Howell and Donald World Cup favourites
The format of two foursomes and two fourball sessions suit the English pair and they will take beating. That said, despite the absence of all the leading Americans and European number one Colin Montgomerie, there is still a considerable amount of talent among the 24 nations who are hunting the $4 million prize fund.
Among the more fancied pairs are Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley of Ireland who continue a partnership that began back in 1997 when they captured the title for this country for the second time at Kiawah Island.
McGinley’s great season came to a crushing halt on Sunday, when he shot a most uncharacteristic 78 in the final round of the HSBC Champions tournament in China. He is still troubled by a dodgy knee and is due to undergo another operation next week. It’s hoped that that injury won’t impinge on his effectiveness at Vilamoura or that mental fatigue isn’t setting in after a long year. However, I suspect he will lift himself for the occasion, for he likes nothing more than to represent his country or indeed to play alongside his friend Padraig Harrington.
Padraig, for his part, finished strongly on Sunday with a 68, for a seven under par total and a share of 15th worth €39,905; it was his seventh sub-70 score in 12 rounds. It could be that his game is returning to the level that enabled him to win twice in the United States in the first half of the season. The Irish pair came third in Seville last year, three behind Donald and Paul Casey.
The World Cup takes place over the latest gem in the greater Vilamoura area and promises some great competition, with England challenged not only by Ireland but other powerful teams like Spain (Sergio Garcia and Miguel-Angel Jimenez, who finished a stroke off the pace 12 months ago), South Africa (Trevor Immelman and Tim Clark), United States (Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson), Sweden (Henrik Stenson and Niclas Fasth), Australia (Mark Hensby and Peter Lonard) and France (Thomas Levet and Raphael Jacquelin). Seven members of last year’s European Ryder Cup team are involved, along with six tournament winners on the 2005 European Tour.
Meanwhile, Darren Clarke pieced four fine rounds together to retain the Taiheiyo Masters in Japan with an 18 under par total. In spite of his problems at home, Clarke has played some beautiful golf throughout the year without ever being able to complete the job. Because of his wife’s serious illness, his mind has been elsewhere and he has also missed out on several events, most especially in the States where failure to contest 15 tournaments means that he has lost his membership of their tour. Furthermore, his rivals for Ryder Cup places had been stealing a march on Clarke, though his win in Japan has moved him up to tenth in the world points list and has moved him from 20th to 19th in the world rankings. He still isn’t sure what the rest of 2006 may hold although he still hopes to take in the seriously rich Nedbank Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, in a couple of weeks
Captain Ian Woosnam must be overjoyed at the way his Ryder Cup team has panned out so far. He could hardly have hoped for a better top five in the world points list than Sergio Garcia, Colin Montgomerie, David Howell, Paul McGinley and Jose-Maria Olazabal, while the top five in the European list reads Montgomerie, McGinley, Garcia, Howell and Olazabal. From an Irish viewpoint, Clarke’s move at the weekend is reassuring, while Padraig Harrington is 13th in the world list and 12th in the European, so he’s also within striking range.
An educated guess right now would indicate a top ten of Garcia, Montgomerie, Howell, McGinley, Olazabal, Luke Donald, Clarke, Harrington, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood, leaving Woosie free to consider Paul Casey, Thomas Bjorn, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Ian Poulter, Nick Dougherty, Niclas Fasth and Raphael Jacquelin, among others, as his two “wild cards“. In other words, a healthy situation which demonstrates the remarkable strength in depth of European golf.
One man conspicuously absent from all of this is Ulsterman Graeme McDowell, who would have been in many people’s team when the points process began back in September. However, a motor accident that caused him spinal problems has proven a lot more damaging than at first imagined. He has since dropped out of the world’s top 50 and is nowhere in the Ryder Cup reckoning. Closing rounds of 75 and 74 in Shanghai cost him very dearly and leave him in 51st place in the rankings. This in turn has forced him to ditch plans to end his season at this point. Instead, he will take in events in Asia and two more in South Africa in the hope of doing enough to regain his place in the top 50 and so qualify for all the major and world championships in 2006. If he fails to do so, McDowell’s Ryder Cup prospects may well have been dealt a fatal blow. He is 23rd and 22nd respectively in world and European lists.
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