Meantime, results in the Ryder Cup were mirroring those at Augusta, with Europe bringing their barren spell to an end by winning in 1985 and 1987 and retaining the trophy in 1989.
Amid such goings-on, Ken Schofield, the then CEO of the European Tour, had seized the moment to apply pressures of his own on his colleagues across the pond. He had good reason to press for his players to be allowed better access to their events and, finally, he made his breakthrough.
“In terms of real opportunity for European Tour members to play in majors,” remembers Schofield, “the single biggest moment came in 1994 when the USGA agreed to exempt the top 15 from our Order of Merit into the US Open.”
European Tour members were desperate to make the most of their new chances in a US Open context but that was easier said than done. Allow Colin Montgomerie, who won seven European Tour Order of Merits in a row from 1993, explain why:
“The fact that no-one other than David Graham had won since Jacklin in 1970 was a big pressure, firstly on Nick Faldo and then on me,” explains the 2010 Ryder Cup captain.
“What would happen is that you would be called to the media centre as the tournament leader and, within a matter of minutes, the writers and TV people would be reminding you that no British player had won since Jacklin. It was almost as if they were saying that it wasn’t possible for you to win, that it wasn’t going to happen.
“By the time you walked away, you felt 10 times the amount of pressure on your shoulders than when you went in.”
