General / Paul Krishnamurty / 18 November 2008 /

Paul Krishnamurty has positive news for European golf fans still smarting from that Ryder Cup defeat - 2009 promises big things for a certain trio of stars.

Though the new European Tour season began a fortnight ago with the limited-field HSBC Champions Trophy, this week's UBS Hong Kong Open marks the start for the rank and file.

Much has already been written about the new Race to Dubai, and its significance in shifting golfing power away from its two main centres, especially the US. And while the European Tour has become the first truly global tour, fewer tournaments will be played on the European mainland. In one sense that's a cause for regret, but in terms of the quality of European golfers, I can't remember a time to be more optimistic.

A transition is taking place amongst the game's elite. While most judges expect to see Tiger Woods resume winning ways pretty soon when he returns in the spring, the severity of his knee injury has left a question mark over how long he can remain dominant. And all of Tiger's main rivals in recent years are either stagnating or in decline.

Ernie Els is clearly not getting any better, and Vijay Singh had looked well past his best until bouncing back to win the Fedex Cup. Phil Mickelson remains a threat, but hasn't impressed for months and seems unlikely to improve as he approaches his forties.

Think ahead five years, or perhaps much less, and most of the obvious candidates for the game's biggest prizes are European. Colombia and the US can claim a couple of exceptions in the form of Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim, and as a regular winner under the age of 30, Adam Scott could yet make a much greater mark, even if he has looked an also-ran in the Majors to date.

On the evidence of this summer though, Tiger's biggest challengers this year are more likely to be Europe's finest, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington, with the latter already halfway towards holding all four Major titles simultaneously. Bill Elliott made a compelling case on these pages last week for backing Garcia in the 2009 Majors, and its hard to argue with his logic. His summer form was exceptionally consistent, and having at last rediscovered how to win events deserves the title of 'Best without Woods'.

Besides the big two, it's the youngest generation of pros who look the most promising. Golfers rarely peak before their thirties, and normally it takes at least five years of top-class experience before players start to approach their best. So when players make an immediate impact, despite retaining the expected weaknesses that comes with inexperience, we should sit up and take notice. In particular, there are three players who are yet to appear in a Ryder Cup side who look certain to be established world stars by the time the next contest comes around in 2010.

Ross Fisher isn't really a youngster at 28, but still counts as a relative novice with only three full years of European Tour experience. He's made massive progress in the last 12 months, from promising player generally available at big prices to a regular contender challenging for favouritism, and has bags of improvement yet to come. As I argued recently, Fisher looks certain to add to his two titles in 2009, and is a live contender in the Race to Dubai.

Martin Kaymer has risen through the ranks in even quicker time. The 24-year-old German has just completed his second full season on the main tour, winning two big events and finishing runner-up in three more to announce his arrival on the world scene. Those achievements are quite remarkable considering that he displays many hallmarks of inexperience - erratic distance control with his wedges, questionable shot choices and a moderate short game. As Kaymer inevitably improves in those areas, he will knock shots off his scorecard, elevating his standard to the very highest levels of the game.

I have rated Kaymer as the best European prospect for some time, but as the weeks go by that position looks under threat from the fast improving Rory McIlroy. The crucial point to remember with Rory is his age. He is a better player than Tiger Woods was at the age of 19, and with the sole exception of Garcia, no teenager has ever made such an impact. He has played less than 50 professional tournaments, and is already a frequent challenger.

McIlroy has made significant strides in recent weeks, making the top-10 in five of his last seven events. Sunday's fourth place in Singapore, amongst a world-class field on a championship course, was a particularly ominous statement to his vastly more experienced rivals on that leaderboard.

It seems inevitable that a first tournament victory will arrive soon, and layers are taking no chance with McIlroy trading as joint third-favourite at [23.0] this week in Hong Kong. And in the longer term, this links magician will surely win at least one Open Championship, perhaps as early as St Andrews in 2010.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: