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One thing Hank Haney is not: shy about offering his opinion. For that reason, he has become one of the most popular tweeters in the golf sphere with more than 26,000 followers and upwards of 7,200 tweets. He covers everything from swing tips to food preferences to his opinions on his former pupil, Tiger Woods.

Before becoming the swing coach of the world’s most famous golfer, Haney held a post as the Southern Methodist University golf coach. Equipped with that experience, Haney told John Huggan of The Scotsman why the US college system is a main proponent in the European dominance of golf at the minute.

“Too often, of course, the problem is that the coaches are not teachers. They are bus drivers who take the kids to tournaments,”" Haney said. Yes, they recruit. But after that they don’t actually do any real coaching. For the vast majority, ‘coach’ is a complete misnomer.”

American players, then, are losing quality time in progressing their games. “Treading water” for four years while their counterparts in Europe are improving because of the three main ingredients Haney says provide championship golfers: courses to play, people who play and coaches.

With those ingredients taking hold, the top of the world rankings is dominated by European players. As the Europeans top the charts, it’s easy to see why Haney believes a non-American will win the Open Championship this week.

“I will be totally surprised if an American wins the Open this week,” Haney said. “I expect one of the top European players to win at Sandwich.

“In the past, when Americans did win the Open it was invariably because we simply had better players. But that isn’t the case any more. Now, the Europeans have more talent. So it will be a pretty large upset if an American does win this week.”

Hard to argue with Haney on this.

The top-ranked American, Steve Stricker, has done no better than a tie for 7th at the British, while Phil Mickelson has one top-10 finish in 17 tries. Matt Kuchar has only made the cut one time in a British Open and Nick Watney is playing in just his fourth Open.

Beyond the statistics, European players treat the Open Championship as their Holy Grail, the tournament they want to win more than any other.

So while Ben Curtis shocked the world the last time the Open Championship came to Royal St. George’s, it seems less likely than ever that Yank will be holding the Auld Claret Jug come Sunday.