5 days ago
Time for an English golfer to end the Open curse
Sir Nick Faldo laughs when it is put to him that he quite enjoys his country's void of Open champions increasing by one every year. It has risen to 33 and that's beyond the threshold of David Baddiel and Frank Skinner's '30 years of hurt'.
'I'm an Englishman,' Faldo says. 'Of course I want one of the guys to win. It's getting a bit lonely in that club. Just me and Tony [Jacklin] in God knows how long.'
Of course, Faldo lifted the Claret Jug on three occasions. But from 1951, when the flamboyantly dressed Max Faulkner – AKA the Peacock of Portrush – prevailed at this layout in 1951 there have only been two representatives under the flag of St George who have been named 'Champion Golfer of the Year' in nigh on three-quarters of a century.
Some might find that stat incredible when it is put next to the fact that up to 1950, there were 16 Claret Jugs bedecked in the white and red. However, that differential can be quite easily explained. Between them, Australian Peter Thomson and South African Bobby Locke cleaned up before Arnold Palmer inspired the Americans to travel over for what many of the Starred and Striped still insist on referring to as 'the British Open'.
That changed everything, elevating the championship to previously unvisited heights. But the English were somewhat trampled upon in the march of Uncle Sam.
They still are, in many respects, with 17 US golfers having triumphed since Faldo's victory at Muirfield in 1992. But still, the drought is one of the more curious anomalies in the sport, when one considers that the nation has toasted four other majors in the intervening period, as well as four world No 1s and four other players who cracked the world's top five. The vagaries of links golf is supposed to suit the home players, isn't it?
In fairness, there have been a parade of English bridesmaids. And those bouquet gatherers are becoming more commonplace. Justin Rose finished second last year, Tommy Fleetwood in the same position here six years ago, Rose the year before that, Lee Westwood in 2010, Ian Poulter in 2008. Poulter's runner-up place behind Padraig Harrington at Royal Birkdale was the first time England had a place on the lower podium since Faldo, himself, was defeated by his old pal Greg Norman in 1993. And it says much for Poulter's competitive spirit that he thought he had holed a putt for the win in Southport.
'We were on the 18th and the weather was rough and I was looking at the leaderboard and I thought, if Poults holes this 20-footer for birdie we'll bloody win this,' Terry Mundy, his popular caddie, recalls. 'Poults then calls me over and I thought he wanted me to look at the line. He never does that and I thought he was nervous. But when I got there he said: 'You know when you were young on the putting green and you told yourself this is for the Open?' 'Yeah,' I replied. 'Well, this is,' Poults said. And he holed it. But then Padraig had that amazing finish and it wasn't to be.'
Tyrrell Hatton can chime with this anecdote. He was in major contention for the first time at last month's US Open before a bad break at the 17th – when his drive ridiculously came to rest in the thick rough on the downslope of the bunker – but came away convinced that this meant he does have the capabilities to secure the game's biggest prizes.
'I think when you've been in that position you know how you felt and how you responded,' he said. 'I was nervous, sure, but I kept it together and next time I'm in that position I'll know that I can handle it. That's a big step. And yes, that includes the Open. A major is a major. There is no more pressure. And that English drought is not a curse or anything. That's daft.'
Rose concurs and does not even feel this barren spell has yet become, as he says, 'a thing'. 'It's not as if it's in the same league as no British males winning at Wimbledon for 77 years or whatever it was,' Rose said.
'And has it got to the stage where it could actually be called an obstacle for an Englishman winning an Open? Paul [Lawrie], Darren [Clarke] and Rory [McIlroy] have all won Claret Jugs for the UK since Nick's last one and obviously Shane [Lowry] for Ireland. Of course, it would be great to do it for England, though.'
Jacklin is not so sure. He was the last but-one winner for his country – 56 years ago – and feels the pressure does play a part. 'Naturally the Open is the one they most want to win as it's in the UK and this just makes it that bit more stressful for them,' he said.
Rose understands that point, but believes that is the secret to his profession. 'It's probably harder because you want it more,' he said. 'It's the inner battle, right? You want it, but you've got to not want it too much in order for it to not impede your performance. So that's always a dance that we do.'
For his part, Faldo thinks Rose, at 44, is best equipped to breach the gap.
'Rosie is the most obvious, isn't he?' he said. 'After what he did when getting to that play-off at Augusta [where he was beaten by McIlroy] and he was second last year. We are going to talk a lot about the wind all week. There has to be a lot of good thinking, good decision-making on club selection and assessing the wind. And I think Rosie has a pretty good formula on that. We'd all like to see him win. Nobody would begrudge him. Even, I guess, those who don't like England.'
