The last five majors have been won by Americans and Justin Rose believes this week’s British Open offers the ideal chance for Europe to begin addressing the imbalance with the Ryder Cup coming up in September in Paris.
Sergio Garcia was the last European winner of a Big Four championship, at last year’s U.S. Masters, but Rose says Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, and even the 45-year-old Lee Westwood can all dream of achieving Carnoustie glory.
“It would be nice to get some good momentum for the Europeans going into the Ryder Cup, to start challenging in these biggest tournaments,” world number three Rose told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’d love it to be me but, yeah, it would be good to kind of see a change of the tide, for sure. Tommy’s got a brilliant chance and Paul’s got a great chance, he’s been knocking on the door many times now and is dangerous on links golf courses.
“Rory, clearly, is always dangerous. Probably even more dangerous at the minute because he’s been a little quiet. I find that Rory is always quiet for a while and then he will kind of kick back into gear,” said Rose.
“Darren Clarke won one (major) out of the blue in 2011 so maybe it’s sort of a Westy time as well.”
Brooks Koepka’s 2017 U.S. Open victory launched a spell of American dominance that has also seen wins for Jordan Spieth (British Open), Justin Thomas (U.S. PGA Championship), Patrick Reed (Masters) and Koepka again at last month’s U.S. Open.
Rose, whose solitary major victory came at the 2013 U.S. Open, is impressed at the bond formed by the elite Americans.
“The top end is incredibly strong,” he said. “There’s a bit of camaraderie among all of them.
“I know Brooks and Dustin (Johnson) are incredibly close and you’ve got Rickie (Fowler), Justin Thomas and Jordan, they’re really close. It’s working well for them and they’re spurring each other on.
“It’s not like we’re a mile behind. It’s just they are on a great run but there’s no reason why a European player shouldn’t come through this week.”
Rose is pleased he warmed up for the British Open by testing his links form in similar conditions at last week’s Scottish Open where he finished in a tie for ninth.
“Playing the Scottish Open, I think, was very valuable because I had a scorecard in my hand for four days playing the kind of golf we’re going to face this week,” he said.
“It was as dry at Gullane as it is here so it was great preparation.”