The Outlook for 2007 – European Tour
It’s no secret that the European Tour has produced some of the world’s best golfers over the years, and they seem to gel at the same time every two years for the Ryder Cup. Nick Faldo Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, and Colin Montgomerie are the three that come to mind as stalwarts for the Europeans over the last 20 years.
However, I think the last 10 years or so, the European Tour has produced a barrage of excellent European players and a good many of them are starting to play the PGA Tour on a regular basis. (Note: the PGA requires a player to play a minimum of 15 tournaments to keep his card.) Sergio Garcia was supposed to carry the torch for the European’s after his initial splash at the 1999 PGA Championship, but he’s been average at best since then.
Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly), there have been others that have stepped up to the plate and carried the torch very well: Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, David Howell, Luke Donald, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter, Darren Clarke. For 2007, I look for Padraig Harrington to have a breakout year and seriously contend, if not win one of the majors. Paul Casey had a breakout year in 2006 but he needs to follow it up with a good 2007 to be considered a serious contendor.