Time for Europeans to take centre stage

Jul 17 2007 by Peter Guy, Liverpool Daily Post

STATISTICS are always trotted out prior to any Open Championship, the main one this time being the 31 majors that have passed since a European victory.

Why have Europeans figured so rarely after the golden days of the late 1980s and the 90s?

Then Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal won seven of nine Masters between 1988 and 1996 and Faldo claimed his three Open Championships for good measure to take his majors total to six.

There have been 31 majors since Scotland’s Paul Lawrie was the last European to win one, the Open Championship at Carnoustie in 1999.

Now eight years on and with players from this side of the Atlantic having dominated the Ryder Cup in the last three contests, it is surely time for another ‘home’ win.

But what’s rarely thrown into the majors’ equation is the fact that the United States, with Australasia, – including New Zealand – and to a lesser extent South Africa, usually provide at least half the field.

At Carnoustie on Thursday, 45 Americans will tee up – more than a quarter of the qualifiers – and there are 20 Australians, two from New Zealand and eight from South Africa, 75 from the field of 156.

Add in a handful of Argentinians, Japanese, Koreans, and several other nationalities and Europeans make up less than half the field. Of the 31 majors since Lawrie won, Americans have won no less than 22 – with Tiger Woods having won 11.

South Africa have claimed three, with Retief Goosen having won the US Open twice and Ernie Els the 2002 Open at Muirfield. Fiji’s Vijay Singh has claimed one Masters and one US PGA triumph and there have been US Open wins in the last three years for Kiwi Michael Campbell in 2005, Australian Geoff Ogilvy in 2006 and Argentinian Angel Cabrera this year. To complete the set of non-US winners, Canadian Mike Weir won the 2003 Masters.

Europeans who ply their trade mainly on the US circuit will testify to the depth of the field at most US tournaments, but surely the same can be said of the European Tour?

Ryder Cup players Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia spend most of the time in the States, only having the occasional foray in the European Tour.

It’s on these and the likes of Swedes Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson and Dane Thomas Bjorn and England’s Justin Rose and Lee Westwood that European hopes are pinned every year. To say nothing of Colin Mongomerie, Scotland’s favourite son. This year the field contains just eight Scots, so what price a true home win?

Monty and Lawrie are joined by Sandy Lyle, the champion at Royal St George’s in 1985, European Tour regulars Alastair Forsyth and Scott Drummond, Richie Ramsey, who qualified by winning last year’s US Amateur Championship and two relative unknowns Ross Bain, who qualifyied in Asia and Douglas McGuigan, who did the same in Africa.

There are seven Irishman playing at Carnoustie. Ryder Cup trio Harrington, Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke, European Tour regular Graham McDowell, amateur Rory McIlroy and David Higgins and Justin Kehoe, who made it through final qualifying last week.

Wales have just two; Cardiff’s Bradley Dredge, who has had two runners-up spots on the European Tour this year and lies 16th in the order of merit, and amateur Llewellyn Matthews from Southerndown, winner of the St Andrews Links Trophy, who got through at the final qualifying stage.

There are six amateurs vying for the silver medal at Carnoustie.

Ramsey, McIlroy and Matthews are joined by American Drew Weaver, who won the British Amateur at Royal Lytham last month, England international Paul Waring from Bromborough and David Coupland from Boston in Lincolnshire, who got through qualifying at Monifieth along with Waring and Matthews, making it an amateur clean sweep there.

So is there a European winner out there this time?

I certainly hope so and I would look no further than the three young English lions Casey, Donald and Rose.