Pretender to the throne

The European grand prix has just come to a somewhat dramatic conclusion with Fernando Alonso peeping Felipe Massa to the finish line. I still do not understand how it happened, but then again this is why I believe Fernando Alonso is the best driver I have seen the past 3 years or so.

He nursed his car and did enough to keep Kimi Raikkonen behind him before Kimi retired due to some electrical malfunction in the car. I haven't seen the post race conference but it sure did look like an electrical failure.

On lap 56, Alonso pounced on Massa and by then there was only one winner. So yes Kimi is a fast driver and Massa might be benefiting from the input from former great Michael Schumacher but Alonso is showing why he has won the title twice in a row and my money is on him taking a third.

As for Hamilton. This was a tremendous learning curve for him and I do admire Ron Dennis for allowing Hamilton to make all those erroneous judgment calls that saw him finish outside the points. He can only benefit from this experience and know that when Sh*t hits the fan you've got to be prepared for most (not all) eventualities.

I am also just watching the final few holes of the 136th Open in Carnoustie and whether you heard it here first or it has been said before, I don't know. Nor care, but I think we have a pretender to Tiger Woods in the world of golf, in the name of Andres Romero. Apart from the odd mistakes here and there (what is he thinking on the 17th?), the only other player I have watched/seen play so confident and fearless is the man himself Tiger Woods.

If Romero wins it will be no mean feat because the chasing pack is very much still in the hunt. (Update. I think he has blown it in the last two holes. But 10 birdies to finish 6 under is not so bad.)

As for Garcia, the Achilles heal of his game are emerging once again. This was evident in 2002-2004 where he had to alter his entire swing and approach to the game. It is high time he fulfilled his potential. My tip for him would be to abandon the European tour and go and play in the USA tour. Sergio is just not a strong finisher at all. He does not have the ruthlessness to kill off the competition and at 27 he is not getting any younger. The USA tour has really worked well for Justin Rose who is, in my opinion, the best player from this here shores.

We shall wait and see...