The ‘80s Lacked a Superstar as Foreign Golfers Took Control

ROCHESTER, N.Y. —  If there is a theme to golf in the 1980’s, it has developed in the last few years.

It is “us vs. them,” American vs. foreign.

But there is little in recent history to provide a hint as to a probable winner of the 89th U.S. Open championship which begins Thursday at Oak Hill’s East course.

There has been no clearly dominant individual player in this decade.

Seve Ballesteros, perhaps?

The Spanish star won four of golf’s major events--the U.S. and British Opens, the Masters and the PGA--in the 80s.

But Tom Watson won five.

Greg Norman? Sandy Lyle? Nick Faldo?

Norman, an Australian, won one major, Scotland’s Lyle and England’s Faldo two each.

Jack Nicklaus and Larry Nelson each won three in the decade and Ray Floyd won two.

The American victories, however, generally came early in the decade, the triumphs of the foreign players in later years.

The last of Watson’s major wins was in 1983. Two of Nelson’s were before ’84. Two of Nicklaus’ three were in 1980. Nicklaus now is 49, Floyd 46, Nelson 41 and Watson 39.

Among the foreigners, however, Ballesteros won as recently as last year’s British Open, Lyle in the 1988 Masters and Faldo in the ’86 British Open and this year’s Masters. And all three are in their golfing prime, their early 30’s.

The direction of the swing appears obvious, and has been highlighted by European victories over America’s best in the last two Ryder Cup Matches in 1985 and ’87.

Foreign-born players have won half the Masters played in the 80s and the last five British Opens.

That domination has not extended to the American national championship, however. Of the U.S. Open winners in the ‘80s, only David Graham is not a native Ameican and the Australian has had his residence in this country the entire 10 years. He is one of only three foreign players to win the U.S. Open since World War II.

But there are indications that, too, could be in for a change.

“There are several names that come to mind immediately; the ones you always think of,” Curtis Strange said when asked about logical contenders for the title he won in such dramatic fashion last year in Brookline, Mass.

He ticked them off:

“Seve (Ballesteros), and Greg (Norman), and Faldo.”

Strange paused for a moment.

“I think especially Nick. He’s playing so well. Yeah. He’s the one,” Strange said. “I think he’s the odds-on favorite. And not just because he won the Masters. He’s played well for two years.”

Faldo, of course, lost to Strange in the U.S. Open playoff last year, was third in the British Open and fourth in the PGA.

This year, the 6-foot-3 Englishman’s record is the best in the world. It is centered on his playoff victory in the Masters but was enhanced by consecutive triumphs in the British PGA (a record-matching fourth for Faldo) and the British Masters (a five-stroke run-away) in his last two starts.

The moody, mercurial Ballesteros has won only the Madrid Open this year, but seems to save his best efforts for the game’s major events.

“My game is not 100 percent, but then it never is,” he said.

Norman also has won only abroad over the last 12 months and is fully aware that recent lack of success has raised questions about his stature as one of the world’s great players.

Lyle is in the throes of the worst slump of his career.

“Over here,” Strange said, continuing his analysis of potential successors, “I expect (Mark) Calcavecchia to show up.

“(Tom) Kite is always around.

“And Lanny (Wadkins). Lanny’s game seems to be a little off right now, but he always gets charged up for the Open.

“He just needs something to get the blood flowing. The Open just might be the right medicine for him.” Strange said.

Calcavecchia has cooled off after scoring two early-season victories.

Kite, the American Tour’s leading money-winner, scored consecutive victories in Florida, including the important Players championship.

But some recent, inconsistent putting prompted him to go to a cross-handed technique in the Westchester Classic.

“I’m convinced it’s a good, solid, sound method of putting. The worst thing about it is its perception as being the last resort,” Kite said.

Strange, who collected four titles and more than $1 million in official earnings last year, has not won this season. He’s had four third-place finishes, including three in a row.

“But I feel pretty good about my game,” he said after a two-week break from competition.

“It’s coming around. I’ve been playing some pretty good rounds. I just need to be more consistent.

“You know, I’ve thought a lot about last year and the Open. It was the highlight of my career.

“But it wasn’t the best I’ve played. I’ve played better than that. The thing was that I squeezed every stroke I could out of it. That’s patience, and confidence.

“And that’s what you have to have in the Open.”

Strange said he’d probably overlooked a couple of players in his list of possible contenders.

Bob Tway could fit that category. He ended a two-year victory drought at the Memorial and followed it up two weeks later with a playoff loss at Atlanta.

The 150-man field also will include 49-year-old Lee Trevino, who scored his first professional victory here in the 1968 U.S. Open, the last time the American national championship was held at Oak Hill.

The classic old Donald Ross course has undergone two revisions since then, once by Robert Trent Jones and once by George Fazio.

“It’s a long, hard golf course,” said Strange, who played it in the 1980 PGA. “You absolutely have to put the ball in the fairway.

“It just like all the Opens. You have to drive it good and be patient. That’s the game in the Open.

“My only hope is that the weather is okay. If the weather is bad, then it’s just going to be a matter of survival.”

Missing from the field will be Arnold Palmer, who failed to qualify, and a couple of recent Tour title-winners, Ian Baker-Finch and Tom Byrum.

Finch forgot to send in his entry. Byrum missed a flight after scoring his first career victory in the Kemper Open and failed to make his tee time for an Open qualifying round.

The final two rounds Saturday and Sunday will be televised nationally by ABC.