The Ror of the British contingent

It’s June 19th 2007. A blustery day’s play has come to an end out in the wilderness of the Scottish east coast, on a course that eight years previous had crucified many players’ games, never mind the career of a certain shoeless Frenchman. A glance at the leader board shows the name of an eighteen-year-old mop-haired amateur tied for third place on three under, having not dropped a shot all day.
Fast forward less than five years and Rory McIlroy, that same fresh-faced boy from County Down sits atop the world rankings, widely tipped to conquer all in his path. All except the eternal match play genius Hunter Mahan, that is. Victory at the Honda Classic earlier this month propelled him to the number one spot, but some jiggery-pokery is sure to happen in the coming weeks, with the top three all within striking distance of one another.
Last week’s World Golf Championship at Doral, Florida saw a closely contested leader-board, as Bubba Watson’s missed putt on the eighteenth handed the title to Justin Rose, further increasing the raft of Brits occupying the world’s top ten. With McIlroy finishing in third and Luke Donald two shots further back, tied for sixth, it was yet another strong performance from the British contingent, boding well for this years transatlantic showdown at the Medinah Country Club.
But what of the man who held the mantle of the world’s best player for so long? For quite some time Tiger Woods has been on a slow descent down the world rankings, reaching a low of 58. Having ended a two-year winless streak at the Chevron World Challenge in December, the Honda Classic saw a resurgence, with Woods going toe-to-toe with the new poster boy of the sport, thus leading many to believe we could be witnessing the return of the Tiger of old.
Last week, however, disaster struck once more, as Woods was forced to retire after eleven holes of his final round at the WGC, thanks to an Achilles injury, although he had already played himself out of contention with a flurry of bogeys towards the end of the front nine. The doctor’s report suggests it’s nothing too serious, so we can hope to see the great man in action soon, but the question now is whether even the Tiger of old would be good enough to displace the new breed of ball-strikers that sit at golf’s top table.
All eyes now turn to Augusta, home of the Masters, where McIlroy will be desperate to exorcise those demons that decimated last year’s calamitous final round. Asides from Rory and the ever-growing body of Brits looking to crash the American party, a number of other young twenty-somethings will be hoping to compete for the title. Young prospects such as Webb Simpson, 2011 USPGA winner Keegan Bradley and Jason Day are all threatening to stake a claim for the green jacket, whilst the mercurial Martin Kaymer can always pose a threat to both ends of the scoreboard. Lest we forget the defending champion Charl Schwartzel, whose four closing birdies last year were worthy of winning any tournament.
No matter what, the only thing it is safe to say is that The Masters is set to be one of the closest in years, regardless of whether or not Tiger manages a return to full fitness.