have anything beyond a faint hope of catching the leader. What Spieth accomplished Sunday Augusta mirrored Rory’s late race up the leaderboard a year earlier.

The “why” here can be hard to discern. Why, everything else being equal, could a player who has proven his chops under intense pressure suddenly lose his nerve? Could it be a conscious or subconscious retreat from the intensity of life at the top, as we seemed to witness with Rory in 2015 and 2016? Could it be — getting really theoretical — natural changes in human behaviour as we age into our late 20s, with our brains maturing to become more risk-averse but perhaps lose the warrior edge in the bargain? Could it be a single disastrous or near-disastrous result that sticks in the head, a la Koepka at the 2019 PGA?

Here, it’s instructive to look at the example of Tony Jacklin, the English golfer famous for his Ryder Cup captaincies who won the Open Championship in 1969 and became the first British golfer to win the US Open in decades in 1970. At the 1972 Open, though, a combination of bad luck (Lee Trevino chipping in from all over the course) and a ruinous three-putt at the 17th cost him more than just the Claret Jug — it cost him the ability to ever compete at a major again. “I was done after that,” he told James Corrigan of The Telegraph years later. “It knocked the stuffing out of me…something, I don’t know what, died inside me that day.”

Jacklin was 28.

There are appeals and drawbacks to each of these explanations, supporting and contradictory evidence, and whatever combination makes up the truth is not only beyond us, but probably beyond the players themselves. What we know for sure is that when the pressure bug strikes, it can last a long time. McIlroy has said several times that his current quest to win now feels like chasing his first major rather than his fifth. His victories can’t fortify him, because the failures are much closer in memory and resonate more when the pressure reaches a fever pitch. Time’s erosive effect on the pressure centers of the brain can be even quicker and harsher than the physical ravages, with the one consolation being that “clutch” is something you might be able to get back.

McIlroy hasn’t gotten it back yet. Neither has Spieth. Neither, clearly, has Koepka. These once-clutch players, among the best in their generation, are now mired in the struggle to find their best game when a major is on the line. They looked indomitable, just as players like Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm look indomitable today under similar circumstances. It could happen to them, too. In fact, it probably will happen to them. In this sport, at least, there is nothing constant in the character that makes you clutch for life. It may be an attribute you have for a little while, but consider it on loan from the universe; just as time steals distance, and strength, and endurance, it can also steal your nerve.

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When he was two, Sean and family moved to the US — hence his own strong American twang. And his journey to Brookline, while not as lengthy in terms of distance, is quite the saga. All the way through two stages of qualifying, Jacklin, a Florida mini-tour player, has beaten the odds.

“When you are playing on mini-tours all the time, you start wondering if you are ever going to get that break and get out there,” he said. “You question things as time goes on. Things like this make all the down times worth it, and I’m just really grateful.”

During local qualifying at Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota, Jacklin, who regularly plays with his father’s near-neighbour, 1993 PGA champion Paul Azinger, was bumped into a playoff for an alternate spot by a fellow competitor in the last group of the day. He won that spot, which put him first in line should someone withdraw from Final Qualifying at The Club at Admiral’s Cove in Jupiter. Taking a chance, he drove there the night before. And, when a few players competing on the Latinoamerica Tour couldn’t get there in time, he was in. But only just. Jacklin’s place on the first tee was confirmed only 20 minutes before he drove off.

“I had never played the course, so I went out with one mission: make birdies,” he said of the 137 aggregate (66-71) that saw him claim co-medalist honours. “And I did that. At the end it was like, ‘what just happened?’ I wasn’t even in the sectionals and now I was in the US Open as co-medalist. I was fortunate and lucky to have driven over. I could easily have thought I probably wasn’t going to get in and not bothered. I’m glad I did. And now I’m here. Happy days.”

Even that wasn’t straightforward though. With two holes to play, a weather delay sent Jacklin back to the clubhouse. Pain in his legs wasn’t helping either.

“It was a tough second round as I was cramping up all the time and I was just getting a bit sloppy,” he said. “It was the end of a long day, and I was caddieing for myself and it was just a grind to finish. I was literally worried about not being able to physically finish due to the cramping being so bad that it was keeping me away from thinking about the outcome and I think that might have helped. Anyway, I knew what I had to do the last three holes and I holed a nice four-and-a-half footer for a par on the last.”

Which brings us up to date.

Warren Little

“It’s exciting to be here,” Jacklin said. “The course is in great shape. You can tell the USGA has perfect control over it. I’m just trying to familiarise myself with the place. It’s a demanding test. But if you can keep the ball on the short grass you can give yourself a chance to score. I’m learning where you can go and where you shouldn’t. I’m looking forward to it.

“I’ve been an apprentice of the game for 30 years now. I’ve been privileged to grow up following my dad around on the Champions Tour. I constantly tried to absorb as much wisdom as I can. This week is a new experience though. I’ve never played on a stage like this. As much as I want to play well, I want to be my own best friend and enjoy the week.”

He will have company in that endeavour. On Wednesday, his father Tony — the only European to claim the US Open title between 1926 and 2009 — is scheduled to be at The Country Club and will join his daughter-in-law, Paige, and granddaughter, Margot, on site in support of Sean.

“Obviously, with the history of my dad in the event, I’ve always wanted to follow in his footsteps,” he said. “I know that I’ve always been capable of putting myself in a position like this and now I’ve got to try to not let the moment overtake my ability. It’s my first major, it’s going to be a family affair and it’s something I am looking forward to.

“My dad always says winning the US Open was his greatest achievement,” he continued. “He’s a Hall of Fame golfer, and you always try to follow in the footsteps of your dad. He’s my idol. So this opportunity is very special. I’m going to take it all in and enjoy it as a family. Hopefully, we can start making this more of a routine. I look forward to accepting the challenge.”

Perhaps the only thing is for sure. Jacklin will certainly be, whatever he shoots, the low Scot in the 156-man field.

“There are enough American flags on the leader board,” he said. “I was born in Scotland. And I’m proud of that. I don’t see anything wrong with showcasing that fact and being the lone Scot in the field. It feels good and it’s another unique little titbit about the week.”

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The post US Open 2022: Good breaks brought Sean Jacklin to Brookline, where he’ll put lessons from his Hall of Fame father to the test appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Sergio Garcia has 25 wins on the PGA and European circuits, highlighted by capturing the 2017 Masters. Yet the Spainard’s career remains a topic of debate, some deeming Garcia’s success only a fraction of what could have been attained. Count Tony Jacklin among those who feel Garcia left much in the tank.

In an interview with Golfweek, Jacklin was asked who was the biggest underachiever in golf. His answer left little doubt in his feelings on the matter.

“Sergio Garcia. He’s been one of the best players on the planet for the last 20 years and doesn’t have much to show for it,” Jacklin told Golfweek. “Seve had more courage in his little finger than this lad. Don’t get me wrong, Sergio has been a prolific winner, but he had the ability to win double-digit majors. Trevino said long ago, God never gave one man everything. Garcia would be the one that jumps out to me.”

Jacklin did note that Garcia is a “marvellous” Ryder Cup competitor, that he flourishes in a team environment rather than independently. He also credited Garcia for not stumbling at the 2017 Masters following a hiccup at Augusta National’s 13th hole.

Still, since his Masters triumph, Garcia has struggled in the United States, finishing 128th in the FedEx Cup in 2018 and 72nd in 2018, and currently sits 179th in this year’s standings. Garcia has also been besieged by a set of controversies, many self-inflicted. Jacklin thinks any chance of a turnaround from Garcia has passed.

“He’s 41 now, and I can’t see him being born again,” Jacklin said. “To think that he’s only won one major as a ballstriker like he is, well, it’s mind-boggling.”

The post Hall-of-Famer sounds off on Sergio Garcia: “Seve had more courage in his little finger than this lad” appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
James Williams is a stress-free interview. Simply press record, sit back and enjoy a captivating journey through a lifetime in golf as colourful as that famed tan, one that strangely never acquainted itself with his legs. It seems there is a reason seasoned golf professionals wear trousers and if you ask nicely, Emirates Golf Club’s newest “old” pro will likely hitch said slacks to keep a running joke rolling. Self-deprecation is one of the Shropshire product’s endearing trademarks.

But we digress. Back to an interview where probing lines of enquiry, beyond the initial conversation starter, are rarely required.

So, how did you get into golf?

“My golfing life started…actually, I was a much keener cricketer to the extent that I did play a lot of county cricket and got selected for England training. Didn’t get on the team, but that was my true love. Left-handed cricketer, totally right-handed person.”

Williams is a totally natural storyteller too, and clearly just warming to his task as the next 112, almost pauseless minutes prove.

It transpires his introduction to golf came through his father, a bank manager who took up the game later in life. Williams’ Snr saw a neighbour throwing out an old set of clubs one day and seized on an opportunity for young James.

“It was a rusty old pencil bag with about eight clubs in there. Believe it or not they were hickories. We cut them down and of course I gripped it cack-handed because they’re right-handed clubs. I probably would have been world No.1 if I didn’t remain left-handed,” Williams says with a hearty dollop of English jocularity.

He may never have become a world-beater but the then Shrewsbury G.C. member was good enough to get down to a one-handicap and play county golf. And in some illustrious company too.   

“I come from a county that at that time had five courses so we had to join forces with a neighbouring county. We played in the Midlands league… [European Tour Dubai chief] Nick Tarratt probably played against me years ago, we didn’t know each other then. [Golf in Dubai President and former R&A chief] Peter Dawson actually played for Warwickshire. They’ve got like 20, 30, 50 golf courses, we had five, got thrashed every time.

“The incredible thing was, we had as our No.1 and No.2, AWB [Alexander Walter Barr or “Sandy”] Lyle and Ian Woosnam. So the other 10 of us turned up and lost most times and those two played together in the foursomes and always won.”

Williams eventually fell into a PGA traineeship and deeply in love with teaching. After cutting his teeth in the UK, foreign adventures beckoned and he soon found himself mixing with 4-Star Generals at Woodlawn G.C., a course within the Ramstein Air Base in southwest Germany which remains today the U.S. Air Force’s European HQ and home to the NATO Allied Air Command.

It was an enlightening life and golf experience but the icy German winters eventually wore thin so Williams applied for a role at a club soon to open in the UAE. It was 1987 and his military pals were worried.

“No one had heard of the UAE but I speculated and put in an application.” Williams sat back and waited for a response. And waited. Six months later he’d almost given up but decided a call to Emirates Golf Club was in order, if only to politely register his disappointment at the lack of a courtesy call to say he’d missed out.

An apologetic Rodney J. Bogg, Emirates G.C.’s first general manager, answered and had a surprise, inviting Williams out for a trial along with two other hopefuls.

“I stayed for a week – gobsmacked! Horrible word, but just gobsmacked by the whole place. I remember walking on the driving range. I’ve been to many golf courses by this time but I was tip-toeing across the grass. I have never seen anything so level, every blade of grass vertical to the ground like a brand new scrubbing brush. ‘Well hit a few shots, guys.’ You know I’m a big ball and turf guy which golfers should be if they are going to strike the ball. But I didn’t dare take a divot, I was just clipping it off the top, didn’t want to be the guy digging up their new range.”

Williams became part of the furniture at Emirates G.C. for the next decade as Dubai grew up around its pioneering grass golf course. The next chapter in his career spans 20 years at Jebel Ali where, as golf operations manager, Williams was the perpetually smiling face of the resort course. Recently though, the grin started to fade as he did a stocktake of his career and realised he was no longer in the customer-facing roles he loved. A hankering to get back to those happy old teaching days become impossible to ignore and thankfully Emirates G.C. were receptive to a home-coming.

“I was the first pro to get here, and sadly now I’m the oldest pro,” Williams jokes of being back on the tools as part of Dubai Golf’s Peter Cowan Academy Dubai team.

“It is fabulous fun. I’ve got to rebuild my clientele but a lot of the original members have already come back. It never goes fast enough for me because I want to show that it’s worth Emirates having me back but it’s been very encouraging so far. I hope it’s been for the club. I couldn’t be happier.”

Mustufa Abidi/Motivate Publishing
James Williams and son Robbie are now working side-by-side at Emirates G.C. where Robbie is part of the Golf in Dubai team delivering the Omega Dubai Classics and MENA Tour.

The role means Williams now has the joy of working even closer to his 25-year-old son Robbie who is part of the Golf in Dubai team behind the Omega Dubai Desert and Ladies Classics and increasingly the face of the MENA Tour. Like his father, Williams Jnr’s first love wasn’t golf either, rather football. He was good enough to play for England Schoolboys and sign junior papers with Wolverhampton Wanderers but also cunning enough to see a good opportunity when the father of Emirati golf, Mohamed Juma Buamaim, offered him an internship.

“As a Dad, to see him growing and getting all this experience, yeah, I’m very proud. I will say that there is no one prouder than me seeing him on television doing the Desert Classic presentation. I’d be shaking like a leaf and apparently he was but he doesn’t stumble over his speeches like me.“

James Williams is equally proud of his daughter Anna-Louise, a physiotherapist in London, and grateful to his understanding wife Heather for allowing him to pursue a career where weekends and family time are a precious commodity. “She’s been very patient with her husband. You’d better get that in writing before she divorces me!”

Conversation reverts back to his beloved cricket but this time with a golf spin, not unlike the leg-breaks he used to “turn a yard”, at least the ones that bounced anyway. His childhood hero was the elegant left-handed West Indian batsman Sir Garfield Sobers so imagine the thrill when, during his initial stint at Emirates G.C., Bogg asked him to look after the visiting cricketing knight one day.

“He was just the greatest guy to talk to. When your hero turns out to be as nice as that, it’s one of the biggest things that has happened to me out here. Perhaps in our own countries we would never meet all these famous people. Is it a big deal? To me it has been. To actually see these people and find out they are normal like us has been a thrill.”

Williams played in the first three Desert Classics but his biggest playing kick came before the inaugural event in 1989 when he was asked to guide another idol, Tony Jacklin, in a reconnaissance lap of the Majlis course. The 67 he shot in the company of the Ryder Cup legend is a treasured memory and made all the practice beforehand, and some predictably nervy play in the tournaments proper afterwards, worth it.

“We were working 14 hours a day preparing everything for the first Desert Classic so I’ve hardly played and I’m going to look stupid in front of the members. All of a sudden I’m feeling a lot of pressure. So three weeks before I fished my clubs out. I would finish giving lessons at 10 o’clock at night, quickly run home, have a shower, half an hours kip, and then put the range lights on and belt balls all night long, over and over and over again until I actually had an awful cut down here [pointing to his left palm] because of a poor grip and soft hands. I don’t think we paid for the electricity in those days but I’ve paid with a scar for life.”

Williams would love to play more often and has a goal of teeing it up in the Sharjah Senior Masters if he can get his game, and his now 59-year-old body, to co-operate. But it’s teaching that really inspires him.

“I don’t think I’m really somebody, maybe not good enough, to be at the sharp end teaching top professionals but that was never been my goal. I actually don’t think you get as much satisfaction as seeing someone that’s come along, dead keen, they finally get the ball up in the air, they’re running around jumping in the air, like whoopee!

“I’m sure some people here think I’m a bit of a pain in the arse, but for people to say its really nice to have you back, and there’s been too many saying that for it not to be half true, it’s humbling. I think maybe they just like my enthusiasm, that I care. It is lovely to be back.”

The feeling from friends old and new at Emirates G.C. is mutual. For lessons, and yarns, delivered with genuine enthusiasm, the club couldn’t have hired anyone better.

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