What a week in San Diego with three of our players featuring prominently at the US Open.   Best of all was Lee Westwood who came ever so close to winning his and ISM’s first major.

I believe Lee came of age at Torrey Pines and I know he can win a major.  More important, I think that he now knows he has what it takes to claim one of golf’s greatest prizes. All the time and effort he has put into polishing his short game and getting into physical shape are definitely paying off and the ultimate reward can’t be far off.

A year ago he would have finished 12th because he would have dropped shots due to his short game limitations, but all the work he has done with former Tour colleague turned Sky broadcaster Mark Roe is serving him well.

Jet lag and a head full of memories from a week when he just came up one shot short of making the play-off, meant that he was awake at 5.15a.m. on Tuesday so off he trots to the driving range and starts hitting balls.   It was a beautiful morning and he hadn’t come down from the previous week so he just decided to keep up the good work.

Lee wasn’t alone on the leaderboard because Ernie Els hit the ball better in a major than  have seen him in quite a while   The work he is doing with Butch Harmon is starting to reap dividends and once his putting and short game come up the standard of his long game, another major will be his.

Ross McGowan, who did unbelievably well to qualify, equipped himself well during the week and learnt plenty. Having spent a week with him in the same house in California, he’s a very similar character to Lee and will have definitely benefitted from the experience.

Our fourth competitor, Richard Sterne, failed to make the cut having fallen foul of the curse of Terminal 5.  His clubs never arrived and it’s hard enough playing the US Open with your own rather than a brand new set.

All in all a very good week and I can’t wait for The Open where I am sure we will have a bigger presence and finish.