IT SEEMED richly ironic that it should have fallen to a European, who has not played in the Ryder Cup, to salvage some pride for tournament golfers on this side of the Atlantic last weekend. In the wake of a systematic blitzing of more distinguished colleagues at La Costa, Gabriel Hjertstedt captured the Tucson Open last Sunday.
Though his reward was considerably less than the $1 million won by Jeff Maggert in the Andersen Consulting Matchplay Championship, Hjertstedt has still moved into the top-10 of the US money list. With a 25-foot birdie putt on the first play-off hole, he brought his season's earnings to $565,114.
It means the resilient Swede, whose only previous US win was in the 1997 BC Open, is unlikely to be forced again to sleep in his car, as he did during lean times on the European Tour.
Yet he seemed to have blown the chance of victory when he double-bogeyed the 72nd to finish with a round of 68 for an aggregate of 12 under par.
Fortunately for him, his main challengers failed to take advantage. And there was considerable satisfaction in edging out American Tommy Armour III with a birdie on the same, 465-yard 18th hole that had given him grief minutes earlier. With its three-tiered green and water on both sides of the fairway, it is rated one of the most difficult closing holes on the US Tour.
On that form, Hjertstedt clearly has a splendid chance of gaining a wild-card on the European team to defend the Ryder Cup at Brookline in September. And we can now take it that the American team will include Maggert, who was once ridiculed by Colin Montgomerie as an opponent of no substance.
Lee Westwood was obliged to think otherwise when Maggert beat him by 3 and 2 at Valderrama 17 months ago. And the 35-year-old Texas resident can look to a La Costa triumph that included a victory over world number one Tiger Woods. When his life quietens down a little after the euphoria of the weekend, he may think of Greg Norman and the contribution the Shark made to bringing the $5 million event on stream. Five years ago, Norman incurred the wrath of authority by revealing plans for a breakaway world tour.
It didn't happen, but tour officials around the globe thought enough of the idea to do their own thing. Apart from last weekend's event, it will mean two further, socalled World Golf Championship events later this year - the NEC Invitational at Firestone on August 26th to 29th and the American Express Championship at Valderrama on November 4th to 7th.
Meanwhile, reports from La Costa suggest that there was much crowing among Americans at the limp challenge by Europe's established and potential Ryder Cup players. Darren Clarke, Westwood, Nick Faldo, Montgomerie and Ian Woosnam all bit the dust in the opening round and, by the weekend, it had become an exclusively American affair.
It produced a memorable climax. With Maggert and Andrew Magee still deadlocked after 36 holes, the end came at the second extra hole, the 11th, where Maggert chipped in from the light rough.
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