A combination of his overwhelming seven stroke victory margin 12 months ago and his current form will make Englishman Ross Fisher a hard man to beat at this week’s European Open at The London Golf Club.
Even with other Members from the top 30 from the Official World Golf Ranking such as Masters Champion Angel Cabrera, Ben Curtis, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood in the field, Fisher will be among the favourites to lift The European Open crown by virtue of his unforgettable performance last year and his stunning last-day charge at last week’s BMW PGA Championship that only Paul Casey’s own outstanding form could halt.
Fisher is understandably excited about returning to The London Golf Club in Kent, where huge crowds are expected to turn out to see many of The European Tour’s biggest stars strut their stuff over the magnificent Jack Nicklaus-designed. Fisher is attempting to become the first player to successfully defend The European Open title since Westwood in 2000.
The 28 year old produced four sublime rounds of golf to hold off the challenge of Garcia and Graeme McDowell at the Ash venue last year and complete an emphatic seven stroke victory, despite contemplating withdrawing from the event at the beginning of the week due to fatigue.
It was a majestic performance from Fisher, who began the tournament with a stunning course record 63 before finishing on 20 under par 268, and he is keen to repay the loyal home galleries with a strong defence of his crown.
“It’s going to be tremendous to go back to The London Club to defend my title,” said the Englishman.
“Hopefully I can put in a strong performance and make a good defence. It would be great to follow in the footsteps of someone like Lee and successfully defend the title but to do so I will need to play really well because it will be another very strong field. I will have to be on top of my game.
“The course suits my eye though. To shoot a 63 in the first round, having not seen the course before, shows that. I had a lot of family and friends there last year and I think quite a few more will be coming down again so I’m really looking forward to it.”
With free admission on offer to those fans who applied for European Open tickets before Wednesday, May 20, The London Golf Club is expecting to accommodate up to 80,000 fans this week, and one of the biggest draws in the field, aside form those already mentioned, will be American John Daly.
The two-time Major winner said: “I’m really looking forward to teeing it up at The European Open. I love playing in Europe because it suits my attacking style more, and it will be my fifth European Tour event in a row.
“In the past, I’ve always played a lot of events in a row to get some rhythm going, because that helps me to play well. It’ll be good to get some consistency – the more I play, the better I feel I will do. I’m nice and fresh, and it really does feel great to be playing again.”
