Mike Clayton

Mike Clayton turned pro in 1981 after winning the Australian Amateur and played the European and Australian tours for 15 years. He won the Timex Open in Europe and the Korean Open as well as six tournaments in Australia. He has written for the Melbourne Age and Golf Australia Magazine since 1991 and in 1995 began a golf design partnership with fellow Melburnians, John Sloan and Bruce Grant.

Aussie's in the British
July 21, 2006

Thirty five years ago Australian tennis was at its zenith with Rod Laver, John Newcombe and Ken Rosewall always winning or contending at the biggest championships. Tennis and golf were the two of the biggest participation sports in a sports loving country but whilst we always have a couple of dozen players at Wimbledon there would be less than half that number a couple of weeks later competing at The British Open.

Then Greg Norman materialized out of the pro-shop at Royal Queensland Golf Club and inspired an entire generation of kids to take up golf and at seemingly every major for fifteen years the countries golfers would wake early on Monday morning to watch his Sunday northern hemisphere quests at glory. More often than not his fans would leave for the office or for school with a stunning shot by Larry Mize or Bob Tway or a loose Norman shot at the death really upsetting their day.

Pat Cash with the Wimbledon trophy

Pat Cash won Wimbledon the same year Mize holed that stunner at Augusta but Australian tennis was losing its way if producing world class players was the measure. This year Lleyton Hewitt was our only serious contender at Wimbledon and there were less than a handful of Australians in the main draw.

In stark contrast at this weeks Open at Hoylake twenty-three Australians tee off and one is the American Open champion Geoff Ogilvy who was one of the generation of Norman inspired kids. Another is Adam Scott who was a member at Royal Queensland and was always going to be a brilliant player. He had the swing and a strike to die for and we wait for the day he emulates the feat of his mate Ogilvy.

Photo: © Jamie Squire/Getty Images Geoff Ogilvy after winning the U.S. Open last month.

This year in America

It seems this new group of players has come out of a few separate camps of teachers. Rod Pampling and Peter Lonard were taught by Gary Edwin in Queensland but by far the biggest influence on the group of Australians at Hoylake this week was the pair of Victorian Sports Institute coaches, Dale Lynch and Steven Bann.

Stuart Appelby, Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Marcus Fraser, Richard Green, Mat Goggin and Ogilvy are or were at some point taught by Lynch or Bann.

Photo: © Matthew Stockman/Getty Images John Senden was a last minute addition to the British Open after winning the John Deere.

There is no question they have fed off the success of each other in America and when John Senden won last week in America there was a universal excitement amongst his contemporaries at his success. Senden has always been the most elegant of players but he never seemed to be a good enough putter to take advantage of his hitting. He was second in the Australian Open at the end of last year but only now that he was won in America will Australians start to realize what a fine player he is.

Nick O'Hern is another like Senden who quietly goes about his business and his sixth place finish at Winged Foot went almost unnoticed in Australia. He won a small event at home a number of years ago but rarely has a player had so many high finishes or climbed so high on the world rankings (22nd) without winning.

He is unlike Senden in that he is an awkward looking player with a swing that is easily underestimated. It is efficient, he knows how it works and he has a wonderful short game he works very hard at because he well understands the object of the exercise to shoot lower scores.

Photo: © Scott Halleran/Getty Images Stuart Appleby and Adam Scott have recorded victories in America.

The one thing Ogilvy has learned in America is that perfect golf swings and perfect shots are nice but you must be able to score and that is where the improvement in his game has come. 'Australians have tended to get fixated on swinging perfectly but when you get to America you see a lot of guys who are not that impressive who do really well.'

Lynch too has understood that the American courses and conditions demand a type of wedge game that is different from the one almost all the Australians grow up playing. 'In the wind and on the hard greens at home they all learned to hit that low checking shot that took a big first bounce and then spun. They all hit with the shaft angled forward at impact and that works at home but not in America and we have completely reworked Geoff's wedge game in the last two years and he is a much better pitcher now' said Lynch.

Photo: © Scott Halleran & Streeter Lecka/Getty Images Rod Pampling and Aaron Baddeley were winners in 2006.

This week at Hoylake the course is about as hard and bouncy as a golf course can get and the test is so unusual and unfamiliar to the entire field that one wonders who it will suit. Australians are used to playing in the wind but as I write there is not much promise of that coming up this week. They are also used to playing in the heat and this championship might turn out to be the hottest ever but it's still not close to a hot summer's day in Perth or Melbourne.

This week will be about adapting to unfamiliar conditions for the entire field and it the wind does not eventuate the scoring will be very low. It would be a shame that the quality of the venue was questioned simply on the basis of great scoring. Hoylake is a wonderful course and an examination the games best players need more than once a year. Indeed the whole course looks like the base line at a Wimbledon final after two weeks of pounding by the games best players. Years ago it was common to find a pair of Aussies in that final but these days it is the golf that has attracted an extraordinary group of talented Australian athletes. The odds are a few of them will be in with a chance at the end of the week.