European pair set sights on majors
There are so many talking points in the wake of Europe's best ever showing at the Players' Championship.
After now ready to win a major? Has Ian Poulter moved to a new level? Is the Englishman right to follow Padraig Harrington's lead and skip Europe's flagship event at Wentworth later this month?
Are we in a new golden era for European golf - or if we throw the net wider over a fascinating golfing weekend, is Argentina the coming nation in the game? Oh and then there's the question of what is going on with Tiger Woods?
It is only right to consider first Stenson and his stunning victory at Sawgrass. His closing 66 to win by four was probably the round of the year so far as he went bogey-free on a brutally difficult Stadium Course.
They like to call this the "fifth major". It's not, of course, because there are and should only ever be four major titles in the game. But the Players' is the nearest to that level given its field and the set up of the course.
So Stenson is entitled to feel that even bigger titles are now within his grasp. "This is going to give me a lot of confidence going into majors," the Swedish Ryder Cup star said.
"Obviously if I can play as well as I did today I can surely do it on the Sunday of a major."
Stenson's game is long and accurate and his temperament is well suited to the big occasion as he proved with this victory.
Never before has Europe taken the top two spots at Sawgrass and deserves credit for the way he bounced back from a disappointing and ultimately costly Saturday 75.
He is a popular figure who is starting to show us that he might be as good as he thinks he is. He was and Europe's star performer at the Ryder Cup. All that is missing is a big win.
And it won't come at Wentworth where the European Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship will be played later this month.
Poulter is no stranger to doing what he feels is right for him and his game. We all remember his decision to skip Gleneagles and forego his last chance of automatic qualifying for last year's Ryder Cup.
Now he is following Harrington's decision to miss the PGA. "It is one of the biggest tournaments in Europe that we have but the golf course doesn't fit my eye," Poulter reasons.
"It's something I have struggled with for seven years so on a world ranking issue I can't play it. I'd just devalue myself if I don't play well. I have to take business over the golf course.
"On current form I'm playing well I just want to keep this going. I'm taking this week off then play three tournaments in a row before the US Open."
Leading Europeans should feel an obligation to play their tour's top event but it is not as easy as that given the global nature of the game for the leading players.
"I think it's important to support the European Tour in Europe," commented Paul Casey, who will be competing at Wentworth.
Casey understands why the likes of Poulter and Harrington won't be there but finds their absence disappointing.
"I want to play against the strongest field possible. It brings more world ranking points for me and brings more excitement for the fans. But, you know, scheduling is very difficult nowadays. I'm not going to come out and criticise guys as to why they're not there," he said.
"It is our form of the Players' Championship. I think we need to develop that sort of feel and loyalty towards what is our sort of marquee event in Europe.
"The course is something that's been mentioned in the past and the condition of the greens. I know they are going to make some changes next year and that might bring a lot of guys back."
and when you consider that Harrington currently holds two of the four majors we are perhaps already into another golden era for the continent.
Even if the Ryder Cup resides elsewhere, Europeans are among the most likely to win majors at the moment.
So is even though his swing continues to be held together by the infamous "band aid." His driving is all over the place, not just missing to the right as he claims.
Only his extraordinary competitive instincts are enabling the world number one to post scores and while he struggles it's worth remembering that his eighth placed finish at the Players' was his first top ten in the event since 2001.
But Woods doesn't trade in top tens and he has much work to do to be ready for the US Open. It'll be interesting to see when he plays again having just competed in back to back tournaments for the first time in fourteen months.
"Knee is great, no issues at all. That's a great sign," Woods insisted as he departed Sawgrass.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, , a compatriot of Masters winner Angel Cabrera. It was Argentina's eighth worldwide victory in the last two years.
And a rejuvenated shared the runners up spot. He will be at Wentworth and one look at the clothes he sports nowadays makes me wonder whether Poulter will be missed at all.
Then again we talk more about Poulter's golf than his attire these days.
NOTE: This page is no longer being updated, for Iain's latest articles visit 
Comment number 1.
At 11th May 2009, Monty_Fan wrote:I like Stenson.. he's certainly the underdog for the US open now. As for Tiger I think it's unfair people who say he will never be back to his best. I belive he is going to better than he was and hasn't yet reached the peak of his career. I wouldn't be surprised if he was still competing in majors until his late 40s, don't care if his driving is all over the place, he'll sort it out soon no doubt in time for the US open:)
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 11th May 2009, used2beprofi wrote:the same comments i made directed towards american producers/editors/commentators regarding mcelroy's lack of coverage/interviews at doral applies here. we need to stop this incessant fascination w/ where players come from and allegiances toward one tour/specific tournaments over others. this is a truly world game now and where you come from/what tournaments you play should not matter at all other than biographical information. the loyalty should always be for the individual players and their choices in their lives. if a player wants to play a certain event that is up to them- whether they are from usa, europe, austalia, or anywhere else...players get to decide which tournaments they want to play and it shouldn't be for the tours to decide which are the most important, even though finchie and the pga tour have done a real job in promting the "importance" of the players championship. things are changing in golf and for the better. the usa based commentators are way behind in much of this as well. please don't follow their lead...and as a 1st generation american growing up in florida w/ german parents the european tournament i most looked forward to watching every year on the tv was the annual event at loch lomond. certainly not wentworth...
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 11th May 2009, kwiniaskagolfer wrote:Good article, Iain.
Think Casey's got it wrong, surely it's the European version of the PGA (or perhaps the other way round)?
As for criticizing those who don't play at Wentworth, people like Poulter, Garcia and, yes, Casey are a bit behind schedule in getting in their 15 US tournaments which I'm sure is a major reason for their scheduling. Plus Poulter's played well in Texas and Sergio has won both Dallas and Fort Worth.
Definite feeling this season that Casey has moved to the front of the English contenders with Westwood, ahead of Donald, Poulter and certainly Justin Rose.
As for Stenson, the sky's the limit.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 12th May 2009, uberman21 wrote:Don't think it helps to view this as a European thing or whatever. Golfers are individuals who work in an international environment so how much do golfers think that whatever they are doing they are doing for their country? Maybe when there's only a few of them it means something. I'd put money on Stenson winning a major before Garcia but you probably asked the same question last year when Sergio won. He will be the best player never to have won a Major.
Poulter deserves credit. You're right, the golf is doing more talking now so good luck to him. A few of the players are not so keen on Wentworth. Shame for me as I live close so i'll be going but it goes back to the first point that loyalties to country and to home tour can be down the list.
As for Tiger, with a win and a decent position at the Players you'd say not too shabby but clearly he still needs to get his game back. He might be driving all over the place but that only makes him twice as bad as usual :-) Let's hope that he doesn't do an Ernie and never be quite the same again.
And John Daly, bless him, but does that show the weakness of the field or of the European Tour that he can muster up a 2nd place after a few months out? And where will his loyalties lie when his PGA Tour ban expires?
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)
Comment number 5.
At 12th May 2009, Tony Torrance wrote:Point to be made here is if Tiger does get his game "together" then surely noboby will get near him. It is an indication of how high he sets the bar that a top 10 position is just not good enough. 99% of the golfers out there would trade everything they have to be a 70% Tiger as that usually means making the cut and being in contention every week.
Trust if Tiger gets it right then like Tennis (Nadal) the rest should bother turning up. As for Tigers next appearance it is likely to be the Byron Nelson.
Great performance from Stenson and Poulter last weekend.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)
Comment number 6.
At 12th May 2009, chillidipper wrote:Outstanding performance from Stenson and also very impressive by Poulter (much as it pains me to say so). It shouldn't be too big a surprise to see Stenson winning these sort of tournaments as he has shown over the last few years that he has no problem crossing the line and that he is comfortable at the top table. From Poulter's point of view it is another good performance and finish but he's now gone quite a while without a win and has never been a frequent winner or a winner of big events (for the most part). What is interesting to me is that between them they've only achieved 4 top 10 finishes in Majors and have never really come close to winning (let's be honest, Poulter did well last year in the Open but he was never in a position where it looked like it was his to win).
I think Wentworth has got a few problems to face. It is not a universally popular course, it has not been in great condition in previous seasons (in fact the greens seem to have been particularly poor), and it is possibly over-played by the top pro's (maybe not such an issue since the Matchplay has moved on). The other issue is that quite a few tournaments are played in Britain so there isn't the need for British golfers to show loyalty to this event.
As to Tiger, you say "Only his extraordinary competitive instincts are enabling the world number one to post scores" but I think you are forgetting two fairly big factors;
1) his incredible imagination and ability to play extraordinary recovery shots
2) the fact that the PGA Tour seem to have decided that rough is out of fashion this year (do you know if this has been a conscious decision Iain?). In a lot of tournaments it does seem that the rough is less severe than in previous years and the fairways seem a little wider, this is allowing the players to show what they can do from the rough and to be a lot more aggressive.
If Tiger doesn't have his long game sorted out by the US Open it could be very interesting. Before the season started I would've thought that Bethpage Black was pretty much the perfect track for Tiger but the rough is guaranteed to be deep and thick there and no amount of skill, imagination or raw strength will allow him to play the sort of incredible recovery shots that he (and Phil to some extent) has been showing in the early part of this season.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)
Comment number 7.
At 12th May 2009, liverpoolgolfer wrote:Nice article - agree with the comment made by tony torra - Tiger can't be ruled out of the running - Sport whether golf/football or rugby likes a good comeback - and Tiger is perfectly positioned for such.
www.northcoastgolf.co.uk
Complain about this comment (Comment number 7)