Monday, 28 February 2011

Europeans lead from the front

After the first World Golf Championship event of the year, the Official World Golf Rankings has had a bit of a shuffle at the top of its leaderboard.
For the first time since 1992, the top four spots are held by Europeans - Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell. Paul Casey and Rory McIlroy also appear in the top 10, while Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson drop to fifth and sixth respectively.
Does this indicate a seismic shift in continental dominence between the US and Europe? Well, it's proof that the Europeans have been playing the better golf over the past year and it is a great boost to the kudos of the European Tour.
But these things are cyclical and a non-European will top the list again one day. With Woods and Mickelson carrying the weight of expectation for so long despite their recent concerns away from the course, maybe it's time for some of those around the fringes of greatness in the US to step up to the plate.
One thing the rankings do indicate, however, is that with so much talent on show we might be entering a period where the number one position is shared around for a while after being held by one man for so long.
As a footnote, it's noticeable that there is a distinct lack of Southern Hemisphere and Asian players currently in the top 20 apart from the old campaigners Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. Hopefully this will change as the year progresses and the top end of the world rankings will then have a truly global feel.

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