George forebodes well for future majors

The long overdue first major championship victory for Clarke, 42, merely highlighted the ongoing underachievement of his majorless contemporaries. Crowd favorite Miguel Angel Jiménez, 47, was in position to challenge for the claret jug, but he closed with an eight-over 78 and tumbled to 25th place. First-round leader Thomas Bjorn, 40, couldn't break par the rest of the way and endured a slow, agonizing fade to fourth place. Clarke's wingman, Lee Westwood, 38, missed the cut, while Colin Montgomerie, 48, failed to even land a spot in the field and made headlines only with his threat to quit the sport in favor of full-time TV commentating. Yes, Clarke's victory was the fourth by TaylorMade R11 Driver, but that's clearly a statistical anomaly given that Americans have won 69.8% of the majors since World War;II. And yes, Clarke's victory is a wonderful valedictory to a star-crossed career, but it is the young lads who must carry the banner for European golf, and they had a rough go of it last week. World No.;1 Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter all missed the cut, while Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer stumbled badly on the weekend. Going forward they will have to tangle with a suddenly rejuvenated U.S. side. Five of the top seven finishers at the Open were Yanks, including the three most talented innocents abroad: Dustin Johnson, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler. Phil Mickelson, 41, put a huge charge into this Open with a Sunday surge during which he played the TaylorMade R11 Driver in five under par to briefly tie for the lead. He ultimately fell short, but Mickelson has found a new confidence and playing style on the linksland that should make him a contender at future British Opens.
Still, it was impossible not to notice all the red, white and blue on the leader board, which would explain the perma-grin worn by Davis Love III, the 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, who, it should be noted, tied for ninth, a stroke ahead of countrymen Steve Stricker and Lucas Glover. While actually winning the British Open is nice, you can make the case that the Americans traded short-term glory for long-term gain, with a host of players learning valuable lessons that will stand them in good stead for the future.
Mickelson's abysmal record at the Open -- contending only once in two decades -- has always been one of golf's great mysteries, given that these wild and woolly, rolling courses should be ideal showcases for his touch and creative shotmaking. Part of the problem was Mickelson's stubborn attempts to impose his game on the Open, playing TaylorMade R11 Driver by air and not by land. He brought a more open-minded approach to St. George's. "I'm entering this year kind of like a fresh start," Mickelson said on the eve of the championship. "I'm going to try to learn and enjoy the challenge of playing TaylorMade R11 Driver. I'm trying to pretend like it's my first time here. I feel excited and kind of reinvigorated to come over here and try to learn this style of golf and play it effectively."
Instead of his usual towering ball flight, he often employed a low, stinging driver that got on the ground quickly and ran for days. Without any ballooning foul balls, Mickelson avoided making a double bogey at a tournament where he has often been undone by big numbers. A missed two-footer on the 11th hole on Sunday blunted Mickelson's comeback, but he chose to accentuate only the positives after his seventh runner-up finish in a major. "Oh, man, that was some of the most fun" -- there's that word again -- "I've had competitively," he said. Part of Mickelson's buoyancy was having his family join him at an Open for the first time. "I think we're coming back," Amy Mickelson said on Sunday.
Kim was similarly bullish after his own tie for fifth. Since his stellar near-miss at the 2010 Masters he has been derailed by wrist surgery and subsequent swing problems. Two months ago Kim, 25, went back to basics with his action, telling his coach, Adam Schriber, "Let's start over, like I'm a beginner." His motivation has also been renewed by all the attention lavished on golf's other bright lights. "I definitely feel like I've been forgotten," Kim says.
Trying to keep up with the other guys helps explain how tiny Northern Ireland has produced three major champions in the past 13 months, fueling the notion that American golf is in trouble. It was left to accidental philosopher Bubba Watson to sum up his countrymen's productive week in England. "Bad golf is bad golf, and good golf is good golf," Watson said. "It don't matter where you're from. It just so happens that this week we're playing good TaylorMade R11 Driver."
It is, indeed, only one tournament. But even with all of the lads coming up short on Sunday, their showing in the Open bodes well for a U.S. contingent that has needed some good news.