THE END of the long wait for an English golfer to succeed Nick Faldo at the pinnacle of world golf, a winner of a Major on the other side of the Atlantic, maybe even the Master’s green jacket, could be in sight. Jay Rains, a man at the heart of American tournament golf, reviews his list of top-class English players and says: “There are some very good young ones. I think the depth of talent is as strong now as at any time I can think of in my lifetime.” But who will be a Major winner in the top tournaments, in the fierce heat of such events as the US Open or the Masters or our own Open on these shores? He thinks for a while and then reels off the names of Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald . . . He contends: “There should be some serious major championships there. Every one of them has the ability to win a major.” And Liverpool’s Nick Dougherty? “He is young. There are other top young golfers, great ball strikers but you need to include also patience and perseverance. But, yes, Dougherty, too, has the talent to win a major.” Rains would make a top judge of such matters. He is a member of the United States Golf Association’s Executive, co-chairman of this year’s Open, at Torrey Pines, near his home in San Deigo. He is also a keen golfer. So when he packed his bags and business papers to come to Merseyside for a global board meeting of DLA Piper’s lawyers from the firm’s worldwide network – 64 offices in 25 countries – he also packed his golf clubs. He hoped to play a couple of rounds. He had been to Royal Liverpool, where he is a member and where he usually plays in the spring meeting and he hoped to play again, with friends at Hoylake, before his returned home. Meanwhile, between business commitments, he found the time to go to Royal Birkdale, to renew his love of the place and for an informal chat with Michael Halsall, Chairman of the club’s Open committee. Already, more than two months before the Open, some spectator stands are in place, at the first tee, by the 18th green and elsewhere. He sat in front of the clubhouse window in front of the 18th green, looking back up the fairway, one of the most famous scenes in world golf, the setting for so many of the game’s great occasions and famous finishes. “One of the finest links courses in the world for a major championship,” he says. “Every hole is strong. There is a lot of variety so the players will use every club in their bag. “Wonderful place for spectators. There have been a number of courses created in America in the last 12-15 years where they have used sand dunes for the benefit of spectators as they are here.” He has played Birkdale a few times and would like to have found the time to play again. “But I left my clubs in a locker at Hoylake so I would not be tempted,” he says. “I do have a couple of sand wedges in the car. But I would need more than a few of those. “Birkdale has always got the better of me and I am not harbouring any illusions about that changing!” He has a love of Liverpool and Merseyside, also. He explains: “This is my favourite part of Britain. I am a big fan of the Beatles. If you like golf history and great quality links courses there is no better stretch than that from Hoylake through here and on to Lytham. The quality of the courses and the history, you cannot get that combination elsewhere. “ Then there are the people of Liverpool. ” He was thinking of the people, the friendship, warmth and the sense of humour he has found here which perhaps also come together at such places as Anfield, where he had been for the Champions League football match the previous night. “We may be the first couple in history to retire from San Diego to live on Merseyside,” he says. His grandfather played golf, a scratch player, but apart from some occasions when younger, Rains was an adult before he started playing golf “with sincerity and a passion.” He has not been a player in major competitions but admits to being “a decent golfer.” His handicap is eight. He has been in American golf administration for about 20 years and, of course, has seen many changes. Like the suggestion that the United States Open course is now set up to try and make sure players do not break par or, if they do, it is not be by more than a couple of shots? Rains replies: “Yes, that’s been said, that we try to have the winner with par or worse. But it is not true. We try to set the Open up to identify the best players of the week. “So the fairways width may be narrow, the rough taller and thicker. But the course must be firm and fast and the players must be able to control the ball in the air and on the ground.” “We have to work to make the course for the Open firm and fast. Here your Open courses are naturally firm. “It is a matter of the way the courses play. In my opinion, here in Britain, there are the true links courses. In America there are places where they are marketed that way but they are not true links.” He believes the game in going through a transition. While Tiger Woods draws the crowds he does not think that is being converted in more playing the game, or at least it is not happening on the scale which was expected. The big events, with Woods on the tee, will be well-supported but for other lesser events he believes there is a certain hesitancy by the financial backers He adds: “I think it has become less clear whether these events will be well attended. But what matters more is who is watching on television, not just how many but who they are and in that situation it can be more difficult to write a cheque to support the tournament. Back in the 1960s you knew who would be watching and now it is more difficult to track that. This is a challenge.” He does have confidence in the ability of British golfers to overtake the dominance of the Tiger Woods and the Mickelsons, to emerge as winners of the Majors. He thinks it is a harsh judgement to suggest that while Britain has many great golfers so often in the biggest of golf’s arenas, when the pressure mounts, so many finish, as nearly men, yet again. He points out that America, simply by its size, has a resource of top golfers far greater than Britain. Even so, many great American golfers also finish behind Woods and co, never quite breaking through to the very top. It is perhaps the misfortune of so many outstanding young golfers that the peak of their game should coincide with that of Tiger’s and some others at their awesome best. It is not a totally new situation. Rains asks how many tournaments Tony Jacklin might have won if his top form had not coincided with the era of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. But then there is the curious fact that while the Brits may not shine at the very top of world golf as individual performers, we do rather well in the Ryder and Walker Cups. So how do we explain this difference between the Brits as individuals and as a team. Rains suggests: “I think that over here there is more of a heritage of team golf than in America. I think some of our players have more difficulty playing as a team. I think those playing for GB&I see only the positives.” He is not just a Beatles fan but he is a keen Liverpool football supporter. So he was at Anfield last week for the Champions League game against Chelsea and remembered the team spirit of Liverpool, the team and the supporters united, the sympathy and support from both, for John Arne Riise in his moment of despair as he knocked the ball into his own goal in injury time to level the scores. So who, from his nominations from the likely boys of England, will emerge as a World No 1, a major winner, a new Faldo? He gives this the considered thought of a lawyer, then offers: “There are some but I do like Luke Donald. I like his ball-striking. But then it does come down to putting. “When you think of Nick Faldo, anything inside ten feet he was going to get. I used to think he had iced water going through his veins. “Even great players sometimes find it difficult, maybe when the wind blows, to make the putt from five or six feet. So often it lips out of the hole and they may tighten up at the next tee shot. “But maybe Luke Donald, if he gets four days when the putts go in. Maybe this year at the US Open.” | 
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