Europeans to lead the charge at the Masters – PGA Tour News
It is all about the green jacket at the Masters. All the players who are competing in the tournament have their eyes set on to win the green jacket or their first major victory. This is the dream of every professional golfer to achieve a milestone in his
career by wearing the jacket.
As there was a change in the official golf world rankings recently, it clearly looks like the Europeans have dominated the golfing arena to put their names among the top rankings. Already six players out of the top-ten are from Europe.
It was the golden era of the early 1980s where the ownership of the green jacket belonged to many European players. Starting from 1980, seven players won this major until 1991. There were only three from USA having won this jacket.
That was the era in which the Europeans held on to the top rankings in the world. Players like Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo and Jose Maria Olazabal were competing dominating.
Two of the three majors played were won by the European Tour members. World Number one Martin Kaymer won the Professional Golfer’s Association Championship last year and Graeme McDowell winning the U.S. Open. With these victories in major tournaments, it
looks like it will be the Europeans who will once again dominate the circuit completely.
There was a chance for an all European charge in the rankings if Phil Mickelson had not won the Shell Houston Open.
Now only one thing is missing in this European charge. It is the green jacket which has yet to be won by the players ranked among the top ten in the world. As they continue to play in this manner, it seems like this milestone will soon be achieved by a European
player.
Spaniard Olazabal was the last player from Europe to have won the Masters. He won this championship in 1999 by a margin two shots against Davis Love III.
Last year, Lee Westwood was closing in on a victory here at the Augusta National. It was the charge of Mickelson which did not let Westwood win his first green jacket. Going in the final round, Mickelson was just pure class, as he was playing alongside Westwood.
Englishman Ian Poulter, in his recent interview said, "If you look at the guys who compete week in and week out, we've got more now than what we had 15 years ago. There's definitely more of a chance now. But you've got a lot of good players to go up again.
Tiger and Phil have won quite a few of these jackets over the last few years."
It will be an all European charge, as the Masters commences from Thursday. The fast greens and the soft fairways will certainly challenge all the players on the field.
This will be a great start for this season’s first major if a European wins it. Kaymer will be starting as one of the tournament favourites and the top ranked player. There tournament is all set to produce some brilliant rounds, as players compete in a battle-field
on the course.
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