Torrance tips Westwood to be double major winner

SAM Torrance reckons Lee Westwood could become a double major champion this season after being beaten in the race to make the big breakthrough in recent years by main stablemate Darren Clarke, as well as Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

Speaking in Glasgow, where he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last night’s Scottish Golf Dinner, Torrance singled out the Englishman as the man to watch in this year’s four big events, starting with The Masters at Augusta National in a fortnight’s time.

In the last four years, Westwood has been golf’s nearly man, recording no less than six top threes in the majors. During that same period, he has watched both McDowell (2010) and McIlroy (2011) become US Open champions and close friend Clarke win the Open Championship, also last year.

“I was commentating [on the Nedbank Challenge] at Sun City last year when Lee shot a 62 and from tee to green he was phenomenal,” said Torrance, the 2002 Ryder Cup-winning captain at The Belfry. “In fact, I have never seen anything like that as it looked so effortless.

“I think we might see Lee winning two majors this year for the same reason as Darren Clarke became Open champion last year. He’d been driving into [his home town] to see a sign saying ‘Welcome to Royal Portrush – home of US Open champion Graeme McDowell’ and that spurred him on. I think it’s the challenge Lee has been waiting on, to be honest, and I think he will revel in it.”

If Westwood, the world No 3, is to make his breakthrough in the opening major of the season, then Torrance reckons he’ll probably have to produce a special performance to get the better of McIlroy, the man immediately above him in the rankings after being toppled from his fortnight’s spell as world No 1 by Luke Donald last weekend.

At last year’s Masters, McIlroy suffered a back-nine collapse to squander a four-shot lead going into the final round but recovered in sensational style to win the US Open at Congressional a few weeks later.

“To go from losing the way he did to win the US Open speaks volumes for the kid,” admitted Torrance. “He was magnificent, producing an extraordinary performance, especially after hearing fans shout, ‘Where’s your Green Jacket Rory’ as he stood on the first tee in the final round. He’ll be going back there [to Augusta] saying ‘I ain’t going to mess it up this time’.”

While Jose Maria Olazabal, in 1999, was the last European to pull on a Green Jacket in the Butler Cabin, Torrance is confident that drought will end a fortnight tomorrow, describing the pool of talent on the European Tour at the moment as “extraordinary”.

He added: “We had great players in my day, when there was the ‘Big 5’ of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer. At the moment it’s fantastic that we’ve got Nos 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the rankings [in Donald, McIlroy, Westwood and Martin Kaymer]. But we never had the strength in depth they’ve got just now. Another difference is that we’ve now got 22 and 23-year-olds winning majors.”

Torrance received his award last night a decade after leading Europe to a dramatic victory in the Ryder Cup. It also came 40 years since his maiden professional win – in the Lord Derby Under-25s Matchplay Championship at Royal Birkdale.

“I remember beating Bernard Gallacher in the semi-finals,” recalled the 58-year-old, who was joined at last night’s ceremony by wife Suzanne and their kids as well as his mum and dad, June and Bob. “I had two putts from ten feet to win but the miserable git did not concede and made me putt out.”

Asked to pick out the highlights of his career, it was no surprise that Torrance recalled some of his Ryder Cup experiences, having holed the winning putt at The Belfry in 1985 and then becoming a winning captain at the same venue.

“The Ryder Cup was fantastic and I enjoyed every aspect of it,” he said with one of those famous Sam smiles. “I didn’t think I would be able to top holing the winning putt but I did with my winning captaincy. That has been the highlight of everything I have ever done.

“My enthusiasm for the game is just as great today as it was when I started out 40 years ago. I look forward to the start of a new season just as much and that is testimony to how great a game golf is. I am hitting the ball further today than I ever have but, unfortunately, that is down to the equipment and not down to me.”

Torrance, who won 21 times on the main Tour, is preparing for the start of the new Senior Tour season. He’s also won 11 times on the over-50s circuit and topped the money-list three times. His first event of the new campaign is likely to be the Senior PGA Championship, at Harbor Shores in Michigan in May, while he is already licking his lips at the prospect of returning to his native Ayrshire later in the year for the Senior Open Championship at Turnberry.

Other award winners last night included Michael Stewart, who was named as Amateur Golfer of the Year, and David Law, who got the Player of the Year prize, voted for by the Scottish golfing public, after winning the Scottish Amateur title for the second time in three years. Fife won the Team of the Year Award after lifting the Scottish Area Team Championship for the first time.