Major Memories: Exclusive interview with Bill Elliott, chairman of the Golf Writers' Association and former Golf Monthly editor
You have just flown back from attending your 34th Masters at Augusta. Where has an Englishman really come near to a major triumph since Nick Faldo won the Masters in 1996?
Englishmen have come extremely close, Lee Westwood being a fine example, Ian Poulter was also within touching distance at Royal Birkdale a few years ago. When I covered Paul Casey in the final group at St Andrews in the 2010 Open, he was in the final group with Louis Oosthuizen. I thought he spent far too much time laughing and joking with Oosthuizen than he did trying to beat him. They’ve come close, eventually one of them you would think logically must win it, but that could be as much logic as thinking there is life somewhere else in the universe. Just because you think it is logical doesn’t mean it will actually come true. Why is it they haven't gone on to win then? It’s one of those, there is no answer to it. The sarcastic answer is they haven’t won because someone else has. At crucial moments they just haven’t had the luck, you need some luck, a little bit of good fortune is such an important part of playing the game of golf. Whether it’s a gust of wind that picks up just as you hit the ball to put it back on the right line, or whether your ball finds a divot after you've hit it perfectly down the fairway. Those are the faint and almost invisible slices of luck that in the end, determine success. |
What you can say about English golfers in recent years, is they are far more proven, accomplished golfers that are high in the world rankings. In 1999 Lee Westwood was the only English golfer in the top one-hundred in the world and now there is a whole bunch of them in the
top twenty, they have a wide spread of talent but for some reason they just haven’t managed to cut the mustard when it comes to the majors.
As well as needing luck, is it mental thing? Do Englishmen just always tend to crack at the pivotal moments? After all, they are renowned for it in most sports.
It’s human nature, we’ve all been there under pressure whether it’s playing golf or asking a girl out for a date, you bottle it at the last minute and exactly the same thing happens in sport until you get used to the situation.
Lee Westwood described to me how he felt in 1999 when he stood on the 10th tee leading the final round at Augusta. I had a drink with him in the clubhouse afterwards that evening, he said he looked at the huge leader board by the 18th green which is near the 10th and saw his name at the top of it. He told me he was that nervous he nearly had to step aside and throw up on the edge of the tee. He’s grown up a lot since then but that surely must go through his mind.
In the last decade, media exposure has risen considerably in golf. Do you think this puts pressure on English players?
Some pros at the top level are nice guys with the press, some aren't, but they all share one thing. They are all totally self-focused and
self-obsessed. They like to read nice things that are written about them and get irritated when anything that is not nice is written, but they don’t feel any more pressure from the media. The main pressure is the strain they put on themselves to desperately win one of these things.
People always say that if you win one you could go on to win two or three, that could be the case with an Englishman but if you believe that you are only fooling yourself.
Is it time to look on towards the next crop of Englishmen coming through then? Do we write this lot off now?
I wouldn't write off the current generation of players England has. Although, they are not known as a golden generation, they are known as the silver generation because they keep coming second!
One thing is for sure, these are consummate professionals that work hard, win big tournaments and Ryder Cups. You don’t have a mental problem or a physical problem if you can do that, it’s all about luck. It’s a bit like a striker in football who hasn’t scored for six games, what you then need is for one to go in off your backside. It doesn’t matter how it goes in, just get it in and you’re off and running.
The late great Seve Ballesteros was an inspiration for those around him when he won his first major. It encouraged an entire generation of Faldo, Woosnam, Lyle, Langer and the Olazabal in a European surge of major winners. They were all beating Seve on the European Tour and they all felt that if he could do it, so could they, which could be the same for Englishmen in the future.
Stick your neck on the line then Bill, which Englishman could do it?
What I think will happen if a Rose, Donald or Westwood wins is the others will be spurred on. You cannot rule out Lee Westwood, he was the top Englishman at the Masters this year and he is a lot fitter at 40 than he was a 30-year-old. He’s changed his lifestyle and he’s developed his short game which will never be a thing of beauty but it’s better than it was. He would still be my personal bet out of them to win a major, only time will tell but I think it could happen soon.
top twenty, they have a wide spread of talent but for some reason they just haven’t managed to cut the mustard when it comes to the majors.
As well as needing luck, is it mental thing? Do Englishmen just always tend to crack at the pivotal moments? After all, they are renowned for it in most sports.
It’s human nature, we’ve all been there under pressure whether it’s playing golf or asking a girl out for a date, you bottle it at the last minute and exactly the same thing happens in sport until you get used to the situation.
Lee Westwood described to me how he felt in 1999 when he stood on the 10th tee leading the final round at Augusta. I had a drink with him in the clubhouse afterwards that evening, he said he looked at the huge leader board by the 18th green which is near the 10th and saw his name at the top of it. He told me he was that nervous he nearly had to step aside and throw up on the edge of the tee. He’s grown up a lot since then but that surely must go through his mind.
In the last decade, media exposure has risen considerably in golf. Do you think this puts pressure on English players?
Some pros at the top level are nice guys with the press, some aren't, but they all share one thing. They are all totally self-focused and
self-obsessed. They like to read nice things that are written about them and get irritated when anything that is not nice is written, but they don’t feel any more pressure from the media. The main pressure is the strain they put on themselves to desperately win one of these things.
People always say that if you win one you could go on to win two or three, that could be the case with an Englishman but if you believe that you are only fooling yourself.
Is it time to look on towards the next crop of Englishmen coming through then? Do we write this lot off now?
I wouldn't write off the current generation of players England has. Although, they are not known as a golden generation, they are known as the silver generation because they keep coming second!
One thing is for sure, these are consummate professionals that work hard, win big tournaments and Ryder Cups. You don’t have a mental problem or a physical problem if you can do that, it’s all about luck. It’s a bit like a striker in football who hasn’t scored for six games, what you then need is for one to go in off your backside. It doesn’t matter how it goes in, just get it in and you’re off and running.
The late great Seve Ballesteros was an inspiration for those around him when he won his first major. It encouraged an entire generation of Faldo, Woosnam, Lyle, Langer and the Olazabal in a European surge of major winners. They were all beating Seve on the European Tour and they all felt that if he could do it, so could they, which could be the same for Englishmen in the future.
Stick your neck on the line then Bill, which Englishman could do it?
What I think will happen if a Rose, Donald or Westwood wins is the others will be spurred on. You cannot rule out Lee Westwood, he was the top Englishman at the Masters this year and he is a lot fitter at 40 than he was a 30-year-old. He’s changed his lifestyle and he’s developed his short game which will never be a thing of beauty but it’s better than it was. He would still be my personal bet out of them to win a major, only time will tell but I think it could happen soon.
Think you know as much as Bill?
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