Brits hoping for a ‘proper’ champ at Open

Mark Cannizzaro

SANDWICH, England — Is it too much to ask for a “proper” champion to win this week’s British Open?

This is what the golf world is clamoring for at Royal St. George’s.

This is what people felt the British Open didn’t deliver the last time it was played on this course, which sits hard by the English Channel in the southeast corner of England.

Eight years ago, as unknown Ben Curtis was parading his way around Royal St. George’s showing off the Claret Jug as the 2003 champion, Davis Love, embittered by the treacherous course set-up that week, muttered these words to reporters: “The Open got exactly the champion it deserved.”

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THEY’LL DO NICELY: With the British hoping to crown what they consider a fitting champion at this week’s Open, native son Luke Donald (above) is likely their top choice. A victory by either Rory McIlroy or Phil Mickelson wouldn’t be bad either.

Translation: The Open didn’t get one of the stars of the game as its champion; it got a fluke, an accidental tourist.

Love’s uncharacteristically derisive words resonated, because he wasn’t the only player critical of the dense and tall rough that swallowed players’ golf balls whole on occasion, as well as the hard, dry and fast fairways that were baked by unusually high temperatures in the 80s all week.

Love wasn’t the only player who felt that Royal St. George’s didn’t identify the best player in the field that week; that the prestigious major championship deserved a more accomplished, illustrious winner.

The theory among many, including Love, was that the quirky course with the sadistic setup produced not the best player but a fluke winner — a notion that, of course, demeaned Curtis’ accomplishment.

But the fact is, most people in the game root for a marquee winner, someone they believe is among the best players in the world. Curtis, of course, was the best player that week, but he’s never been considered even close to one of the best 10 to 15 players in the world.

He was, in fact, ranked 396th in the world entering the 2003 Open and is currently ranked 190th.

The memory of that result has many pining for a more worthy winner this week — a marquee star whose win will invigorate the game, create a buzz entering the next major, the PGA Championship in August.

The most popular choice is for a second consecutive major championship for Rory McIlroy, whose U.S. Open win was historic with records broken.

A McIlroy win would not only validate his U.S. Open win but cement his status as the best player in the game.

A first major championship victory by Lee Westwood, who’s had the door ajar the last three years but has been unable to push it all the way open, would be another popular result.

Luke Donald, who like Westwood is British, is the No. 1-ranked player in the world yet hasn’t won a major championship. At age 33, that’s a bold asterisk. Until Donald wins a major, no one who knows anything about golf will truly consider him the best player in the world.

There are plenty of other scenarios that will help energize the game, such as an American ending the drought of five consecutive majors without a winner from the U.S.

A win by Phil Mickelson, who’s managed only one top-10 finish in his 11 British Open starts, would not only be a significant shot in the arm for his stalled game but for the sport in general.

A win by 22-year-old Rickie Fowler, whose popularity and hype have not yet been matched by results (he’s yet to win at all), would be intriguing.

Other promising young Americans include Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney and Bubba Watson, all of whom are due to break out with a first major as well.

St. George’s was lambasted in 2003 for its difficult setup and Curtis was disrespected.

Here’s hoping that the course, which is set up more fairly this week than it was eight years ago, produces that “proper” champion we all so desperately crave and not — with apologies to Ben Curtis — another Ben Curtis.

mcannizzaro@nypost.com