O'Neill: Europeans overdue for a major

It makes no sense, really. It’s like Ernie Banks never playing in a World Series, Bud Grant never winning a Super Bowl, Whitey Ford never throwing a no-hitter.

The British Open returns to Carnoustie this week, where it was last conducted in 1999, aka the last time a European won one of golf’s major championships.

“There are so many great players (in Europe) that it’s a shocking statistic,” former British Open winner Tom Lehman said. “The odds against that happening are astronomical and I really can't explain it.”

Scotsman Paul Lawrie won his first and only major at Carnoustie in ’99, a fact that is nearly lost in the residue of Jean Van de Velde’s colossal collapse. The flappable Frenchman had a three-shot lead when he came to the 72nd hole, gave it up in a series of mishaps, and along with Justin Leonard, succumbed to Lawrie in a playoff.

Thirty-one more majors have been played since that day and nary a one has gone to a European. And yet, during that same stretch of years, the Euros have won three consecutive Ryder Cups, the last two by lopsided margins.

It didn’t used to be this way. From 1988 through 1996, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal won seven of nine Masters. Faldo also claimed three British Opens in the same stretch of years.

So how does it figure, eight years, no majors?

One explanation can be found simply in the adage that there is strength in numbers, and vice-versa. When the ball goes in the air at Carnoustie, there will be 45 Americans in the field of 156, as well as 20 Australians and eight South Africans.

Toss in a handful of Argentinians, a couple of New Zealanders, Japanese, Koreans and several other nationalities and by the time you are done counting them up, Europeans will make up less than half the field.

Of the 31 majors since the 1999 Open at Carnoustie, Americans have won 22, with Tiger Woods accounting for 11. South Africans have claimed three, including two U.S. Opens for Retief Goosen (2001, 2004) and the 2002 British Open for Ernie Els.

Fiji’s Vijay Singh has won a Masters and a PGA Championship, while U.S. Open titles have gone to Kiwi’s Michael Campbell (2005), Australian Geoff Ogilvy (2006) and Argentinian Angel Cabrera (2007). Canadian Mike Weir won the 2003 Masters.

Add them up and you have seven different nationalities — none of them European. After winning the European Open recently, Scottish native Colin Montgomerie proclaimed, “It’s time” the winless streak comes to an end.

“We spoke of the Ryder Cup last September as the strongest we’ve ever had,” said Montgomerie, who has missed the cut in his last four majors since almost winning the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. “Now is the time, time we turned our Ryder Cup success into major championship success.”

“I think we have more players capable of it than ever before.”

For the record, oddsmakers consider Ireland’s Padraig Harrington to carry Europe’s best chance of conquering Carnoustie. He is listed as a 28/1 shot on readabet.com. Luke Donald and Justin Rose are at 33/1, Sergio Garcia, Niclas Fasth and Paul Casey are all at 40/1. Montgomerie is a 60/1 shot.

And the favorite? That would be American Tiger Woods at 10/3.

VIVA LA FRANCE
Although Van de Velde was unable to qualify for a return to Carnoustie, fellow Frenchman Gregory Havret beat Phil Mickelson in the Scottish Open playoff last Sunday to punch his ticket to Carnoustie.

Havret remembers the horror of watching his countryman, Van de Velde, implode at the finish line in ’99.

“Of course I do remember it was a nightmare for him obviously,” Havret said, “but also for many, many, many people, not only the French. I think, it’s sad for golf … But anyway, it’s eight years ago.

“I remember watching that with two French friends in a home in south of France and, yeah, it was crazy. It was crazy to see him playing that well and putting that well for 71 holes and then finish like that. It's just a nightmare for any golfer.”

SO LONG SEVE
Besides Van de Velde, another European who definitely will not win the Open this week is Seve Ballesteros.

A five-time major championship winner, Ballesteros announced his retirement during an emotional press conference at Carnoustie on Monday.

The scene was especially meaningful for the 50-year-old Spaniard, who began his illustrious British Open career at Carnoustie in 1975 before winning the championship twice at Royal Lytham & St Annes (1979, 1988) and at St Andrews in 1984.

“For a few months there was something confused inside of me,” said Ballesteros, who also won the Masters in 1980 and 1983. “There was a fight, an internal fight. My head said I think you should retire. I kept saying that over and over, but my heart was keeping telling me that I would be better to continue playing and compete.

“So it was difficult for quite a while. But finally I decided this year to go and try in the Champions Tour, but I only played one tournament and I came back. So that really made me think very deeply and to really question, either you continue or you stop playing. And I made probably the most difficult decision of my career as a player, and I decided to retire.”

STAMP OF APPROVAL
Shooting for a third consecutive British Open win, Tiger Woods gave the setup at Carnoustie a thumbs up. He called it, “extremely fair” and added, “It's not like it was in 1999.”

Players freaked over the tightness of the fairways in ’99, when Van de Velde, Lawrie and Leonard finished tied for the 72-hole lead at 6-over par. Woods was seventh that year at 10-over.

Carnoustie is considered one of the hardest golf courses in the world and Woods said it has plenty of teeth without any augmentation. He disagreed that the course will be there for the taking when play begins on Thursday.

“If you have wind it becomes more difficult than you think,” said Woods, who played a practice round in wind on Monday. “You really do have to hit the ball well, and the greens are extremely subtle, just like all links they’re very hard to read, so you have to do your homework.”

Woods went to school on Monday. Playing first thing in the morning, he had wind and rain to deal with. How bad was it? At the par-5 No. 14, he came up short of the green from 112 yards out with a 4-iron.

“I’ve never heard anyone say Carnoustie is easy,” Woods added. “Even the times I played the Scottish Open here, when the conditions were more benign, the scores were not that low.”

MICK THE STICK
Despite after another wayward tee-ball and 72nd hole debacle at the Scottish Open last week, Phil Mickelson remains upbeat about his chances at Carnoustie.

“It was certainly disappointing to finish the way I did, especially making the mistakes that I made coming down the stretch,” Mickelson said. “I made some good putts for birdies on 15 and 17 but I gave them back the very next hole.”

Still, Mickelson added, “I'm very pleased with my driver. I didn't drive it the best on Sunday but I hit 13 fairways on Saturday and a good number of them on Thursday and Friday as well. I’m not overly concerned.”

Mickelson, who has been hampered by a sore left wrist, came out of the Scottish Open unscathed health-wise. Like Woods, he also likes what he has seen of the setup at Carnoustie this time. He missed the cut in 1999.

“What I really like is how much room there is around the greens to hit shots and chip shots,” he said. “The course is giving players a chance to separate themselves from others because of the quality of shots required.”

PROUD POP
A winner of 12 majors, Woods scoffs at those who suggest fatherhood will chip away at his competitive edge.

“They are wrong,” he said. “They have said that a lot. First, it was getting engaged, then it was getting married and now having a child. It’s always something.”

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