Europeans on cusp of world domination

Once upon a time in the 1980s and '90s, Augusta National Golf Club was a European playground.

Will it be again?

"We have got enough world- class players now from Europe that we ought to be contending and winning more, I guess," said Lee Westwood, No. 2 in a world ranking that currently counts five Europeans among the top six. "There is no reason not to see a European winning again at Augusta over the next few years, as we were in the '80s and early '90s."

Those were heady days for Europe, from Seve Ballesteros becoming the first European to wear the green jacket in 1980 to fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal winning his second Masters in 1999. Europe claimed the prize 11 times in 20 years with a Hall of Fame cast that included Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam.

The common logic in that era was that the qualities that defined Augusta National favored the European style of play. Since 1999, however, Europeans have won every other major championship except the Masters, including Ireland's Padraig Harrington wiping out decades of European futility at the PGA in 2008 and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell erasing a 40-year drought at the U.S. Open last year.

Has Augusta National become less suitable for the Euros than it was when they were winning so many green jackets? Westwood doesn't buy that.

"I couldn't quite figure out why people said that," said last year's runner-up at Augusta.

"Maybe because Europeans were winning, I guess. But I don't see how it does. There's nothing like this anywhere else in the world. ... They tried to replicate it in Houston last week, but you can't. It's one of a kind."

Certainly the European success for two decades had mostly to do with the caliber of the champions. Four of the six men who won the Masters were ranked No. 1 in the world at some point.

Over the past few years, Europeans have congregated near the top of the world rankings, creating what many have called a new world order in golf as some of the top Americans are getting older.

"Obviously, Europe is enjoying an extremely purple patch right now, and we are riding the wave very highly," said Luke Donald, ranked No. 4 in the world. "I think mostly it is cyclical."

Until this week, Europeans held the top four spots in the world rankings -- a boast they hadn't made since March 1992, when the first five spots in the world rankings were held by Woosnam, Faldo, Olazabal, Ballesteros and Langer.

Current No. 1 Martin Kaymer and No. 5 McDowell claimed half the majors last year.

"You can probably thank Padraig a little bit for that," Donald said of the European resurgence. "Him going out and winning the majors inspired some of the Europeans to kind of follow that whole cliche of, 'If he can do it, so can we.'

"European golf since then has gone from strength to strength, and hopefully it will only take one European to win a Masters for a bunch of them to follow."

Said No. 6 Paul Casey: "It makes me chuckle going back to 2001 or whatever when we had two or three Englishmen in the top 100. And we were getting the questions like, 'What's going on?'

''Now here we are 10 years later and people are going what's wrong because I'm only (No. 6) in the world. Once one or two of us got up there everyone else followed.

''Now that Martin and G-Mac (McDowell) won majors last year, a lot of other guys are going to step up as well."

There are 26 Europeans in this year's Masters field, 23 of them full-time players entering or enjoying the peak of their careers, and 18 of them ranked in the top 50.

"I feel like I'm just a part of a big group of talented Europeans," McDowell said.

With more than a quarter of the 2011 field hailing from Europe, the odds have never been stacked more heavily in their favor.

"If you look at them as a group, they haven't had terrific success at Augusta yet," said ESPN analyst Andy North, a two-time U.S. Open champion. "Lee Westwood contended the last couple of years, but other than that, the other guys haven't been there. But you have to look at that group of players that are all top ranked, really quality players that are looking for a breakthrough there, and there are probably five or six of those guys."

Curtis Strange -- who lost to Germany's Langer in the 1985 Masters -- believes the top Euros might break through this week based on major experience.

"I think right now these Europeans have an edge over our young guys," he said.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 orscott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.