Henman gets Torrance into shape for his Tour return

Published on Wednesday 1 April 2009 23:32

FORMER Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance is hoping that regular matches with Tim Henman – at golf, not tennis – will pay dividends when he extends his record number of appearances on the European Tour this week.

The 55-year-old Scot, whose debut was way back in 1972, plays his 705th event in the Estoril Portuguese Open at Oitavos Dunes, which starts today.

That is 81 more than anybody else – next in the table comes England's Barry Lane, who is also in the field – and Torrance said: "I've been playing three or four times a week at Sunningdale and playing a lot with Tim.

"He's very competitive and I've benefited from it. He's a one-handicapper and I give him one shot. He breaks par every time virtually and has shot 66 round the New Course.

"He's only 34 so he's 16 years away from the Seniors Tour, but he could compete right now."

Torrance won on the over-50s circuit in Barbados two weeks ago, but because they do not have their next event for over a month he sought and was granted an invitation to this week's 1.1million tournament.

"It might be delusions of grandeur, but I'm here to play, I know the course and I'm looking forward to it," he said.

None of the 150-strong starting line-up are playing in the Masters next week, but Torrance is Augusta-bound as part of the BBC commentary team.

Another Scot is now in charge of the Ryder Cup team, of course, and he said of Colin Montgomerie taking over: "Monty will absolutely eat, sleep and drink Ryder Cup until it comes around.

"It's the best thing I ever did in golf. Colin has a wealth of experience as a player and all the desire in the world for the job."

Who serves as the assistants at Celtic Manor next year remains to be seen, but Torrance, who led Europe to victory in 2002, was not surprised that Jose Maria Olazabal has voiced doubts about doing it as Montgomerie hopes he will if he does not qualify for the team.

"You have to understand Ollie has done his stint as vice-captain (to Nick Faldo last year]," added Torrance. "It is a huge learning experience, but he doesn't want to be the second in command any more and that's exactly how he should feel."

While he would not predict who Montgomerie might choose, Torrance wrote off Sandy Lyle's chances of getting the job because the 50-year-old two-time major champion is out of touch with the main European Tour players.

"I'm sorry for Sandy but I don't think he is the right man now," he said. "Great players sometimes don't get the captaincy. Peter Alliss and Peter Oosterhuis are prime examples."

Defending champion this week is Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, who beat former Ryder Cup player David Howell and Scot Alastair Forsyth in a play-off last April.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods is to miss the Shell Houston Open in Texas this week, ahead of the Masters next week. Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, his first victory since last June when he won the US Open and had reconstructive surgery on his left knee a week later.

However, eight of the top ten players in the world will be competing, including No 2 Phil Mickelson, No 3 Sergio Garcia, No 4 Geoff Ogilvy and No 5 Padraig Harrington.

Among others taking part are Britons Darren Clarke, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy.

US PGA Tour winner Dustin Johnson, 24, will play in Texas and then at his first Masters next week despite having been arrested and charged on Monday with driving under the influence in South Carolina, police said.

World No 40 Johnson, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February for his second tour victory in five months, was booked into the J Long Detention Centre on Monday and released 22 minutes later, according to the facility's website.

&#149 Hawaiian teenager Michelle Wie returns to one of her happiest hunting grounds for this week's Kraft Nabisco Championship. She has contended strongly in her four previous appearances in the opening women's major of the season and has always relished playing at Mission Hills Country Club, in Rancho Mirage, California.

"I have a lot of good memories so I'm really thankful about that," Wie, 19, said. "It's just everything about this golf course, all the good shots that I've had."

Wie tied for ninth in her first Kraft Nabisco in 2003, when at 13 she became the youngest player to make the cut at an LPGA event. She finished fourth the following year, joint 14th in 2005 and tied for third in 2006.