My #1 story is the emergence of the European Tour with 51 events in 26 countries as the strongest tour in golf. I have been writing about it all year.
My pals at europeantour.com tell it best..
Colin Montgomerie’s astute leadership of Europe’s victorious 2010 Ryder Cup Team, Lee Westwood’s admirable arrival as World Number One and Martin Kaymer’s winning of The Race to Dubai were sublime moments in a landmark year during which European Tour Members claimed ownership of three of the four Major Championships in one calendar year for the first time.
Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and Kaymer himself completed the historic hat-trick and, similarly, Ernie Els, Ian Poulter and Francesco Molinari won a record-breaking three of the four World Golf Championships in the same season. It is difficult not to agree with the assessment of many knowledgeable observers of the game that this has been the best year in the history of The European Tour.
At The Celtic Manor Resort four days of unrivalled excitement reached a crescendo when Europe secured a thrilling 14 ½ - 13 ½ triumph. Unquestionably The Ryder Cup footprint now stretches way beyond followers of golf, and this victory further enhanced global recognition of The European Tour. Captain Montgomerie received Sam Ryder’s golden chalice from the Rt. Hon. Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, where The Ryder Cup had been played for the first time, and said: “This means the world to us; the world to The European Tour.”
At Pebble Beach Golf Links, Graeme McDowell followed Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tom Kite and Tiger Woods as the winner of the US Open on this iconic course and became the first European to succeed since Tony Jacklin in 1970. Graeme said: “To win at Pebble Beach and join those names is a pretty amazing feeling.”
At St Andrews, Louis Oosthuizen captured The 139th Open Championship by a spread-eagling seven shots – the largest winning margin since 2000 - on the revered Old Course and said: “I think seven years on The European Tour made me a bit tougher; the win in Andalucia earlier in the year gave me a different mindset.”
At Whistling Straits on the shores of Lake Michigan, Martin Kaymer became the second German golfer after Bernhard Langer to win a Major and the 40th European Tour Member to receive one of these prized trophies since Seve Ballesteros won The Open Championship in 1979. Martin said: “The European Tour has done an enormous job the last few years; it’s cool to see my name next to so many greats of the game on this trophy.”
Ian Poulter’s win in the WGC-Accenture Match Play was the 250th English victory in Tour history. Ernie Els completed his25th European Tour win with his success in the WGC-CA Championship and became the leading money winner in The European Tour Official Career Earnings with more than €25,000,000. Francesco Molinari also created history as his win in the WGC-HSBC Champions marked the first time three different Italians – following his brother Edoardo and Matteo Manassero – had won in the same season and the first time since Seve and Manuel Ballesteros in 1983 that two brothers had celebrated victory on the same schedule.
At the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, Le Golf National in Paris, and Club de Golf Valderrama in Andalucia, Miguel Angel Jiménez captured the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Alstom Open de France and Omega European Masters respectively to become, aged 46 years and 243 days, the oldest player to win three tournaments in a single season on The European Tour International Schedule.
At Club de Campo del Mediterráneo in Valencia, Matteo Manassero became, by winning the CASTELLÓ MASTERS Costa Azahar at 17 years and 188 days, the youngest winner on The European Tour International Schedule. It was also a victory which persuaded the judging panel to vote the Italian teenager as the winner of The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year. Matteo said: “. “I never dreamed of winning on the Tour so soon and then to be named the Rookie of the Year is something to cherish. It’s incredible. A dream. Winning on the Tour, and now this award - wow!”
Elsewhere, Simon Khan regained his Tour card by finishing first at the European Tour Qualifying School at the end of 2009 and the value of that success was evident to all when in the BMW PGA Championship – The European Tour’s flagship event – he completed a famous win at Wentworth Club.
It was not Simon’s first win although there were maiden victories for Fredrik Andersson Hed, Rhys Davies, who ran Manassero close for The Sir Henry Cotton Award, Andrew Dodt, David Horsey, Hunter Mahan, Edoardo Molinari, James Morrison, Noh Seung-yul, Louis Oosthuizen, John Parry, Ritchie Ramsay Martin Wiegele and Manassero himself on The 2010 European Tour International Schedule on which players from more than 40 countries competed in 48 tournaments at 27 destinations.
All these fine achievements are chronicled in depth elsewhere in the following pages, chapters which also celebrate and rejoice in the global nature of The European Tour. It is this worldwide feel that has always been one of the Tour’s main strengths and never has that been better illustrated than this year on the Official World Golf Ranking, crowned by the rise of Lee Westwood to the top.
At the time of the Englishman’s ascension to Number One on the afternoon of Sunday October 31, Europe had six players in the top ten compared to only two in 2000; ten in the top 20 compared to six in 2000; 17 in the top 50 compared to ten in 2000 and in all, half the top 50 were European Tour Members. At the end of 2000, Europe still had only half the number of players in the top 200 as the United States – 47 to 94 – with 59 from the Rest of the World. There is now almost parity between the three regions.
However, the main plaudits rightly go to Westwood. There have been fewer more determined golfers made in England and it is to his lasting credit that he has changed little in the process of turning from an unknown into a major sporting celebrity recognised throughout the sporting world.
With 20 victories on The European Tour International Schedule, and 32 in all worldwide, Westwood is unquestionably one of the finest golfers to grace the fairways in the history of the Royal and Ancient game. He is also one of sport’s most respected and well liked players with exemplary credentials.
Over the two year time span during which the Official World Golf Ranking is calculated he amassed 23 top ten finishes. This included being runner-up in both the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship in 2010, and third in both The Open Championship and the US PGA Championship in 2009. All this and victory in the inaugural Race to Dubai, secured by his success in the Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World, and the small matter of his talismanic role in The 2010 Ryder Cup triumph despite his persistent calf injury problems. No question, then, that the quality of his golf and the consistency of his results deservedly earned Westwood his rise to the top of the world.
Only 12 players had previously held such a position since the Official World Golf Ranking was devised in 1986. These include five regular European Tour Members – Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Ernie Els. Westwood himself spent 180 weeks in the top ten between 1998 and 2001 but by May 2003, however, he was down to 266. His revival came with the support of many people. His wife, Laurae, and their children, Sam and Poppy; his parents, John and Trish; his manager, Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler, head of the International Sports Management group; his caddie, Billy Foster; his coach, Pete Cowen; and his fitness coach, Steve McGregor, among them.
Westwood is aware that he is one of the most blessed players of his generation. Yet it has always been his refusal to allow his feet to leave the ground and his abiding loyalty and commitment to his family and lifelong friends in Worksop that most warmly charms public and critics alike. “When you are growing up and people say what do you want to achieve everyone says I want to be the best in the world,” he said.
“Right at this moment I can show people the World Rankings and say I am the best on the planet. It is a fairly large achievement when you look at the people who have gone before me in that spot. It is an elite list. It is the most satisfying moment of my career.”
The global strength of European golf was further magnified on the 2010 Senior Tour won by Thailand’s Boonchu Ruangkit ahead of South Africa’s Chris Williams, Paraguay’s Angel Franco, Scotland’s Gordon Brand Jnr and England’s Carl Mason, while on the Challenge Tour – where Spain’s Alvaro Velasco finished Number One in the Rankings – the international top ten was completed by England’s Matt Haines, Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen, Netherlands’ Floris de Vries, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, Sweden’s Oscar Floren, Australia’s Daniel Gaunt, England’s Robert Dinwiddie, Chile’s Mark Tullo and George Murray of Scotland.
Oh yes they didn't mention that Bernhard Langer is the Player of the Year on the Champions tour.
Best for 2011 my friends, a look ahead at that to follow...
Bryan Angus
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