Who are these guys!?!
In the words of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, just ‘who are these guys’ relentlessly chasing the big names of European golf all over the world with quite extraordinary success. Well, with modern day technology it is much easier for us to learn more about these gunslingers than in the days of the Wild West. There is no doubt though that the regularity with which these young upstarts are raiding the biggest tournaments and prize funds is leaving many bewildered, not least the established stars of the game.
As early as February, a young 18 year old amateur by the name of Danny Lee, stormed to victory down in Perth, Western Australia at the Johnnie Walker Classic no less! In March it was young Tano Goya from Argentina, and in April Irishman Michael Hoey, two hitherto little known professionals, deciding to plunder Portuguese territory with victories in the Madeira Island and Estoril Open’s respectively.
Quite extraordinarily, another amateur Shane Lowry won the Open of his homeland when he beat off the challenge of Robert Rock to take the Irish Open. He turned professional the very next day!
Frenchman Christian Cevaer again held off a group of players much higher in the rankings to par a brutally tough finishing hole at the London Club to win the European Open, another very big event!
And on Sunday, Jeppe Huldahl came from way off the radar to become the 7th Dane to win on tour, when he held off both Ignacio Garrido and Niclas Fasth to win the Celtic Manor Open on the 2010 Ryder Cup course.
Holding out for victory in tournaments of the calibre of those mentioned above, is no fluke, and whilst tournament sponsors are probably hoping for a big name to win, it will be fascinating to see whether any of the winners above can on to become the next big star.
It would also be very interesting to know what Colin Montgomerie is thinking; he is probably quite relaxed about his ‘names’ not featuring at present, but imagine if this trend is still occuring at this time next year. He might end up deciding an escape to Bolivia is his best bet!
