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Johnson-Immelman’s Back-to-Back Feat

Apr 14, 2008, 1:48 PM UTC

The first thing I thought about yesterday watching Zach Johnson help Trevor Immelman into his richly earned green jacket was ... when is the last time that the Masters had back-to-back champions who were both first-time winners of major tournaments?
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â†µâ†µI was mighty surprised at the answer to that question. â†µ

â†µâ†µLike many I suppose, I think of the PGA as the major that people win as their first major, that poor, frail sister of the Grand Slam foursome, not posing near the challenge pressure-wise as the rigors of Amen Corner, the perils of Scottish fescue or the overall humiliation of the U.S. Open wherever it may roam. â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd yet, just eyeballing the list, I discovered that not only is back-to-back first-time major-winning Masters champions a common phenomenon, but recently it’s been happening at least once a decade:â†µ

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â†µ2000 – present: Weir/Mickelson, 2003-04 – Johnson/Immelman, 2007-08â†µ
â†µ1990 – 1999: Woosnam/Couples, 1991-92 – Woods/O’Meara, 1997-98
â†µ1980 – 1989: Crenshaw/Langer, 1984-85â†µ

â†µâ†µCompared to the other three, however, The Masters still remains the toughest nut to crack for your first major, although it holds that title by just a hair over the British Open given the results since 1980.â†µ

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â†µâ†µJust as at Augusta, four newbies have won the British since 2000 (Paddy Harrington, Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis and David Duval), and four in the 90’s (Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie). But while only two first-timers earned green jackets in the 80’s, five drank from the Claret Jug – Bill Rogers, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Mark Calcavecchia. â†µ

â†µâ†µI was surprised to learn that in comparison to its British counterpart, the U.S. Open has proven a relative sieve for major newcomers. It’s currently on a streak of three in a row (Michael Campbell, Geoff Ogilvy and Angel Cabrera) with five first-timers in the eight tournaments of the millennium so far. And in the 90’s, the U.S. Open boasted a string of five straight virgin major-winners as champions (Tom Kite, Lee Janzen, Ernie Els, Corey Pavin and Steve Jones - 1992-1996).â†µ

â†µâ†µBut my instincts proved sound so far as that poor, frail fourth major. Dating back to 1990, the PGA Championship has been the most likely tournament to break your major cherry at with eleven total virgin champs - three since 2000 (David Toms, Rich Been and Shaun Micheel) and a whopping eight in the 90’s (Wayne Grady, John Daly, Nick Price, Paul Azinger, Steve Elkington, Mark Brooks, Davis Love, and Vijay Singh).â†µ

â†µâ†µOne final note – next year, history could be matched at Augusta with a third straight major-virgin champion. Only once before have first-time major-winners won three consecutive green jackets. It happened from 1967-69, with Gay Brewer, Bob Goalby and George Archer the culprits, Goalby, of course, having won his title outright due to Roberto De Vincenza’s infamously incorrect scorecard. â†µ

â†µâ†µGiven the implications of that threesome, one has to imagine that Trevor Immelman and Zach Johnson will be actively hoping that another first-time winner does not win next year at Augusta. You see, the Masters victories of Brewer, Goalby and Archer were their first and only major triumphs. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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