Is there really a Big 3 on the PGA tour?

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So the past year or so, it seems there has been a marketing push for a "Big 3" of the PGA tour in Rory, Spieth, and Day. Well DJ just kicked that door down and took world number 3 away from Rory with his US Open victory - snagging his 10th victory overall on the PGA tour, and continuing his streak of 9 consecutive seasons with a victory.

So the question is: Is there really a big 3 on tour? Is it a big 4 now? Is there anyone else that could be in that same conversation?
 
Nope. Not to me. The players don't play enough to make it a big 3, in my opinion. So what we have is a really deep tour that has some really marketable guys at the top, that have had tremendous success the last 12 months or so.
 
i am going with 4 after this past weekend. Though, if Rory does not start playing up to his capabilities again soon, it may be back down to 3 with him exiting this grouping.
 
I don't think there is a big 3 or 4 or 5. I think there is a lot of talented golfer's out on the tour that can all win any given weekend.
 
The PGA Tour is so deep with marketable talent the only people that seem to be pressing the idea of a top anything is The Golf Channel.
 
So the past year or so, it seems there has been a marketing push for a "Big 3" of the PGA tour in Rory, Spieth, and Day. Well DJ just kicked that door down and took world number 3 away from Rory with his US Open victory - snagging his 10th victory overall on the PGA tour, and continuing his streak of 9 consecutive seasons with a victory.

So the question is: Is there really a big 3 on tour? Is it a big 4 now? Is there anyone else that could be in that same conversation?

There might be a Big Dozen.

You can't be missing cuts or that far out of big tournaments and still be a part of a big 3. I think JDay did a nice job of reminding us that at any moment he can take something over, same with Rory, but they were only flutters on the day. Nothing too dramatic.
 
media hype
 
I actually think of it as a Big 2, with Rory being behind Spieth and Day. It seems to me like Rory is living off his recent past rather than actually winning.
 
Nope. It's a media push and depending on the time of year the top 3-4 can be different. Media has to creat stories and the rivalry is the one they want to manufacture
 
No I don't think there is a big 3. Maybe marketing wise there is a big 3 based on the faces that in put in front of us daily, but this year is kind of a reminder at least in my opinion that it doesn't appear that anyone is ever going to dominate like Tiger did. Maybe Jason Day has some of that appeal if you see his name on the leaderboard, but they way Rory and Jordan have played this year as a whole...meh.
 
I don't think there is a big 3 or 4. Big Dozen maybe, but there are a lot of guys that can go out and win almost any tournament out there. Having to market that many faces get difficult I think, so PGA and GC want a couple of guys they can point to, but i think that's going to bite them in the tail, when people tune in to watch Rory on sunday and he's missed the cut, they're not going to stick around.
 
There is way to much talent on the tour to have a big 3, 4, or 5 in my opinion.
 
Rory has seven Top 10 finishes in his last 10 majors. How many others guys are doing that?

Spieth has five top 4 finishes in his last 6 majors. How many other guys are doing that?

Day has finished in the Top 10 of the last 5 majors. How many other guys are doing that?

DJ should be considered in this group too, a bunch of top 10 in majors recently and now a win. The lack of a win is why he wasn't in this group.

I can't think of anybody else who is showing up in majors the last few years the way these guys are. Fowler was close for one year. Week to week, sure anybody can win a PGA Tour event. But when talking about the best golfers who actually cares about who did what at Wells Fargo or The Memorial?
 
No, not at all. The big 3 thing is just something the media has created to build up a story.

There was a much bigger gap between the best and worst players when Jack, Arnie, and Gary were the real big 3. Its just not possible these days, and I think the game is better that way.

The media just likes to manufacture stories, create non existent rivalries, and drum up the suspense
 
Nope. Not to me. The players don't play enough to make it a big 3, in my opinion. So what we have is a really deep tour that has some really marketable guys at the top, that have had tremendous success the last 12 months or so.

This is my take as well.
 
I don't think there is a clear cut Big 3. We as sports consumers love the idea of a "Big 3" and love quantity of quality, but then bemoan that there isn't a single dominant player. The reason why there isn't a clear cut Big 3 is that the tour is much deeper than 3 guys. That's a good think. Instead of trying to pin down and celebrate the top 3, I think we celebrate how many great golfers there are right now.
 
I don't think so. Times have changed so much. You've got a big group of guys that are all friends, but as for a specific Big Three? No. That has a LOT to do with how deep and competitive the PGA Tour is now, compared to the 60's.
 
If DJ wins a couple more tournaments this year, or maybe just another major, then I'd call him part of the Big 4. I believe he's capable, its just whether or not he would do that.

Until he does that, I wouldn't call him part of the Big "X." He's just a really strong competitor who can win every single week.

~Rock
 
I don't see a Big 3 in the sense the way Arnie, Jack and Gary held the name. We have some great talent on tour right now and a few guys at the top that are not only tremendous golfers, but are marketed well. I think we need to see more head to head/final round battles between the top 3 or 4 players in the world to start a true Big 3 conversation.
 
It changes so quickly, Adam Scott would have been mentioned if this was asked earlier in the season. Right now I would say Day, Speith, Johnson and McIlroy are at the top of the conversation.
 
i am going with 4 after this past weekend. Though, if Rory does not start playing up to his capabilities again soon, it may be back down to 3 with him exiting this grouping.

i'm not sure i keep jordan up there much longer.
 
i'm not sure i keep jordan up there much longer.
I tend to agree. My eyes tell me that JD and DJ are the cream of the crop right now. Jason needs to put in a little bunker work though.
 
I tend to agree. My eyes tell me that JD and DJ are the cream of the crop right now. Jason needs to put in a little bunker work though.

does he struggle often in bunkers? I don't feel like I noticed it until Oakmont. he really struggled.


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does he struggle often in bunkers? I don't feel like I noticed it until Oakmont. he really struggled.


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Not to my knowledge but that display on 17 yesterday was not pretty.
 
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