Teething troubles; Fifteen months ago, Steven O'Hara was one of

WHEN, just 15 months ago, the Great Britain and Ireland side made history by retaining the Walker Cup on American soil, greatness was predicted for the brightest young men in the side. Not for the first time, precocious achievement has proved a double-edged sword.

The celebrations at Sea Island, in Georgia, had barely begun when the successful GB&I captain, Peter McEvoy, was predicting the pick of his golden crop would be playing in the 2004 Ryder Cup and winning Majors. Those McEvoy had in mind included Luke Donald, Nick Dougherty, Graeme McDowell and Steven O'Hara.

For Donald, Dougherty and McDowell, the starts to their professional careers have justified McEvoy's optimism, even if their former captain - one of golf's outstanding motivators - insists they must do better. Few inside the sport will be surprised if this trio produce spectacular results in 2003.

Donald, having studied in America and gained his PGA Tour card in November last year, elected to play on the other side of the Atlantic. The Englishman, who will be 25 this month, achieved his maiden tour victory at the start of last month, winning the Southern Farm Bureau Classic when bad weather curtailed the tournament to three rounds.

Dougherty, who at 20 is the youngest of the quartet, failed to register a win on the European Tour. Nevertheless, by finishing 36th in the Volvo Order of Merit he lifted the Sir Henry Cotton rookie of the year award. McEvoy has criticised him for burning the candle at both ends, but expects him to buckle down next year.

McDowell, a 23-year-old from Northern Ireland, was the last of the quartet to join the professional ranks, but had a spectacular introduction when he won the Volvo Scandinavian Masters in only his fourth event on the European Tour. His results dipped considerably thereafter, but the breakthrough victory has brought all sorts of privileges and exemptions.

The promising starts of his Walker Cup teammates must be regarded with envy by O'Hara. The 22-year-old failed to win his European Tour card in 2001, and repeated that morale-shattering experience when the continent's hopefuls congregated in Spain a fortnight ago.

That O'Hara was joined in that bitter failure by the cream of Scotland's current young hopes, including the highly-regarded Barry Hume and Marc Warren, was scant consolation. Now the second-string Challenge Tour beckons, and while this will be a valuable learning experience, it is one from which the young Scot must hope to graduate in 12 months.

"You don't want to stay on the Challenge Tour," confirms McEvoy. "But if he only spends a year there he can look back in five years' time and it won't matter."

At least next season O'Hara has a full card for the Challenge Tour, unlike 12 months ago when he emerged from the European Tour Qualifying School scramble with no status whatsoever. A year of treading water followed, but now the Lanarkshire player can lift his sights again.

"I was very disappointed, to be honest," he says of his latest European Tour set-back, "but I know I've got the game to do well and I need to make the most of the Challenge Tour in 2003."

O'Hara is all too acutely aware that his trio of Walker Cup team- mates are on the path to major success predicted by McEvoy and he points out: "It is good in one sense, but a bit disappointing for me in another, especially as I was beating them when we were amateurs. But I've got to concentrate on what I'm doing, not what they are up to."

Interestingly, whereas McEvoy has used the stick to make criticisms of both Donald and Dougherty (he believes both could have done better in 2002), he takes a more sympathetic approach to O'Hara's faltering steps into the ranks of the professionals.

"It is difficult to compare Steven fairly with Luke, because Steven is younger and at his age Luke was only midway through his American collegiate career," says McEvoy, who also skippered GB&I to their Walker Cup win at Nairn in 1999 and only last week was appointed chairman of the R&A selection committee.

"You could compare Steven adversely with Nick, but Nick is an unusually mature chap for his age and unusually gifted. That's not to minimise Steven's abilities, and I think he will end up being very successful."

O'Hara, who started playing the game at the age of seven after discovering an old set of clubs in his father's garage, joined Colville Park Golf Club, near Motherwell, six years later. Within 12 months he was playing off scratch, and at the age of 16 was taken under the wing of Scottish national coach Ian Rae.

A string of amateur successes, including the 1998 Boys Championship, followed, with O'Hara representing Scotland for three years as well as playing for GB&I in both the Eisenhower Trophy and Walker Cup.

When O'Hara turned professional immediately after the victory in Sea Island, he joined the 110Sport management company, based in East Kilbride. His status as a member of the successful Walker Cup team earned him a handful of invitations on the European Tour last autumn, and when he finished 16th in the Omega European Masters and 18th in the Cannes Open in only his second and third events he, too, looked assured of success.

Since then, though, the 22-year-old has discovered, for the first time in his golfing career, that the pieces of the jigsaw don't automatically fall into place. The next 12 months will be crucial in establishing whether he can cope with adversity.

Brian Marchbank, the director of golf operations at 110Sport, is convinced O'Hara's career will be re-routed if he can take advantage of his exempt status on the Challenge Tour. "The top 15 at the end of the year automatically win cards for the European Tour," he explains. "The Challenge Tour is a much better reflection on a player's ability than the Qualifying School, because it is judged over a long period of time instead of just six days. Not only that, but it offers a better category of card for the top 15, and the records show that those who qualify from the Challenge Tour stay on the European Tour a lot longer than those who come from the school."

But while O'Hara is running on the spot, his former teammates are propelling themselves towards the great prizes predicted by McEvoy. Despite his criticism of Dougherty's application, and his belief that Donald could have won earlier than he did in the States, the 1999 and 2001 Walker Cup captain remains steadfast in his conviction that the cream of these two sides will take Europe back to the golden age of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam.

"Nick [Dougherty] was slightly upset because I said he'd underachieved," says McEvoy, "but I regard him so highly that I believe he could do a bit better. I'd be very disappointed if he doesn't win a tournament or two next year because he's a real special talent. I would expect Luke to be contesting for victories in America on a more regular basis, as well as coming back to Europe to compete.

"As far as the Ryder Cup in 2004 is concerned, I really do expect Donald, Dougherty, and McDowell all to be in the side."

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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