The Round Table: Where are you going on your fall golf trip?

Each week, we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

The PGA Tour is off to Europe for a two-week stint with the Scottish Open and then the Open Championship. It’s the last major of the year. Which player most needs to win that major, either to validate their recent emergence as an elite player or to round out a lengthy career resume?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, and Collin Morikawa have all failed to sustain their initial “next phenom?” promise and could really benefit from an Open victory… although this is the major that I would least expect any of them to win.  But the guy who really showed “phenom” promise, and delivered on the promise early on, was Jordan Spieth.  He keeps threatening to return to previous skill, then falls back again.  A win at Portrush would validate a pretty great resumé and might propel Jordan’s confidence enough that he could get himself into the Scheffler-McIlroy conversation.  He’s still young enough to have a great decade ahead.

Craig Loughry, Golf Ontario (@craigloughry): I think Rory and Scheffler have a lot riding on this last Major. Scheffler has been good to this point, but a Major under his belt would certainly make him player of the year. Rory, well Rory just needs it and maybe that changes his attitude towards the media and doing interviews.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: When this subject is approached, it must include the question, “Who is capable”? And I’m not sure anybody “needs” a major. However, winning a major certainly places a first-time winner in a different category. I doubt any of the scribes on this show will look past Tommy Fleetwood, and I’m not going to either. What I do look forward to is watching an event when I recognize the name of a player I know. The quality of golf is unquestionable, and I’m reasonably abreast, but life is going by quicker than I can adapt to.

TJ Rule, Golf Away Tours (@GolfAwayTJ): Justin Rose has to win one before he’s done, and he’s been so close in majors lately, I personally hope he can win an Open Championship to cap off a great career.  Another name that came to mind immediately is Corey Conners, who needs a major to add to his career resume that is pretty solid but maybe slightly below expectations.  And of course, how can you not say Tommy Fleetwood?  C’mon Tommy, you can finish one off!

Hal Quinn, Freelance Writer, Vancouver: On the storied links of Portrush, it would be ceart (Gaelic for righteous) if Tommy Fleetwood would win it. If he just comes close again to realizing his potential, he’ll have to lose the long locks. He has been so good for so long it would be heartening to see him finally tear up — for the right reason — late on a Sunday.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine: Tommy Fleetwood needs a win to validate his immense talent and a major would be even more fitting; Ludvig Aberg needs a major as the next step in his superstar trajectory and he needs it now to ensure he doesn’t get off track; and Jason Day needs another major to cap off a brilliant career and validate the promise he showed ten years ago.

We haven’t talked much about the LPGA Tour this year. Perennial all-stars such as Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko and our own Brooke Henderson haven’t been setting the world on fire and the Tour has had a different winner each week all year. The Ladies are now headed to Europe for three events, two of them majors, and the door is wide open for someone to stake their claim to being the dominant player. Who do you think that will be?

Deeks: Boy (sic), the talent pool on the LPGA Tour is so deep these days, you’ve got to be so good to rise above the crowd.  I don’t count Nelly out from continuing to be the dominant player, but the one who stands out for me as a possibility is Celine Boutier.  She works her derrière off on her game, and unless she gets too distracted by being the greatest female French player ever, she might have a very good, long run.  I wish I knew what’s ailing Brooke (prescription glasses, maybe?), but once she figures it out, I don’t discount her return to top form at some point.

Loughry:  My diamond in the rough is Maja Stark. I think she’s ready to take the next step, playing the best golf of her life right now. But Minjee Lee is likely to be the Tours top player this year, she’s a cut above the rest in my humble opinion. That said, I wouldn’t count Korda out yet, she can go on a heater and rattle off multiple wins in a short stretch.

Schurman: Brooke has provided everything any fan could hope for. She has nearly doubled the number of tour victories of other Canadians; she won majors, and played for over 10 years, winning at least once every year except one. She’s had upper back issues and a recent eye surgery. But more than anything, she became engaged. Two things can derail a career faster than ice becomes water: wealth and a family. Currently, there won’t be a dominant lady player. The best are too good. At least ten players are in contention for the number one spot. A sport seems to thrive when two or three competitors dominate at the top. Now isn’t that time. BTW, I’m happy for Brooke; she drew me back into LPGA golf.

Rule: Yeah, it’s strange that Nelly has dropped off so much from her dominant performance the past couple of years. I think Minjee Lee is destined to be a dominant player, if she isn’t already, having won a major earlier this year.  She has the game to go on a run that few others can.  She’s won the Evian before, so if she can do it again, it will pave her way to an epic year.

Quinn: It is hard — no, impossible — to watch the LPGA Tour with Morgan Pressel’s nails-on-blackboard voice, so combined with the personality deficit of the fields — (thank the golf gawds for Charley Hull) — who can watch or care?  Hello people! This is supposed to be entertainment! In the Saudi fund era, getting a new sponsor to shell out millions does not a Major make. Who wins? Does it matter?

Mumford: I’m impressed with Minjee Lee and Jeeno Thitikul but also wary of the Japanese golfers. A year or two ago, there were only a couple of Japanese players on the Tour. Now a lot more and they seem to get into contention regularly, especially in majors.

You’re planning your fall golf trip. Canada is out due to weather; the U.S. is out due to political considerations. Where are you going?

Deeks: Funny you should ask.  My partner and I are thinking of doing a motor trip in northern England in late September.  She’s a keen golfer, too, and we’re thinking we might take our clubs and play well-known courses like Royal Birkdale, Hoylake, Ganton, and Formby.  Not exactly a well-trodden tourist path, but that’s even better.  One day, I hope we can make our fall golf trip to the Melbourne Sandbelt in Australia.

Loughry: If I’m planning a golf trip, I’d go to Ireland first, there are just too many doozies not to go and test my game at. I would say Australia, but pretty much all the ones I want to play are private.

Schurman: It’s a sad subject! I loved the USA, Americans and the country, but I doubt I will ever go there again. I have family and friends I will never see again. I love Scotland and would love to see Ireland. Spain and Portugal are beautiful. The Canary Islands intrigue me, and of course, Bermuda is special. Mexico has some fantastic options, too, but my problem is flying time. I’m an aged 6′ 7″ and I get severe leg cramps. My wife and I went to Scotland and had a bulkhead seat for the 5-hour trip, which almost killed me. How would I ever sit in a normal seat? My choice would be to take a cruise over and back. Why can’t things go back to the way they were? I remember walking across the Rainbow Bridge, eating lunch in a park, and walking back, and doing the same at Nogales, Arizona, to Nogales, Mexico, without an ID. Pierre Trudeau wanted to make Granada part of Canada. I’m for that!

Rule: We’re getting this question every day at Golf Away Tours, given the political climate down south.  The most popular alternative is Portugal.  There are many great courses down in the Algarve but even more top end courses now surrounding Lisbon, with the two courses at Comporta being two of the best in Europe let alone Portugal.  And the food and wine to boot!  It’s a great spot to visit, one of my favourites.

Quinn: Over the past few decades, have accidentally spent a number of months in Portugal. The late great Sean Connery loved golf, played everywhere he was shooting, and he loved playing in the Algarve along Portugal’s Mediterranean coast. I agree. The courses are wonderful, the views spectacular, the seafood sublime, and in the Fall the Euros are finished their summer invasion and the Algarve is at peace.

Mumford: I’m going to Ireland. And it doesn’t even have to be the big-name courses. In fact, golf is secondary to the people, culture and history. I could spend a month in Dublin without ever swinging a club. My slightly warmer weather destination would be the Algarve in Portugal. Amazing food, wine, scenery and golf. Affordable too.