By Glenn Mason
Graeme McDowell's victory in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond on Sunday evening was another feather in the cap for Irish golfers. There have been five victories for players from this island on the European Tour this season. McDowell has claimed two titles with Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie and Darren Clarke, an emotional winner in Shanghai, being the other victors. It has already been a great year for Irish golf.
One name that you would expect to be on that list is Padraig Harrington, but the 2007 Open champion is without a win since that unforgettable day at Carnoustie last July. The Dubliner has revelled in his hectic year with the Claret Jug but it has perhaps come at a detriment to his game.
At the time of writing, Harrington's participation is in doubt after he injured his wrist on Saturday evening. Given the year he has had acting as an ambassador for the tournament, he will be determined to tee it up on Thursday morning. However, should he worsen the damage by playing, his place in the Ryder Cup team for Valhalla may well be in doubt.
European captain Nick Faldo said this week that he would not select Luke Donald if he is not completely recovered from his own wrist injury. Harrington would possibly suffer the same fate if he fails to heal sufficiently.
Prior to his injury, Harrington's preparations for the defence of his title had been on course. He prefers to take a three-week run into a major and he completed that run, as he had last year, with victory in the Irish PGA Championship at the European Club. The opportunity to play competitive golf on a links course so soon before a major was seen as crucial to his victory at Carnoustie and is the envy of other top players.
Harrington himself is not unduly worried by his lack of a tour victory and he cited his top ten and top five finishes on the US tour as evidence that his game was in good shape. His comments to Greg Allen last week also suggest he is comfortable in the shoes of a major champion. Rarely in the past would Harrington have had the confidence to say that the Claret Jug would be out of his possession 'only for a week'.
Often seen as one of golf's great workers, Harrington has been accused of trying too hard, but he will not allow himself to get too distracted by the pressure of defending a major. Having played with Angel Cabrera at Torrey Pines last month, as the Argentinean tried to retain the US Open, Harrington knows what that strain can do to your game and your mind. As the Dubliner probably knows all too well, James Braid was the last European to defend the Open, back in 1906.
Graeme McDowell pitches up at his first major of the s
eason on the high point of his career to date. Victory on Sunday catapulted him to second place in the European Order of merit and into an automatic place on Faldo's Ryder Cup team, a place, on current form, he is unlikely to relinquish.
McDowell's rise has been driven by the disappointment of missing out on the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club, an absence made more galling by having to work in the media for the event. He changed his management company, coach and golfing equipment last year to make the step up and it has paid off handsomely for the man from Portrush.
In 2006, McDowell led at Hoylake after a first round of 66 but he fell away to finish in a tie for 61st. As he has shown with his two wins this year, his game is in much better shape and he has matured as a golfer over the past two years. He proved last week to be one of the best iron players on the tour and he now has a putting stroke to complement his play from tee to green.
Having grown up on a seaside course in Portrush, McDowell is familiar with the vagaries of links golf. Yet, he returned to his roots for a refresher course last month when he played Portrush, Waterville and Ballybunion before heading to Birkdale for a practice round.
That practice bore fruit on the 13th hole last Sunday. McDowell had laid up 20 yards short of the par-five and elected to play a typical links bump-and-run shot to four feet. He made the putt to begin a run of three successive birdies, a run that would secure the title.
That victory was no fluke and McDowell is definitely the form player having finished third at the European Open two weeks ago. The odds may be against him repeating Tom Lehman's feat of 1997 by winning at Loch Lomond and the next week at the Open, but McDowell now has the confidence and the game to do it.
Damien McGrane is also enjoying his best season on the European Tour. This season has yielded his maiden victory, as he dominated the field at the Volvo China Open, and he has already won more money than in any other year.
However, McGrane has been struggling of late with a string of missed cuts, which ended at Loch Lomond, where he led at the halfway stage. A disappointing round of 76 on Saturday saw him drop out of contention, but he followed that up with another sub-par round on Sunday to give him some belief as he heads into his first British Open.
The Open always seems to produce heart-warming tales an
d
this year it is the story of Philip Walton that captures the imagination. Walton has dropped off the golfing map since he holed the winning putt at the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill.
He returns to the major arena for the first time since 1998, when Birkdale last staged this event. On that occasion, Walton opened with a 68 but fell back on the final three days to finish in a tie for 39th. This was at a time when his form and confidence had begun their inexorable slide.
His fragile confidence will have taken a massive boost from his winning performance in local qualifying at West Lancashire and with his second place in the Irish PGA. Walton has enjoyed playing Birkdale in the past and is one of the best exponents of playing in the wind. Should the wind blow across Southport, it would be ideal conditions for the Malahide golfer.
Having being paired with David Smail and Michael Letzig, the limelight is likely to be far away from this threesome, which is another positive for Walton and his Shankill caddie Stephen Byrne. A respectable finish here could see be the beginning of an Indian summer for the hero of Oak Hill and no golf fan would begrudge him that.
With its flat, firm fairways Birkdale is regarded as the fairest of all the courses on the Open rota, which is also why it so favoured by American and southern hemisphere players. It is also why no European has won an Open around this course. With Tiger Woods hors de combat, the best of the rest will be lining up to take advantage of the great man's absence.
After Harrington's success last year, European players no longer have the major drought to worry about. If it is to be a European players this week, and if Harrington is to relinquish his title, it is likely that he will be passing on the Claret Jug to a man who had it is his grasp last year: Sergio Garcia.
