Battle begins to meet Hootie’s target

AUGUSTA National have left themselves open to criticism on many fronts over the years, most recently in 2003 when becoming involved in an infamous row over their discrimination against women.

The green jackets are set in their ways and will never be bullied into making changes. However, they cannot now be accused of failing to recognise how the game is developing and that their own American golfers no longer have the scene to themselves. When the club released their initial list of entries for this year’s renewal on April 7-10, 42 of the 96 players were from overseas! Hootie Johnson, chairman of the Masters tournament, went so far as to announce a special invitation to Shingo Katayama, leader in 2004 of the Japanese Tour money list, but not qualified for Augusta on that basis. He also revealed that several opportunities remain for the inclusion of further names who either win the Players Championship at Sawgrass in March; finish among the ten leaders on the 2005 US Tour money list in the week prior to the Masters or figure among the top 50 in the world rankings at the end of March.

The third category will be of considerable interest to a number of players, including Irishmen Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell. It’s a pity Johnson failed to note that only two members of last year’s triumphant European Ryder Cup team, McGinley and Colin Montgomerie, didn’t qualify for the Masters under their standard criteria and offer them an invitation on the same lines as that tendered to Katayama.

Instead, the players know they need to get into the world top 50 by the end of next month. McGinley is currently 74th, his cause not helped by his absence from the scene since undergoing an operation on his knee last November. Having resumed full practice, he returns in the lucrative AT & T Classic on the US Tour at Pebble Beach next week, an event for which he qualifies through his status as a Ryder Cup player. His ambition is to do enough to crash the top 64 in the world who comprise the field for the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in California on February 23-27.

Montgomerie also set his sights on a return to the world’s top 50 and certainly went the right way about it at the weekend when tying for seconnd place in the Singapore Masters. Neverthless, he is still only one spot better off than McGinley in 73rd place as he regards this week’s Heineken Classic over the great Royal Melbourne course as the ideal opportunity to further his ambitions. McDowell, a promising 59th in the rankings, got rid of some of the close-season rustiness in Singapore and will also see the Heineken as a means of improving his hopes of a first Masters appearance.

For now, though, there is still no sign of Padraig Harrington, whose three-day charity clinic at City West raised the magnificent sum of 225,000, all of which will go to charity including the Asian Relief Fund. He is currently sunning himself in Barbados and is due to return in Malaysia on February 17 before moving on to California for the matchplay. The Dubliner has yet to make his mark in that event, a remark that certainly doesn’t apply to Darren Clarke who won the title so memorably by beating Tiger Woods in the 2000 final while he also reached the semi-finals last year.

Clarke is hoping play three events in a row in the States starting with next week’s AT & T although he admits there is some uncertainty concerning the matchplay event. Everything depends on how his wife, Heather, is progressing in her battle with cancer.

Justin Leonard, winner of the Bob Hope Classic at the weekend, has improved 24 places to 16th in the new world ranking list. Tim Clark finished tied for 2nd after winning his own South African Open a week earlier and is now ranked 38th and looking a sound each-way bet for the major championships later this year.

Peter Lawrie’s superb closing 66 in Singapore earned him a share of 5th place, a cheque for 22,326 and 16th place on the European Tour order of merit with a total of 37,258. Lawrie, McDowell, Gary Murphy and Damien McGrane are the direct Irish interest in this week’s Heineken Classic. The entry is led by Ernie Els, Montgomerie and Thomas Bjorn.