Open for business: British contenders at St Andrews
The biggest event in Britain's, and perhaps the world's golfing calendar tees off this week, as the 139th Open Championship celebrates 150 years of existence at St Andrews' appropriately named Old Course.
And while gifted golfers from every corner of the globe are descending on Scotland's most revered course, it'd be nice if someone from these isles could take the victory, wouldn't it?
Ireland's Padraig Harrington has at least kept the Claret Jug relatively local, with recent wins in 2007 and '08, but the last Briton to win the event was Scotland's Paul Lawrie back in 1999 (at Carnoustie - the year of Jean van de Velde's meltdown), while the last Englishman to win was Nick Faldo, taking victory in 1992 at Muirfield. Faldo is also the last Englishman to win at St Andrews, doing so in 1990.
So what are the chances of a British player taking the honours this year? Some would say Lee Westwood is the best English hope, but the lad from Worksop is hardly fully match-fit, having pulled out of last week's Scottish Open in order to rest a calf injury. But assuming Westwood doesn't let the injury bother him, his case for victory still isn't as compelling as you might think.
True, Westwood is officially the best British golfer according to the rankings, and his recent record is excellent, with two third-place finishes and a second place at the Masters in his last four majors. Last month's US Open performance at the fiendishly unforgiving Pebble Beach was shakier, but Westwood nonetheless finished tied for 16th place - hardly a disaster.
But leaving aside the wearying but indisputable observation that Westwood has a problem turning great performances into victories - he's never won a major - there are other reasons to be wary. In three previous appearances at St Andrews, the 37-year-old has never impressed, finishing 75th during his first Open at St Andrews in 1995, 64th in 2000, and missing the cut five years ago.
All of which may count for naught, since Westwood is playing the best golf of his career right now - but still, if past form is any indication of future destiny, the Englishman may have trouble making much of a splash here (unless it's in one of the bunkers on the recently extended road hole. Not that we'd wish that on him).
Justin Rose (pictured) is arguably the hottest property in golf right now, having won two tournaments in the space of five weeks. Memories of Rose's years of under-performing can't be erased with a couple of fine results on the PGA Tour, but it's got to be encouraging that the 29-year-old is finally learning to win.
And Rose has played well at past big events; he first came to prominence at the age of 17, at the 1998 Open (though not at St Andrews) when finishing fourth, and he has top 10 finishes in every major. While two wins from three tournaments is hot form, it's interesting that Rose was also in contention at the third, the Travellers Championship, having played well for three out of the four rounds before a poor final day saw his challenge falter (he bounced back from that disappointment to win the AT&T National the following week).
We've been burned before, and we just don't want to be hurt, Justin. But maybe, just maybe, this is the one. In a year when the world rankings have been chock-a-block with Englishmen like Westwood, Ian Poulter, Casey and Luke Donald all hitting the top 10, wouldn't it be just like life to throw up a less obvious English winner? Something similar has already happened once this year at the US Open, where Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy failed to impress - and his fellow countryman Graeme McDowell went on to win.
Rose will be paired with Tiger Woods for the first two rounds of the competition, incidentally - but as Woods' form is rather haphazard, it's difficult to say whether the world No. 1 will intimidate Rose or spur him on to new heights. Eight years ago when the pair were partnered at the same contest, Rose beat Woods by two strokes in the first round, only to finish seven strokes behind Woods on day two. Who knows, these days the state of Woods' game is so haywire, maybe Rose will end up intimidating him?
Other English hopes include Paul Casey, Poulter and Donald. But Casey's game seems to have worsened as the year has gone on, a second place finish to Poulter at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February proving to be his best result so far. In his last five tournaments he's missed the cut twice, and at significant tournaments - the Masters and the Players - and at the US Open he could only tie for 40th place. His record at St Andrews, while limited to one outing, isn't encouraging either - Casey missed the cut five years ago.
But the 32-year-old is undoubtedly a strong player, ranked third in the world last year before a rib injury curtailed his season and saw Lee Westwood overtake him as England's best golfer. Consistency is the key for this player who led last month's US Open after the first round, but failed to kick on from that. Casey is yet to win this year, and for his debut victory in 2010 to come at St Andrews would seem too much to expect.
Ian Poulter's year has followed a similar trajectory, with some downright terrible results coming since he defeated Casey at the WGC Match Play. True, Poulter finished a creditable 10th at the Masters - but he has also missed the cut at three of his last six PGA Tour events, while he was 47th at the US Open and 76th at the Crowne Plaza Invitational.
Poulter might be capable of psyching himself up for the big events - he was second at the Open two years ago (though he missed the cut last year) and finished 11th at the Old Course in 2005 - but his bitty record so far this year hardly fills the punter with confidence.
And what about Luke "Plod" Donald? Donald's history isn't dissimilar to Rose's, and the 32-year-old has had a modest revival of his own this year, winning the Madrid Masters at the end of May and managing a couple of top five finishes on the PGA tour.
He missed the cut at the Masters and was 47th at the US Open, though, and he's never shone at St Andrews, finishing 52nd five years ago and missing the cut in 2000, even if he was tied for fifth place at last year's Open, admittedly. In short, Donald is capable but unshowy - I think he's likely to be overshadowed here.
There's lots of excitement about Rory McIlroy, but much of that seems based on the 21-year-old's undoubted rich potential, rather than his current game. McIlroy won for the first time on the PGA Tour this year in brilliant style at Quail Hollow, but he has also disappointed, missing the cut at the Masters, the US Open and the Players Championship.
Aside from the Quail victory, he has only two top 20 finishes from 10 starts on the PGA Tour this year, and after a couple of top 10 finishes at the start of the year on the European Tour he's not been at his best on home turf either, only tying for 48th place at the BMW PGA Championship recently. His best finish at a major is his tie for third place at last year's PGA Championship, but at the Open his highest ever finish was a tie for 42nd place.
That McIlroy is capable of mixing it with the very best isn't in question, but his form this year scarcely inspires confidence. Those talking the player up up believe St Andrews will suit the youngster's game - McIlroy finished third here in 2007 at the Dunhill Links Championship - but that was against a lesser field, and in any case at that contest Rose pipped McIlroy to second place (with Nick Dougherty the winner).
Earlier this year McIlroy himself suggested that he expected to win a major in "a couple of years", rather than more immediately. I think such expectations might be more realistic than those of some of Rory's more ardent admirers.
Graeme McDowell won his first major last month when taking victory at the US Open, having also won two weeks before on the European Tour, at the Celtic Manor Wales Open. At last week's Scottish Open, the Ulsterman was a little rusty, finishing in 21st place, but McDowell has to be a tempting bet here, if for no other reason than the course record 62 he shot in 2004 during the Dunhill Links.
McDowell also tied for 11th place at the Old Course in the Open five years ago, and the 30-year-old looks capable of improving on that, given that he is currently playing the best golf of his career. Might G-Mac be capable of upstaging his younger countryman once again here?
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