2011 British Open Championship Sandwich Kent
Submitted by Stuart on Wed, 07/13/2011 - 22:12
Royal St. George’s, 14th – 17th July
With 24 Nations represented , the British Open commences this Thursday without too much offering from the US. American golf isn’t doing too well with five straight majors without a victory.
The strength has come from two Northern Ireland golfers and two from South Africa. They are Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Charles Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen. Phil Mickelson was the last American to capture a title at the 2010 Masters.
With 22 year old McIlroy playing recently so well in the U.S. Open with a eight stoke victory the bookies have him the favourite to win here. They also rate Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.
Is the American performance a blip or due to recover soon? There is a strong presence from Asia as the game becomes more popular and also Australia, but there are also the young American players Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan and J.B. Holmes that are coming through who play so well in the 2008 Ryder Cup. Ben Curtis said, who won the last British Open played at Royal St. George's in 2003. "We've got a lot of great young players coming up," "A few of them just need a little bit more experience."
"American golf isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be," said McIlroy, who will play with Fowler in the first two rounds of the Open. "These things go in cycles. I think there could be a stage in the next year or couple years where you're saying, 'Why hasn't a European won?'"
The Americans to watch out for are most likely 44-year-old Stricker, who won the Memorial last month and is coming off another victory at the John Deere Classic last weekend.
"Steve Stricker seems to be winning every other week," said Davis Love III, who will be captain of the U.S. team at next year's Ryder Cup. "Americans have been winning a lot of big tournaments lately - just not the majors."
Let play commence!
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