The US pipeline
The conveyor belt of American golfing talent is – to use one of their buzz words – awesome. Last Sunday rookie Xander Schauffle won the Tou championship and Justin Thomas woke up yesterday $10m the richer by topping the Fedex. Both of these and Daniel Berger will be vying for a Ryder Cup place. It’s harder to identify younger European talent. Jon Rahm, is one and let’s hope Thomas Bjorn can work on Paul Casey, no spring chicken, who is having such a successful time on the US PGA this year. Maybe some of the French boys – e.g. Alexandre Levy or Romain Wattel – will establish themselves for their own course in Paris where the Ryder Cup will be contested this time next year.
The Portugal Masters was won by Dane Lucas Bjerregaard. I was cursing my luck when George Coetzee, my pick, fell out of the top five on the very last hole with a 7. However that let in Ricardo Gouvreia, Portugal’s best golfer, and earned me a tidy sum for his 5th place finish. Perhaps he and another Iberian youngster Nacho Elvira will come through between now and the Ryder Cup.
Of the four 2017 majors, 3 were won by Americans aged 27 or less (Koepka, Spieth and Thomas) the other winner – of the Masters – being Sergio Garcia (37), the same age as the UK’s most consistent golfer Justin Rose. Paul Casey is over 40. Let’s hope the Ryder Cup days of Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are numbered so we can bring on Matt Fitzpatrick and the young French golfers.
