It’s officially been a while since we’ve had any real drama down the stretch at a major championship.
Rory McIlroy won the Open Championship by two shots Sunday, but after starting the final round at Royal Liverpool with a six-shot lead, the quesiton for most of the weekend was not whether McIlroy would win – but by how many shots. The Ulsterman became the second straight wire-to-wire winner at a major, following Martin Kaymer’s eight-shot romp at last month’s U.S. Open.
The wide margins of victory are nothing new in the majors, as this now marks six straight times that a major has been decided by two or more shots: Justin Rose won the 2013 U.S. Open by two over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day, Mickelson then won the 2013 Open Championship by three over Henrik Stenson, Jason Dufner took home the 2013 PGA Championship by two shots over Jim Furyk and Bubba Watson won the Masters this year by three over Jonas Blixt and Jordan Spieth.
The last time a major was decided by a single shot was the 2013 Masters, when Adam Scott beat Angel Cabrera on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
The current streak is the longest run of multiple-shot victories in majors since a streak of eight straight in 1980-81, beginning with Seve Ballesteros’ four-shot win at the 1980 Masters and concluding with Larry Nelson’s four-shot win at the 1981 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.
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