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In Search of Euro Mojo

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It’s been eight years since a European player won the Masters: Tiger and Phil and a few others have kept any Europeans from slipping into the green jacket. It doesn’t seem long ago that Europe dominated at Augusta—we won eight titles from 1983 to 1994. First was Seve Ballesteros, then Bernhard Langer, followed by Sandy Lyle, me, Ian Woosnam, then José María Olazábal. There was a fair bit of European pride coming on at that time, including our newfound Ryder Cup success. We had a tradition of getting together at Augusta and taking a photo in front of the clubhouse. Dave Cannon, a British photographer, would set us up and shoot it. We were proud of what that picture represented. (Coincidentally, the U.S. dollar was in a weak phase against the pound, so our money on the PGA European Tour was getting closer to U.S. Tour purses. When you’re trying to measure up, even that means something.)

Here are a few current Euro stars to watch at this year’s Masters.

Paul Casey

My first thought is that he’s not quite ready, although he is starting to enjoy the intensity of a major.

Luke Donald

Has great touch in his short game. He’s also got consistency, so you can’t count him out.

Sergio García

I would watch Sergio to see if his emotions are harnessed properly.

Padraig Harrington Keep an eye on him: Winning this Masters is a real possibility for Padraig.

Justin Rose

I’m sure the experience of feeling the Sunday-afternoon, back-nine pressure last year will be invaluable in ’08.

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