[okie]

You ARE wrong! After a quick search I turned up the following numbers: Number of courses in the UK = 200, number of courses in the U.S. = 16, 052 and rapidly counting! My comment was tongue in cheek. Perhaps European nations should compete as a team in the Olympics as well (tongue in cheek, again!) I love the way the European players get it together for the Ryder Cup. I absolutely loved watching Seve and Olazabal do their thing. I am not seriously advocating a return to the exhibition days, they were seldom a fair fight.

Sorry for the Ireland oversight! Who can forget the shot Christy O'Connor Jnr hit at the Belfry in '89! That one hurt! Was it Christy O'Connor Snr, or the Welshman Neil Coles that was a prodigious ball striker but had a fear of flying?

I am waiting for the inevitable complacency (that multiple wins produces) to set in! Then we will have another Kiawah Island (hopefully without the antics!) I almost cried for Bernhard Langer that year! What a class act he is. In fact, it seems like the traditional approach to golf in Europe tends to produce that kind of player. It's a Dutch game, made viable by the Scots and dominated by colonials! Insert tongue in cheek icon, here!