Lack of American Underdog?

Dan Daly at the Washington Times penned a piece saying that there is a void in this year's Open because of a lack of an American loveable loser. He's probably right. I can think of few Americans that are high profile players without a major championship win.

You could look at Davis Love III - who is beloved by many - but it seems like the game has passed him by based upon his current play. Daly mentions guys like Fred Funk, Scott Verplank, and Chris DiMarco. They would all qualify in my book because they are excellent players, but they are not and never were as prominent of a choice to win a major as Lefty or David Duval, or even Mark O'Meara.

There are plenty of other great international champions sans a major that I am rooting for this week, though. Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Monty, Paddy Harrington are all guys I would love to see win. The bulk of my rooting pool consists of Europeans, which as a continent, have not won a major in eight years and a US Open in 37.

I don't think that the Open is any diminished because of a lack of a feel-good story. There always seems to be one anyway. With the setup at Oakmont (prohibiting more rain) as it is, it is very well possible that a first-timer could win this weekend. That by itself is a feel good story for me. The mental drain that is the Open sometimes does what the PGA Championship is constantly accused of pejoratively - producing oddball winners.

To be honest, though, I wouldn't mind seeing that happen this week. After all, Ernie Els made his first US victory this championship on this course in 1994 and look how he turned out as a player...