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Strong English stable set for a year of golfing success

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Bill Elliott is excited by the home challenge this season...

And they're off!

Well, okay, this is a bit of an exaggeration for two reasons... (a) the European Tour 2008 season started three months ago in November 2007 and (b) golf being the sort of, literally, pedestrian game that it is, no-one is actually trying to break into a gallop. However, there is a feeling abroad this weekend that the calendar season proper is now actually creaking into action.

This is happening in Abu Dhabi, the first of three reasonably significant tournaments that the players call The Desert Swing but that I prefer to know as the Lawrence Lollop (yes, yes, Lawrence of Arabia) and that moves on next week to Qatar before the big one in Dubai when Tiger calls in to boost the action.

After that it is on to Delhi and the Euro Tour's first full-on event in the sub-continent. How exotic it all is. Anyway, let's cut to the chase here and try to work out who is going to do well. It is, as ever, impossible to say. Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but it is the truth in a game as perverse as pro golf where the indiscriminate location of a shabby divot scrape or an unexpected gust of wind may shred even the steeliest ambition.

What one can suggest is that quality will prevail ultimately. Watch several dozen pros limber up on the practice ground and it is hard to split them into divisions. The difference is not in the swings but between their ears. Bill Shankly used to watch his Liverpool players in practice and if one of them did something special he would stop the game to observe coldly: "Aye very good son but what I want to know is can you do that in front of The Kop when we're one down with 10 minutes to go, eh?"

Shanks, as ever, was spot-on in his analysis. Unless they enjoy outrageous good fortune (Ben Curtis or Todd Hamilton in recent Opens for example) humdrum players are humdrum for a reason and the reason is that when big-time opportunity beckons they tend to freeze. Genuine talent is necessary for consistent success in golf but mental fortitude is required even more.

Between now and the end of the season this truism will be exampled as much as ever. Someone, of course, will break through from the ranks but while the race doesn't always go to the swiftest it still remains the smart way to bet. What is good at this point is the suspicion that this will turn out to be England's year. The size of the posse of young(ish) Englishmen now tilting at the biggest windmills is reassuringly impressive.

We all know who they are - Rose, Donald, Casey, Poulter etc - but behind this leading group is a small mob of wannabes that includes the likes of Nick Dougherty, Zane Scotland and Oliver Fisher. Throw in the returning David Howell - most of his season last time was ruined by injury - and the abiding presence of Lee Westwood and English golf may be seen to be enjoying a genuine renaissance.

Their determination to succeed will only be magnified this year because of the opportunity to play in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla in September. It is easy for a young man to become distracted when he has a few quid in his pocket and the living is easy but the old battle against the USA should make sure they all retain proper focus.

So, to sum up, while I cannot tell you at this stage who is going to succeed in 2008, I can assure you of this...in Europe he is more likely than ever to be English. Hope that helps. A bit anyway.