Jimmy Walker defends his title this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, one of three victories he claimed during the 2013-14 season on the PGA Tour.
Walker never previously won on the circuit, but he became a marquee player at age 35, writing perhaps the most remarkable story among four players who produced memorable breakthrough seasons.
Especially since his came at an age when most players are approaching the twilight of their careers.
“I’ve gone through everything,” said Walker, whose victory in the Frys.com Open in October 2013 was his first in 188 starts on the PGA Tour. “I’ve played, not on every tour, but on a lot of tours. I won on a lot of tours. This is kind of the final steppingstone. …
“I wouldn’t take back anything I’ve ever done or anything I’ve ever gone through to get here. Everything you do, hopefully you can learn from and build on it. That’s what I try to do.”
The other three to emerge didn’t wait quite so long to figure it out as did Walker, who blossomed after hooking up with teaching great Butch Harmon, the first swing guru for Tiger Woods as a pro.
Patrick Reed, 23, won twice by March to give him his first three victories on the PGA Tour in a span of about seven months. In the fall, he was the best player on the United States Ryder Cup team with a 3-0-1 record.
Chris Kirk, 29, also won twice during the 2013-14 season, giving him three PGA Tour victories in his career, then tied for fourth in the Tour Championship and tied for fourth again in defense of his McGladrey Classic title in October.
Finally, Billy Horschel, 27, got hot during the PGA Tour playoffs, tying for second in the Deutsche Bank Championship after being in contention until the 72nd hole, then winning the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship to steal the FedEx Cup from the big-name players.
So who will provide the biggest breakthroughs in the 2014-15 season, which got under way with seven events during the fall and continued with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last week?
Young guns Jordan Spieth, 21, and Rickie Fowler, 24, each have only one victory on the PGA Tour and are expected to start finding the winner’s circle more often, but they already are established among the best players in the world.
The question really is, which players will emerge from the pack and fulfill their promise?
Among the candidates are Hideki Matsuyama of Japan (pictured), Harris English, Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe, Robert Streb, Ben Martin and Sang-Moon Bae of South Korea. The last three were tournament winners during the early stages of this season.
Matsuyama, 22, owns six titles in Japan, including the recent Dunlop Phoenix. Last season, he won for the first time on the PGA Tour in the Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village.
Big things were expected from English, 25, since he came out of Georgia in 2011, and he has won twice on the circuit. However, once he really gets going, the victories are expected to come in bunches.
Bae, 28, is well established with 12 titles in Asia, and he appears ready to take off on the PGA Tour after claiming his second victory in the United States at the Frys.com Open at Silverado to open the new season in October.
The only stumbling block for Bae is that he might be required to return home to South Korea and serve a two-year stint in the military, although he is appealing with national officials in an attempt to remain on the PGA Tour.
Martin, 27, holed a 46-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole to help him capture the Shriners Hospitals from Children Open in October for his initial victory on the circuit. He shot a 62 in the second round. Martin was due after finishing third on three occasions during the 2013-14 season.
Streb, 27, won a week later in the McGladrey Classic, beating De Jonge and Will MacKenzie in a playoff, after coming close to winning when he finished second earlier in the year in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
De Jonge, the oldest of the group at 34, hasn’t won since the 2008 Xerox Classic on what is now the Web.com Tour, but his McGladrey performance equaled his best previous result on the circuit at the 2012 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Walker should give him inspiration that he still can become a star.
Of course, the depth on the PGA Tour is such that there might be a breakthrough season for a player who to this point flew under the radar.
–Story courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
