Open Championship: News & Notes

The 145th Open Championship begins Thursday at Royal Troon, and there are a few talking points to discuss:

1. 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie is back with Wilson Staff after playing Titleist clubs for the past year and a half. Lawrie has played the majority of his career with the equipment company that has won more majors than any other iron brand. The 47-year-old Scotsman has struggled this season with his putting, which has lead to a lack of confidence with all other facets of his game. Lawrie has also battled a four-year-old foot injury that will require surgery later this year. Hopefully a change of clubs will give him some optimism for this week.

2. Colin Montgomerie will hit the first tee shot in what is going to be a special moment for the 53-year-old Scot. "Monty" is a member of Royal Troon and learned how to play the game there. His father was the club secretary for 20 years and he still considers it his home course. The current PGA Tour Champions player qualified through one of four 36-hole qualifiers two weeks ago and it would not surprise me at all to see him in contention over the weekend.

3. American Brooks Koepka withdrew from the championship, citing a wrist injury. Koepka was a European Tour member the previous two seasons but gave it up this season. He has a lot of talent and should be a major winner very soon.

4. Look out for Padraig Harrington this week. The two-time Open Champion has played well the past two weeks, finishing T30 in the French Open and T21 in the Scottish Open, respectively. The 44-year-old Irishman seems to always play well on links courses and I really like his chances this week.

Garcia is the clear favorite in the Open de Espana, but he faces a tough challenge from the field

Open de España (May 14-17)

Course: Real Club de Golf El Prat (Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain)

Yardage: 7,326 yards

Purse: €1,500,000

The European Tour finally begins its European portion of the schedule with this week's Open de España.  The Madeira Islands Open (co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour) was supposed to be the first event on European soil, but the tournament was canceled due to bad weather and rescheduled for July 30-August 2. Miguel Angel Jimenez is the defending champion, with world number seven Sergio Garcia and Ryder Cup stars Victor Dubuisson, Thomas Bjorn, and Francesco Molinari also taking part.  In addition to Jimenez and Garcia, the Spanish contingent also includes Pablo Larrazabal (El Prat is his home course), Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Alejandro Canizares, Alvaro Quiros, and Jose Maria Olazabal.  The course is projected to play firm and fast, which should make it a tough test for the field.  

This is Spain's only tournament on the schedule, a significant reduction from when the country staged six in 2011.  The economic recession has hit Spain particularly hard, but there are signs of improvement.  The fact that it's the only event in Spain makes the tournament extra special, especially for the home players.  The event was last held at El Prat in 2011, an event overshadowed by the death of Seve Ballesteros.  Thomas Aiken won at -10.  I would expect scoring to be around that number this week, due to the firmness of the course.  

Here are two of my dark-horse picks:

Paul Lawrie: Has only played five Tour events this season but seems to play well on tough courses.  His ball-striking is always good but his putting can be inconsistent at times.  If he can put four rounds together, the Scot could challenge for the title.  Lawrie finished T5 at this course in 2011.

Simon Dyson: The Englishman has many similarities with Lawrie.  He has had a disappointing season so far, with his best finish being T37.  He switched club companies and hasn't played since missing the cut at the Tshwane Open almost two months ago.  Dyson's ball-striking, much like Lawrie's, is always good.  But, like Lawrie, his putting is erratic.  Dyson is always a favorite on tough courses.  He, again like Lawrie, finished T5 at El Prat in 2011.

Notable groupings (Eastern Standard Time; first round/second round)

Alvaro Quiros, Thomas Pieters, Ross Fisher (2:00 AM/7:00 AM)

Thomas Bjorn, Pablo Larrazabal, Andy Sullivan (2:10 AM/7:10 AM)

Victor Dubuisson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Tommy Fleetwood (2:20 AM/7:20 AM)

Nicolas Colsaerts, Peter Uihlein, Richie Ramsay (2:30 AM/7:30 AM)

Jose Maria Olazabal, Raphael Jacquelin, Peter Hanson (7:00 AM/2:00 AM)

Matteo Manassero, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, David Howell (7:10 AM/2:10 AM)

Francesco Molinari, Thomas Aiken, Sergio Garcia (7:20 AM/2:20 AM)

Y.E. Yang, Thorbjorn Olesen, Alejandro Canizares (7:30 AM/2:30 AM)

TV Coverage (Eastern Standard Time; Golf Channel)

Thursday: 5:30-7:30 AM, 9:30 AM-12:30 PM

Friday: 5:30-7:30 AM, 9:30 AM-12:30 PM

Saturday: 7:30-11:30 AM

Sunday: 7:00-11:30 AM

Tour players will help sponsor three events in 2015

Rory McIlroy, Paul Lawrie, and Ian Poulter have been long-standing supporters of the European Tour.  Next season, they will be big reasons why events will be staged.  McIlroy's foundation, The Rory Foundation, will be the "host" of the Irish Open.  Lawrie will actually have his name in the following tournament's title: Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Matchplay.  And, while not formally announced by the Tour, Ian Poulter will be "host" of the British Masters (October 8-11), to be held at Woburn GC, Poulter's home club in England.  The British Masters was last played in 2008.

Lawrie's involvement in golf continues.  The Paul Lawrie Foundation has provided an abundant amount of money for Scottish youngsters to get involved with the game and Lawrie is very involved in everything the foundation does.  The Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open was staged in Lawrie's home city of Aberdeen at Royal Aberdeen GC and he wanted to get another event in the "Granite City."  Murcar Links GC will be the host venue for the 64-man matchplay event, which will be staged the week after the Open Championship.

The news of another event in England is welcomed on all fronts.  The British Masters will be "hosted" by Justin Rose, Luke Donald, and Lee Westwood, separately, over the next four years.  Each player will have the choice of host course when it comes to their year to host the tournament.  I still think that there needs to be more English tournaments.  The revival of the English Open has been discussed in recent years, but nothing has come to fruition.  Tour officials have been saying for years that there will be more English events, that everything goes in cycles.  Woburn has had a history of hosting prestigious tournaments, most recently on the European Senior Tour.  According to Poulter, the Queen's Course will be the course used during the event.

The news that Tour players are giving back to their home Tour is a great sign.  Players like Miguel Angel Jimenez and Sergio Garcia helped organize events in Spain in the past, so it is not like it has not been done before.  All the credit to these three players and I hope that more players follow their example.

Why this year's European Ryder Cup team will look drastically different than 2012

The race to qualify for captain Paul McGinley's team is nearing its final stages, with only five events left in which to earn points (WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, US PGA Championship, Made in Denmark, D+D REAL Czech Masters, Italian Open).  The next two events offer enormous amounts of points and represent the make or break for those on the outside looking in.

As the European team takes shape, it's amazing to see how different this year's team looks versus the 2012 version.  Here was the 2012 team:

Rory McIlroy
Justin Rose
Paul Lawrie
Graeme McDowell
Francesco Molinari
Luke Donald
Lee Westwood
Sergio Garcia
Peter Hanson
Martin Kaymer
Ian Poulter (captain's pick)
Nicolas Colsaerts (captain's pick)

As it stands now, the 2014 squad would look like this:

Rory McIlroy
Victor Dubuisson
Jamie Donaldson
Henrik Stenson
Sergio Garcia
Justin Rose
Martin Kaymer
Thomas Bjorn
Luke Donald
(captain's pick)
(captain's pick)
(captain's pick)

Out of the nine players currently in the top-9, four were not on the last Ryder Cup team (two rookies).  Luke Donald is trending downward with Graeme McDowell coming fast and furious.  Where is Ian Poulter?  "Poults" is currently 7th on the European Points List (top-4 qualify) and 12th on the World Points List (top-5 not already qualified).  Unfortunately, he's had a poor season and has missed his last two cuts.  He recently was stung by a horsefly in England and had to go to the hospital, and it's unsure if he'll play in the WGC this week.  But we all know what kind of record the Englishman has in this competition so it's very hard to think he'll miss out on a captain's pick if he doesn't qualify automatically.

Another Ryder Cup stalwart not having a good season is Lee Westwood.  The eight-time Ryder Cup team member won the Maybank Malaysian Open in April but is still 20th and 16th on the points lists.  Assistant captain and 2002 Ryder Cup-winning captain Sam Torrance said a few weeks ago that Westwood should be a lock.  If "Westy" doesn't perform well in the next month or so, he could be missing out on his first Ryder Cup.

Where are Lawrie, Molinari, Hanson, and Colsaerts?  Only Molinari is within shouting distance of automatically qualifying for the team. The Italian sits 14th on both lists and I expect him to do everything in his power to qualify for the team (i.e. playing all five events to gather more points).  Wouldn't it be awesome if he won his national open and, by doing so, qualified for the team?

Lawrie (75th and 91st) would be a really compelling pick if he wins an event or finishes well in one or two.  Being a Scot and McGinley stating that he'd love Scottish representation in the team like the Irish team had in 2006, it's not completely over for "Chippy."  The 45-year-old has had an atrocious year with the putter and has seen his world ranking fall to 215th.  He is scheduled to play in the Made in Denmark event so if he performs well, McGinley could give him a thought.

Colsaerts (69th and 73rd) and Hanson (51st and 50th) have both had a rough time since the Ryder Cup and they need to set their sights on the 2016 edition.  We'll see lots more of them in Europe due to Colsaerts announcing that he's finished playing the PGA Tour after he couldn't get adjusted to life in America and Hanson's poor play has seen him probably, barring a miraculous turnaround, lose his PGA Tour card.

Stephen Gallacher is currently 12th and 11th on the lists, but only around eight points (world ranking points) behind Donald for the 9th spot.  He's having the best season of his career and certainly looks like someone who's going to qualify automatically.  Being Scottish doesn't hurt his case either.  There's no way a Ryder Cup in the Home of Golf cannot have a Scotsman in the team.

Two other dark horses are Joost Luiten (10th and 15th) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (11th and 13th).  Luiten's play has tailed off recently but he has the game to perform well in the next two weeks to give himself a better chance.  The "most interesting man in golf" has won twice this season on the European Tour and once on the Champions Tour in the United States.  Like Luiten, the Spaniard has not performed to his usual standard in previous weeks, but it's remarkable to think that a 50-year-old is in contention for a Ryder Cup spot.  Don't rule out the "Mechanic!"

The next two weeks should see the team look about 75% set.  After that, it's up to players outside the top-9 to impress the captain with their play in the next three events, whether they be on the European or PGA Tours.  It obviously makes for compelling viewing!

The 40th Ryder Cup will take place at the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland from September 26-28.

Paul Lawrie faces uphill battle for Ryder Cup spot

According to Paul Lawrie's Twitter account, he will play the Volvo China Open (April 24-27) and The Championship in Korea (May 1-4).  The event in China will be his first event in nearly three months after last playing at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic ending on February 2.  Due to not being inside the world's top-50, he has not been eligible for the two World Golf Championships and chose not to play the European Tour events in Africa during that time.  During his time off, he played in the North-east Alliance Championship, a Scottish mini-tour event (two rounds), shooting 65-73 to finish second.  He also planned on playing the Trophée Hassan II, but attended his beloved Aberdeen FC's Scottish League Cup Final match instead.  He's been working a lot on his putting, but not so much on his swing.  He has been struggling with a neck injury that was bothering him when he played in Dubai.  In terms of his goal of playing in this year's Ryder Cup, he's currently sitting 72nd on the European Points List and 86th on the World Points List, so he needs to get a move on.  He will be playing a ton of golf from late April until late August, so this lengthy break might be a blessing in disguise.  There will be plenty of opportunities for him to gain valuable points for this season's biennial competition at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland (September 26-28).  

Lawrie's projected schedule leading up to the final qualifying event for the 2014 Ryder Cup (Italian Open):

Volvo China Open (April 24-27)

The Championship (May 1-4)

Open de España (May 15-18)

BMW PGA Championship (May 22-25)

Nordea Masters (May 29-June 1)

U.S. Open (June 12-15)*must pre-qualify

The Irish Open (June 19-22)

BMW International Open (June 26-29)

Alstom Open de France (July 3-6)

Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open (July 10-13)

143rd Open Championship (July 17-20)

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (July 21-August 3)*must meet qualification guidelines

U.S. PGA Championship (August 7-10)*must be inside the top-100 in the world rankings

D+D REAL Czech Masters (August 21-24)

Italian Open (August 28-31)

Why I think six Scots can make the Ryder Cup team

There were four Scottish players competing for Great Britain & Ireland in the Seve Trophy, the most Scotland has ever produced in an edition of the event.  Stephen Gallacher, Paul Lawrie, Marc Warren, and Scott Jamieson took part in the event this time around.  While Lawrie has played in two Ryder Cups (1999 and 2012), neither of the other three Scots mentioned above have played in the biennial Europe vs. United States competition.  Throw in Richie Ramsay, who didn't qualify for the Seve Trophy, and Martin Laird, who is not currently a European Tour member (will become a member in 2014), and there are six Scottish players who will have a legitimate chance to play in their home country in golf's greatest event next year at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland.

Currently, Laird is Scotland's highest-ranked golfer at 57th in the Official World Golf Rankings.  He is followed by Gallacher at 65th, Lawrie at 74th, Warren at 109th, Jamieson at 110th, and Ramsay at 125th.  The latter five are handily-placed on the Race to Dubai, meaning they should be eligible to compete in at least three of the four no-cut European Tour "Final Series" events, which have prize funds ranging from $7,000,000 to $8,500,000.  The final event is the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai where the top-60 on the Race to Dubai will compete.  It is essential that these Scots, excluding Laird, qualify for that event.  Valuable world ranking points will also be on offer, on top of everything else.

Laird, meanwhile, cannot begin the Ryder Cup qualification process until January, when he becomes a member of the Tour.  Therefore, he will be playing catch-up as he will have missed out on the first four months of qualifying.  With Laird playing the majority of his golf on the US PGA Tour, his best chance to qualify will be through the World Points List.    

The 2014 Ryder Cup qualification process began on August 26, 2013 and runs through August 31, 2014.  The European Ryder Cup rankings are divided into two lists: the European Points List and the World Points List.  All Euros earned by European Tour members during the qualification period will count towards the European Points List, while all Official World Golf Ranking Points earned by European Tour members during the qualification period will count towards the World Points List.  The leading four members on the European Points List will qualify for the team.  The leading five members on the World Points List, not otherwise qualified, will make the team.  Captain Paul McGinley will have three Wild Card picks.      

Getting inside the top-50 in the world rankings by the end of this calendar year is essential for potential Ryder Cup players.  By doing so, you become eligible for all four majors and have a better chance of qualifying for the four World Golf Championships.  In addition, doors to limited-field events, such as the Volvo World Match Play Championship become opened.

I firmly believe that these six Scottish players have the ability to qualify for Gleneagles.  The chances of all six actually qualifying are slim, but it will be a goal at the top of their lists.  There are a little less than 11 months of qualification left, but what a thrilling time it will be.