LIKE Tim Henman's interminable bid for Wimbledon success and the England football team's efforts to end 38 years (and still counting!) of hurt, it appears a similar burden is about to plague Britain's golfers.

Sunday's Open Championship victory by yet another previously unknown American - Todd Hamilton - means the British Isles are still waiting for their first Major Championship winner of the 21st century.

Paul Lawrie's 1999 Carnoustie triumph was the last time a British player got his hands on any of the world's four major trophies but should we be surprised?

After all, if you take away Lawrie's triumph and the six titles won by Nick Faldo in the 1990s, Tony Jacklin, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam are the only other Brits to have tasted major success in the last 35 years.

Faldo has not received the acclaim he deserves for his achievements as a three-time US Masters and British Open champion but the UK pretenders to his 1990s' crown appear thin on the ground.

Colin Montgomerie - once ranked Europe's top golfer for seven successive years - saw another challenge for his first elusive major victory peter out in the final round at Royal Troon on Sunday while Justin Rose, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter have all been hailed in recent times as the next Faldo but are still struggling to justify being mentioned in the same breath.

Poulter certainly has talent and his Union Jack strides added colour to last week's competition but let's hope he does not fall foul of David Beckham syndrome and allows his image to become just as important as his performance.

Whether dodgy dress sense constitutes a "personality" is debatable but golf would certainly benefit from a few more characters.

It helps attract youngsters to the game - an area which appears to be neglected in this country.

I can't remember swinging a golf club at my school. I don't think it is on the national PE curriculum and not all parents can afford to buy budding Faldos a set of clubs or pay green fees.

As in tennis, it is often only the offspring of middle and upper class families who take up the sport and I believe that, as a nation, we need to decide whether golf and tennis are to be viewed as polite, gentle pastimes or serious sports in which we hope to breed future champions.

The stuffiness of many golf clubs, often misconstrued as etiquette, is still archaic even if that is a trait shared either side of the Atlantic as is illustrated by Tiger Woods' racial struggle to find a club to play at as a prodigious youngster.

My housemate is a member of a golf club and the only time he ever irons his clothes is when he's setting off for 18 holes.

He also recently got hauled in front of the committee for the heinous crime of throwing down his club in an aggressive manner and uttering a minor swear word.

While not advocating bad language or violent behaviour, surely the occasional display of emotion is unavoidable for any competitor with a will to win.

Very few sporting geniuses across the world have come from privileged backgrounds and if, in years to come, we are to bemoan the lack of a major golf champion as we do now in tennis, let's address the reasons, broaden the net of potential talent and make golf clubs more accessible.

If we don't want the working classes to invade our golf courses, then, like tennis, let's not complain when we have to wait several decades for another Faldo or Henman to emerge.

TKO was written this week by Dave Flett.

Updated: 10:37 Tuesday, July 20, 2004