So could a Euro end the 39 year U.S. Open jinx?
So can a European win the U.S. Open. The last to do it was Tony Jacklin in 1970, John Huggan names some Euro's that can win this week.
It has been, over the years, a tale of almost unremitting futility. Not since Tony Jacklin way, way back in 1970 has a citizen of the Old World emerged victorious in what the colonies call the “national championship.” Which is odd, given the ever-lengthening list of major winners produced by Europe since the then 25-year old Englishman saw off the world’s best by as many as seven shots to lift the US Open trophy at Hazeltine in Minnesota. Hell, not even the newly knighted Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo managed to win an event seemingly tailor-made for his own distinctively plodding brand of precision golf.
Photo: © USGA | | Tony Jacklin with his wife after winning 1970 U.S. Open |
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And this year, with one notable exception, no one seems to think that any of Europe’s finest has much chance of adding a well-timed punchline to what has become one of golf’s longest running gags. Coming into this week’s event at Bethpage Black, the biggest stories are Tiger’s return to form, the Mickelson family’s battle with cancer (go Amy) and Mike Davis’ graduated rough. Any mention of Euro hopes have been whispered rather than yelled.
Well, I’m here to tell you that such understatement is a mistake - a big mistake. Despite the well-chronicled goings-on elsewhere and on the basis that no game is funnier than golf when it comes to predicting success or failure, this could very well be Europe’s year. If only because no one, not even the newly-minted world number three, Paul Casey, will arrive on Long Island a short-odds wager to win the thing.
Indeed, for me, Europe has five men (sort of anyway) capable of going all the way to victory this coming Sunday. But only, you understand, if Tiger performs at a level more than a little below that he showed in the final round of the recent Memorial Tournament. If that happens, all other bets are off.
1)
Paul Casey: No one has won more often around the world in 2009 than the 31-year old Englishman. No one has accumulated more world rankin g points either. Hardly anyone hits the ball farther off the tee, a fact that will stand the three-time Ryder Cup player in good stead around a course that will, if the forecast is correct, be playing long and soft. And, if one is truly looking for the offbeat omen, Casey even bears a passing resemblance to the aforementioned Jacklin. Whatever, on paper, he is Europe’s best hope going in, despite that closing 78 at Memorial.
2)
Ian Poulter: I must be honest here; no one has spent more time doubting – then being surprised by – the man who pushed Padraig Harrington closest at Royal Birkdale last year. Too much was perhaps made of the ultimately meaningless putt the extravagantly-trousered one holed on the 18th green 11 months ago, but the fact is that he made it thinking he had to. In comparison with some of the pathetic stuff some of his compatriots (see Luke Donald and Justin Rose) have come up with when they have20found themselves on even the fringes of major contention, Poulter’s putt was positively Herculean. He may not be the most talented individual out there, but no one – not even Tiger – has more self-belief.
3)
Padraig Harrington: Okay, so he has hit barely half a dozen decent shots since that memorably immaculate back nine at Birkdale sealed what was the second of three major victories in the space of 13 months. Reflecting that fact, his results have been disappointing at best. Ranked number three in the world as recently as January, the Irishman has slumped to number 11 going into the major I’m sure he covets above all others. Amidst the plethora of choking perpetrated by Messrs Mickelson and Montgomerie at Winged Foot three years ago, what tends to get forgotten – by everyone except him, I suspect – is that Harrington bogied the last three holes and finished fifth, two agonising shots behind the winner, Geoff Ogilvy . If he can get his overly active mind off swing mechanics for one week, the amiable Irishman will be right there come Sunday. He is, after all, a proven winner.
4)
Sergio Garcia: I know, I know, he can’t putt, not even a little bit. And I know his heart is still aching over losing the Great White Morgan-Leigh. And I know he whines a little too much for his own good sometimes. But this coming week, I’m not sure any of that is going to matter too much. With one or two notable exceptions – the 15th comes immediately to mind – the putting surfaces at Bethpage are a fairly bland bunch. Flattish greens, a dodgy weather forecast and, despite Davis’ best efforts, a course set up to punish anything other than straight off the tee, plays right into the hands of the superior ball strikers. And, of those, surely no one is better than the Spaniard. So, like Harrington but for different reasons, if Garcia can get his head out of his you-know-where for four days, there is no reason why he should not be contending with a vengeance down the stretch.
5)
Rory McIlroy: Yes, this is a bit of a long shot. And yes, it is expecting a lot of a young man who has never played in a US Open to suddenly pop up and win one. But not since Seve Ballesteros thirty-odd years ago has a young European arrived at an American major to find his image on the cover of Golf Digest. So this is a special talent, one that doesn’t need much encouragement to get in about his competition. While a more reasoned and reasonable expectation might be something in the lower reaches of the top-ten, McIlroy is not a golfer who should ever be written off. And, like Sergio, he will be helped by the relative slowness and flatness of the putting surfaces.
So there you have it. Europe’s best, or at least, best chances. God knows, they’re due a win in Uncle Sam’s backyard. Be gentle Tiger, be gentle…
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