The last time The Open Championship visited Royal Troon Colin Montgomerie was the hottest golfer in Europe and, with his father still secretary of the club where he had grown up, was expected to break his Major duck. Instead, Monty missed the cut and as an example of how the mighty are fallen, this year he was not even exempt into the tournament.
Over the past three years two South African golfers — Ernie Els and Retief Goosen — have usurped Montgomerie’s hegemony of the European Order of Merit. Last week Goosen leapfrogged Els to lead the standings after his second win in a fortnight, adding the European Open title at the K Club to his somewhat more significant United States Open win at Shinnecock Hills.
Even Els admits that Goosen is, ‘without a doubt the hottest player in the world right nowâ€, and agreed with the Goose’s decision to rest this week ahead of the third Major of the year instead of playing the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.
Goosen won his second US Open by putting incredibly well on greens that no one else could handle. He had 32 one-putts in 72 holes and didn’t three-putt once. In the aftermath there were those who tried to explain that Goosen had always been an outstanding putter, which is complete nonsense.
If the Goose putted every week the way he did at Shinnecock everyone else could go home, including Els. He has improved his overall short game immensely in the past four years, but it is just not true to suggest that on the greens he is some kind of latter-day Bobby Locke.
It was once said of Locke: ‘Everyone studies the greens, but Bobby knows what he’s looking forâ€, and it is a happy coincidence that the second of his four Open victories was at Troon. In 1950 Locke’s 72-hole score was 279, and he thus became the first man in Open history to break 280. The official records say: ‘Good as his game was through the greens, it was on them that Bobby Locke won the title.â€
The same could be said of Justin Leonard, who was champion the last time the Open visited Troon.
Leonard came through the field with a final-day 65, courtesy of a nerveless display with the putter. It goes without saying that, even though he hasn’t won a Major since that day in 1997, Leonard is a far better bet for the title than the defending champion.
That’s because the defending champion is Ben Curtis, of whom it has often been asked: ‘Who?â€
Curtis won against all the odds at Royal St George’s last year and despite subsequently being exempt into any tournament he cared to enter, hasn’t come close to winning since.
Curtis and Paul Lawrie, champion at Carnoustie in 1999, are the only dubious champions The Open has produced since the war and there is no need to look beyond the big names again at Troon.
If anyone beats one or all of Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Els and Goosen he deserves to be the champion golfer of the year.