Sunday 12 July 2015 22:02, UK
Rich Beem has praised Rickie Fowler for his Scottish Open victory and feels more Americans should come to play in Europe.
The 26-year-old left it late to surge up the leaderboard during the final round, posting three birdies over his final four holes to take a one-shot victory over Matt Kuchar and Raphael Jacquelin.
It was another impressive finish to a tournament for Fowler, who also produced a late birdie run at the Players Championship to force a play-off and snatch victory, with Beem quick to praise his latest closing stretch.
Speaking on Sky Sports 4, the former PGA Champion said: “What a wonderful finish that was from Fowler. You felt that something had to happen, and you sensed it would with so many players having a chance to win as everybody came down the stretch.
“I think when you come out to a golf course like this that’s playing really difficult, it makes you dig deep over the opening holes. Fowler did that, and then played the last four in three under to get the job done.
“When you see Justin Rose struggle to a 76 and you know how good he is on difficult courses, it just shows you how much of a challenge it was for some of these players. It was a good test, it was a fair test all week long and I think it produced a very worth winner.”
Fowler was one of several American players to tee off in Scotland this week ahead of the 144th Open, with Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Ben Martin and Ryan Palmer among those to feature at Gullane.
World No 2 Jordan Spieth elected to stay loyal to the John Deere Classic and delay is arrival in Europe, but Beem expects more American players to make the trip to the Scottish Open in the future.
"It’s about time we (Americans) came over to this neck of the woods and learn to play golf in different conditions."
“I’d be shocked if they’re not (at next year’s tournament) and I’d be delighted if they did come,” Beem said. “We have a lot of form players on the PGA Tour that come from Europe and all around the world, so it’s about time we came over to this neck of the woods and learn to play golf in different conditions.
“On the PGA Tour the conditions are about the same week in, week out, whereas when you come to Europe you get different countries, different weather and different everything! I think it would be beneficial for the young players to come over and play.”
The world No 9 now has the chance to emulate regular playing partner Phil Mickelson and follow Scottish Open victory with Open glory the following week, just as Lefty did two years ago.
“I think playing practice rounds with Phil (Mickelson) before major championships, in regular tour events and playing with him when he’s gone to see Butch Harmon will have helped Fowler," Beem added.
“All of these younger kids are dragging each other along and it’s a nice progression in the game of golf to get these young players playing so well. It’s down to the veterans like Phil and Tiger Woods that taught them how to win.”
