Americans disappear at St. Andrews July 18th, 2010
On the windy seaside links at historic St. Andrews, the army of Americans came ashore full of confidence, strong in numbers and, given their history hereabouts, fairly assured about the outcome.
Then they red, white and blew it.
Going a long way toward validating the opinions of a particularly vocal European star and one of his wisecracking countrymen, the Sons of Uncle Sam cried uncle on Saturday at the British Open, when it became clear that the Yanks wont be around when the claret jug is handed to the winner on Sunday night.
Theres nothing pretty about what Phil Mickelson and the Yanks are doing at St. Andrews. (AP) Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood all but predicted it in various fashion this week as players prepped for their week on the Old Course, American dominance be damned.
Poulter, No. 8 in the world rankings, raised some eyebrows when he told a Scottish newspaper that the American window of dominance at major championships was closing because the majority of the top U.S. stars are already in their 40s.
Fellow Englishman Lee Westwood, in a hilarious barb offered at a heavily attended journalism awards banquet on Tuesday night, congratulated PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem on Steve Strickers win last week at the John Deere Classic and said, “Lovely to see an American win on your tour.”
Northern Irelands McDowell, noting that the European Tour has made an annual stop at St. Andrews over the past few years, sagely predicted the familiarity would give tour members yet another advantage.
The 54-hole scorecard: So far, the three are spot-on, as they say over here, and ESPN is probably asking for a rights-fee refund. The leaderboard is littered with Europeans who are seeking to win a second consecutive major championship on the heels of McDowells victory last month at the U.S. Open, a win that snapped a 40-year Euro drought in that event and seemingly raised group expectations to ye who went 31 starts at major championships back-to-back Grand Slam wins for the second time in three years.
Maybe we should have seen it coming. It started as the British Open, but is starting to look more like the Madrid Masters.
“Its been a strong spring and summer for European golf,” said Swedens Henrik Stenson, who is tied for fourth. “A lot of players have played well and were going to have an extremely strong Ryder Cup team this fall. As you can see, Im trying my very hardest to try and make sure I get there.”
He and a legion of others. Though South Africas surprisingly stoic Louis Oosthuizen is leading by four, Europeans occupy the next five positions and the closest American is a whopping nine shots back.
Europeans have won six times on the PGA Tour already this year, including a pair by Justin Rose. The world rankings, not to mentio the color of the European flag at Ryder Cup matches.
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Ten of the top 19 players in the world rankings are from Europe, including five from England alone. There are six Americans in the same rankings slot and only one, Anthony Kim, is in his 20s.
Still, it was hard to envision such a letdown coming into St. Andrews, which is touted as the home of golf. It has indeed been a home away from home for the Americans, who had won six of the past eight British Opens staged at the Old Course and seven of the past 10 overall. Since World War II, the Yanks have won seven of 12 at the Old Course, a list of winners that includes stars like Sam Snead and two-timers Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. Europeans had managed two wins since 1946.
At midday, the electronic scoreboard featured one American name. By the end of play, Dustin Johnson, Sean OHair and Nick Watney moved into the group of 11 players tied for eighth or better, although mostly through the attrition of others around them.
Poulter threw down the gauntlet earlier in the week when he told the that the American era is winding down because the star players who have been top-10 staples in the recent past, like Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Stricker and Kenny Perry, are already in their 40s. Woods, beset by putting issues, is probably the worlds oldest 34-year-old given his four knee surgeries and manifold personal issues.
“The American guys who have won all the tournaments over the past few ye can he do what Vijay [Singh] did in his 40s? Hes strong enough; its whether he is hungry enough, I guess.
“The talent to replace them is very young and needs a bit more experience, so we have a 15-year window. The Americans have a gap and that gap is being filled by European guys right now, guys who are in their late 20s, early 30s and who are doing the job right now.
“In five years time we should have taken a few majors. I dont want to put a number on it but the [English] guys that are in the top 40 in the world are all capable of winning them. Its for us to go out there and prove it but we can certainly win one or two a year, for sure.”
Stenson was Johnson, OHair and Watney are all in their 20s and have multiple wins.
“Whether some of the American players are [old] or not, age seems to be not that big of an issue, given how Tom Watson played last year in this championship and when Kenny Perry gets on those hot streaks, he seems to be unstoppable,” he said.
“It comes and goes, form comes and goes, and if you look at all the players over a long perspective, everybody goes through ups and downs. But sure, its been a good summer for Europe.”
Summer has barely started and theres a certain biennial event this fall in Wales, a proposition that is looking more difficult for the Yanks by the day. Somewhere in a nearby St. Andrews hotel room, European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie was kicking up his heels and enjoying every televised minute.
“If you have a look at the world rankings, there are a lot of Europeans up there at the moment, a lot of youngsters, and I think Colin Montgomerie is very happy about that,” said Germanys Martin Kaymer, who is No. 13 in the world. “I think its great for the European golf, and you can see that European players suit those conditions more than the Americans.
“I think in Wales this year, I hope its going to be bad weather to be honest.”
Just what the Americans need, more dark clouds.