Fuller wins wild card for the 2021 U.S. PGA Championship, which is the old way to do it

This article was first published in Oriental Golf

Ricky Fuller, a mainstay of the "best player who didn't win a Grand Slam title", finally didn't have to worry about missing a grand slam for the second time in a row.

Recently, the 2021 U.S. PGA Championship wild card list was announced, and Fuller and John Catlin were invited to participate.

No one has a problem with John Catlin. Catlin has won three European Tour games in the past year and is in the top 100 in the world rankings, in line with the appetite of the event's organizers, the American Professional PGA Association.

Fuller's recent performance has been less good, not only the championship drought lasted for two years, but the world ranking fell out of the hundredth place. Unlike Jordan Spieth, who regained the title after nearly four years of struggle, Fuller shows no signs of recovery.

Therefore, some people questioned the American Professional PGA Association's bias toward Fuller, and felt that this wild card was not of the standard. The U.S. PGA Championship has always been a professional image - it is the only tournament in the four Majors that has a lineup of all professional players, and should not be given a wild card because Fuller is very popular.

The PGA Association of America will certainly not take back Fuller's wild card because of this, and they may not have bothered to respond to the question.

But the author is a bit unfair for them, and sending a wild card to a well-known star like Fuller is the old man's move.

Fuller hasn't been happy these two years, but he hasn't always been. Since his debut, Fuller has not relied on looks to eat, he won the PGA Tour's flagship players tournament in 2015, and has won 5 PGA Tour and 2 European Tour victories so far, although he has not achieved a breakthrough in the Grand Slam, but has also won three runners-up.

Without excellent performance on the field, Fuller's popularity is difficult to maintain for a long time.

The moon is cloudy and sunny, and the player's competitive career is up and down. In the past two years, Fuller's friends have reported frequent successes, which shows Fuller's frustration.

Frustrated to owe someone a punch?

If Fuller keeps the world ranking in the top 100, the doubts should be much smaller, or if he can earn the qualification, it will be even more speechless.

But the PGA Association of Americans for Professionals considered it further.

Even if Fuller is at a professional low, it is not certain that he will be like Mickelson in the future, and he will suddenly break out one day to win several big games. The best thing a master is to fry cold rice and play idle chess, the American Professional PGA Association at this time shot, Fuller should appreciate, not only will work hard in the event, the future may be in other occasions to give back. Fuller is the person on the scene, and this kind of thing can be described as a familiar road.

Taking a step back, even if Fuller's performance is not satisfactory, it will not have a major impact on the US PGA Championship. Almost all of the top 100 players in the world rankings were present, with Dustin Johnson, Spieth, Justin Thomas, Morrison, Hideki Matsuyama and others supporting them, and the game was definitely exciting.

A senior person once said that in the 156-person lineup, 100 masters can maintain the competitive level of the event, that is, professionalism. The allocation and attribution of the other 56 places has a lot of room for maneuver. If these 56 players do not perform as expected, and there is a promotion line to support the bottom, the last two rounds are still very promising.

This should be another reason why the American Professional PGA Association gave Fuller Wild Cards. In any case, Fuller's high popularity can really drain the event, and this move is not a loss.