Golf: Garcia leads Euro assault on US Open

TULSA - It has been 31 long years since a European golfer - Britain's Tony Jacklin - won the US Open, but this year's contingent has a genuine chance of ending the long drought.

Eighteen Europeans will tee up at Southern Hills tomorrow, and rarely have so many been playing so well at the same time.

Sergio Garcia, Bernhard Langer, Jesper Parnevik and perhaps even Nick Faldo represent the continent's best chances, but Thomas Bjorn, Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke cannot be discounted either.

To win they will have to overcome steamy heat, a demanding course unlike any they play the rest of the year, as well as a certain Tiger Woods.

But Spain's Garcia, for one, is not frightened by any of these obstacles.

"Because it's humid your shirt gets stuck on your body, but it's better than the cold," said Garcia, who scored his maiden US PGA Tour victory last month at the Colonial tournament before finishing joint second behind Woods at the Memorial a fortnight ago.

"I'm looking forward to trying to put myself into contention like I've been doing lately. I've been hitting the ball extremely well. To tell the truth, I can't wait to start playing.

"I'm sure Tiger is going to be up there, but you've got to play your own game and try to beat the golf course. I expect to keep improving a lot, getting closer to the level he's playing, so I'll be able to challenge him."

At 21, Garcia is less than half the age of 43-year-old Langer, who is prpbably playing better than anyone in his age group.

The German has not finished worse than sixth in his past four starts on the US Tour, coming third at the Players Championship, joint sixth at the Masters, equal third at the WorldCom Classic and second at the St Jude Classic last weekend.

Less than 24 hours after the St Jude Classic, Langer played a full practice round in scorching afternoon heat at Southern Hills, showing that he is as dedicated and meticulous as ever.

"If I play similar to the way I played in Memphis, I could be one of the contenders this week," the 1985 and 1993 Masters champion said.

As for the others, their form may not be as sharp but they have proved their mettle in big tournaments.

Faldo, six times a major championship winner, showed glimmers of his old self in finishing third at the Volvo PGA Championship and sharing 10th place in the St Jude Classic.

Montgomerie, US Open runner-up in 1994 and 1997, had his ailing back cracked by an osteopath last weekend and could be ready for his first Tour win in more than a year.

Sweden's Parnevik, who won this year's Honda Classic, and Thomas Bjorn, of Denmark, who beat Woods in a duel for the Dubai Classic title, are threats.

So, too, are Britons Westwood and Clarke, despite going winless thus far this year.

* New Zealand's Michael Campbell will have his Belgian sports psychologist working with him throughout the Open.

Jos Vanstiphout has been with Campbell for a number of years, helping with mental preparation.

But this is the first time the Belgian has attended a major with Campbell.

Campbell spent the latter stages of last week in Florida working with his coach, Jonathon Yarwood, before arriving in a steamy Tulsa at the weekend.

Vanstiphout accompanied Campbell as he practised yesterday, and walked the Southern Hills fairways with him as he took on Garcia in a friendly nine holes.

This week is only Campbell's third appearance in a US Open and with Vanstiphout's help, New Zealand's only representative in the 101st staging of the event is confident of improving on last year's 12th-place finish.

"Having worked with Jonathon for four days on my swing, I decided to have Jos fly over for the week to see how things go," Campbell said.

"My swing is very good and I'm very comfortable with that aspect of my game, so I have decided to try other means to secure a more positive mental approach."

The Southern Hills course boasts the longest par four and five holes in the history of the US Open - the par-five fifth playing to 587m and the par-four 16th, a huge 449m, just 39m short of the shortest par five.

- NZPA