GOLF: The CIA dossier on Denmark refers to a country of Viking raiders, which has evolved into a major European power, a modern, prosperous nation participating in the integration of Europe.
Compress a thousand years of history into 15 and you have the story of Danish golf. The CIA's 2002 annual report will surely report on a band of fierce competitors who ran amok through the continent. It will describe how, armed with titanium drivers and pin-splitting irons, they plundered prestigious titles from one end of the year to the other, carting off truckloads of money and leaving more established powers to fight over the crumbs.
The original Viking raider was Anders Sorensen, a proud and gutsy fighter who campaigned for 13 years without winning anything but lost a play-off to Ronan Rafferty for the 1993 Austrian Open. Danish revenge on Irish foes has been heavy.
Thomas Bjorn defied Padraig Harrington for Rookie of the Year honours in 1996 and since that year there hasn't been a new Irish winner on the battlegrounds of the European Tour. However, the Danes have fared much better, for truly the wily Sorensen had picked up many tricks on his wanderings and returned to his homeland as national coach. They have been upsetting the established order ever since.
Steen Tinning annexed the Welsh Open in 2000, Bjorn slayed the feared Tiger after four days of combat in the deserts of Dubai, Anders Hansen made off with the Volvo PGA Championship of 2002 and, coached by old Sorensen himself, Soren Hansen outlasted three rivals to win the final Murphy's Irish Open title in a play-off last Sunday.
Hansen headed a list of five Danes and seven Swedes in the top 35 at Fota Island and that smorgasbord of Scandinavian success delivered our weekly prize on a plate to David Creaner from Dublin. We have previously lavished praise on our managers for the diligence of their research but Creaner has taken it to new levels.
A member of the Paddy Whackers Golf Society, he spent 10 years living in Copenhagen before selecting his Scandinavian 6 team. Of course it is really Scandinavian 6 plus the compulsory Irishman and the line-up of Thomas Bjorn, Niclas Fasth, Soren Hansen, Klas Eriksson, Magnus Persson, Per-Ulrik Johansson and Des Smythsson amassed €401,250 to send Creaner plus three on their way to golf and lunch at Carton House.
In the overall scheme of things, our top three teams retain the same positions on the leaderboard as last week. Anxious not to miss out on the €400,000 on offer to an Irish winner on home soil, all three got rid of Phil Mickelson for either Darren Clarke or Padraig Harrington.
Tim Morris went even further with both Irishmen among his four new acquisitions. His switches proved inspired as they produced a net gain of €146,580 and a jump in the overall standings from 148th to 37th for the Roll Ins. As the name suggests, Michael Manning's Flying Elbows include Eamon Darcy and they rose from 188th to 35th.
With bonus money on offer for the Smurfit European Open and the Advil Western Open also counting for Golf Masters, you can expect more upheavals this week.
