Monday 17 August 2015 12:37, UK
Jason Day’s first major win, Jordan Spieth’s elevation to world No 1 and Rory McIlroy’s return from injury show that world golf is undergoing a changing of the guard, according to pundit Robert Lee.
Day won the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, the 27-year-old winning his first major after nine previous top 10 finishes.
Spieth finished runner-up to the Australian but second place was enough to earn the American the world No 1 ranking.
Day’s success will open the floodgates, according to Lee, and shows that the young trio have become the new force of world golf.
"Day has been a really high-class player for a long time and I think this is been coming for him but he’s had that seed of self-doubt," Lee told Sky Sports News HQ.
"Every time that he’s been in with a chance he finds some way not to get it done and the longer that goes on when you’re that young, you think ‘am I going to be a Sergio (Garcia) or a Lee Westwood?’ That player that contends so many times in majors but never gets it done.
"Now he knows that he can absolutely do it, playing golf at the highest quality in the final round against the hottest guy this year, in the world - Jordan Spieth."
Day set a record low at the majors with a 20-under total, an achievement he put down to straight drives.
But the low scores are set to become the norm, according to Lee.
"Golf is changing - it’s a power game," he said.
"Players are getting fitter and fitter and they’re getting better and better and yet it is amazing when you see all these top guys who are pushing it all the time, inch by inch they’re going to get better, but somebody is able to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
"There’s no question that, with the marriage of the titanium-headed drivers and the modern golf ball, guys that are strong can generate a lot of power. They are getting a lot of yardage out of that. It’s not unusual now - it would have been freaky - to hit 350 yards down the middle.
"Spieth - this kid at 22 - I think he’s the nearest thing to Jack Nicklaus I’ve seen. I think the world is his oyster.
"Jordan Spieth can do whatever he wants. But how lucky are we? He’s No 1, Rory’s No 2, Jason Day is No 3 , then you’ve got the Dustin Johnsons, the Bubba Watsons, all those other guys - golf is in rude health.
"I see Jordan, Rory, with some Jason Day chucked in there as well, going toe-to-toe for the next few months to try and establish the top dog.
"I think we’re in for great days. Tiger’s on the slide, Phil (Mickelson) is on the slide - it’s the changing of the guard.”
