Posted on May 28, 2008 - 10:05 PM

Golf Question of the Week: Can Europe End Its U.S. Open Drought?

Part of the compelling drama of competitive sports comes when an athlete or team accomplishes a feat that hasn't been duplicated in decades. We'll see Big Brown's attempt to capture thoroughbred racing's first Triple Crown in 30 years when he races in the Belmont Stakes on June 7.

And the following weekend on the links, consider this fun little nugget in U.S. Open history: despite the fact that an otherwise U.S. golfer-dominated tournament has been won each of the past four years by a foreign-born player (Angel Cabrera of Argentina last year; Australia's Geoff Ogilvy in 2006; Michael Campbell of New Zealand in 2005; and South Africa's Retief Goosen in 2004), a win by a European golfer will be the first since Tony Jacklin of England did it in 1970. That's right: 38 years ago.

Hard to believe - especially considering Europe's place in the history of the game, and its ongoing dominance of the Ryder Cup. So it begs the question: can a European finally break through this year? And if so, who has the best shot?

OK, that's two questions, but who's counting? Let's consider the options here:

Earlier this month, Sergio Garcia (Spain, #10 in this week's World Golf Rankings) earned a win at THE PLAYERS that was "defining" in two respects. One, the victory at the PGA TOUR's "fifth major" was the biggest of his career; and two, his first thoughts after securing the win were to publicly thank Tiger Woods for not playing - thus fueling the widely held belief that El Tigre will forever be wedged in Garcia's skull until the Spaniard earns a victory with the world's Number One in the field. Will this year's U.S. Open be Garcia's chance to finally exorcise that demon?
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain, #21) just won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, the European Tour's Flagship tournament. Can he ride that momentum to a victory at Torrey Pines?
How about Justin Rose (England, #11)? He's the reigning European Order of Merit title holder, and began 2008 with three consecutive top-15 finishes and a T-36 at The Masters. But Rose's recent play suggests a U.S. Open run might be a long shot (a WD and three straight missed cuts). Can he turn it around in time to contend in San Diego?
Perhaps the smartest money to place on a Euro is with Padraig Harrington (Ireland, #12), the reigning British Open champion who defeated Garcia in a 2007 playoff to take the Claret Jug. He has a pair of top-5 showings this year on the PGA TOUR, including his T-5 at Augusta; just how that will translate at Torrey Pines remains to be seen.

For me and many others, the sentimental favorite would easily have been Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland, #113; #31 on the European list), a popular TOUR personality who lost his wife Heather to breast cancer in 2006 yet courageously joined the European Ryder Cup team a month later, contributing three points in three matches to help the Euros rout the U.S. squad. But Clarke recently announced his intention to skip this year's U.S. Open in order to focus his efforts on making Europe's 2008 Ryder Cup squad.

How 'bout it, Beach Bloggers? Who among the Europeans do you think stands the best chance of winning this year's U.S. Open?