Whatever Happened To European Domination?

[stogiesnbogies]

My  , that was a very short period of dominance now wasnt it?!   : )

Even Montie was on Golf Channel after the US Open saying he's not looking forward to this years Ryder Cup...

methinks that rumors of US Golf's death were vastly overstated.   LOL

Let's remember that at the last Ryder Cup -when so many pundits were drafting the obituary for American dominance of the game ..the Euro team barely won ...and it took 18th hole heroics and a Mahan muffed chip to eek out a "victory"...

[Chilli Dipper]

Europe currently is home to the top three players in the world, but a Ryder Cup is made up of 12 individuals, and the prospective USA team is simply deeper than what the Euros appear to be fielding as it stands right now. If the Ryder Cup rosters were selected right now, here's what the teams would look like.

UNITED STATES

Jason Dufner (Official World Golf Ranking No. 8; two major-tour wins in 2012)

Bubba Watson (No. 6; defending Masters champion)

Webb Simpson (No. 5; defending US Open champion)

Phil Mickelson (No. 15; one win)

Matt Kuchar (No. 7; defending Players champion)

Hunter Mahan (No. 10; two wins)

Tiger Woods (No. 4; two wins)

Zach Johnson (No. 18; one win)

Keegan Bradley (No. 24; defending PGA champion)

Rickie Fowler (No. 19; one win)

D ustin Johnson (No. 14; one win)

Steve Stricker (No. 12; one win)

EUROPE

Rory McIlroy (Official World Golf Ranking No. 2; one major-tour win in 2012)

Justin Rose (No. 9; one win)

Paul Lawrie (No. 29; one win)

Graeme McDowell (No. 11; no wins)

Martin Kaymer (No. 13; no wins)

Luke Donald (No. 1; two wins)

Lee Westwood (No. 3; one win)

Peter Hanson (No. 25; no wins)

Sergio Garcia (No. 22; no wins)

Nicolas Colsaerts (No. 36; no wins)

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (No. 50; no wins)

Rafael Cabrera-Bello (No. 55; one win)

All but one of the current top twelve in the US Ryder Cup standings have won in 2012; three have multiple wins. The only player on the prospective American team right now without a victory this year is Keegan Bradley, and he's a defending major winner. Bradley is also the lowest-ranked American at 24th in the world rankings; the only American not on the prospective roster ranked higher than Bradley, Bill Haas, is only one place and one-hundredth of a point clear of him in the rankings. As it stands right now, the twelve best American golfers will be playing at Medinah this fall, and it's hard to make an argument against that.

To say that the prospective European Ryder Cup team consists of the twelve best European golfers is a much less certain claim. Only six of them have won in 2012; only Luke Donald has won more than once. Five of the prospective team members are currently ranked below the lowest-ranked American; there are eight European players not on the prospective roster currently ranked higher than the two "captain's picks" (the top players on the European and World Ryder Cup standings not already qualified, respectively). Of course, captain Jose Maria Olazabal would not have to use his captain's picks on either Fernandez-Castano or Cabrera-Bello, but it's hard to see the Spanish captain not selecting at least one Spaniard onto the team when there is justifiable reason for his inclusion.

In any case, the European team seems like much of a threat to hold onto the Ryder Cup when Lawrie, Colsaerts, and the double-barreled Spaniards are on the team, and Ian Poulter, Francesco Molinari, Thomas Bjorn, and Alvaro Quiros aren't.

[GaijinGolfer]

IMO, most of the Euros have gotten cocky and arent working as hard as they used to.  For a few years now all we have heard is how great the Euros are, so it will be nice if team USA hands them a good ole fasioned beatdown this year.

[zipazoid]

I reject that there was any 'European Domination' in the first place. All they did was close the gap somewhat with the obvious American Domination of the past few decades. They did that by winning some majors & some Ryder Cups. Good for them. They proved they could compete with Americans, and sometimes beat them. Not the definition of 'Domination.'

[lumpuckeroo]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

I reject that there was any 'European Domination' in the first place. All they did was close the gap somewhat with the obvious American Domination of the past few decades. They did that by winning some majors & some Ryder Cups. Good for them. They proved they could compete with Americans, and sometimes beat them. Not the definition of 'Domination.'

I would agree, IMHO golf has ebbs and flows, the Europeans caught a hot streak and won several majors in a row, now the US players are winning.  I don't see "domination" by either side at this point, more of a trend.

[Mr3Wiggle]

17 of the 72 players who made the cut were from Europe.  24%

36 of the 156 players in the tournament were from Europe.  23%

38 of the 72 players who made the cut were from the US.  53%

84 of the 156 players in the tournament were from the US.  54%

Percentage-wise, one could argue that the Europeans held their own, as their percentage of those who made the cut was greater than their percentage of those entered in the tournament.  While that was not the case for the US.

[newtogolf]

When the statement was made about European dominace, Luke and Rory were playing outstanding golf and most of the Americans were struggling with their games.  Today, we have new American golfers emerging like Dufner, Mahan and Simpson while Tiger has stepped up his game and Phil has done okay.  Bubba needs to improve his attitude and game if he's going to help the team, otherwise I'd prefer to see someone else take his spot.

We need to be careful not to equate name recognition with golf skills.  DJ has been MIA most of the season.  Rickie got his first win but not exactly a consistent top golfer and Bradley is struggling right now.

[stogiesnbogies]

I think that part of the American advantage is the NCAA "farm system" that produces a steady crop of up and coming stars for the PGA Tour...(even many of the Euros have cut their teeth on US College golf at one time or another) ....just look at some of the present American amateurs...the NCAA , Nationwide Tour and frankly better golf climates in the states (think Florida, Texas, California etc)

all of these factors leave American golf with a very deep bench indeed...

[mchepp]

I agree with Chili Dipper the Europeans have a couple of the best current players (Donald, McIlroy) but the US is deeper. The Ryder Cup is a long way away so who knows who will be playing well once it takes place.

[rossvanwyk]

I think he's been knocking back a bit of grandpa's cough medicine....

[michaeljames92]

Lol. 3/4 majors are played in the US. All 3 of which are played on courses most Euro golfers aren't accustomed to playing. I'd like to see how the yanks go playing in horizontal rain and actual wind. Not the gentle zephyrs which are treated like gail force winds on the TV coverage. Most of the top US guys are in struggle town when a breeze is blowing as most play a high ball flight.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by michaeljames92

Lol. 3/4 majors are played in the US. All 3 of which are played on courses most Euro golfers aren't accustomed to playing. I'd like to see how the yanks go playing in horizontal rain and actual wind. Not the gentle zephyrs which are treated like gail force winds on the TV coverage. Most of the top US guys are in struggle town when a breeze is blowing as most play a high ball flight.

My guess would be they would do just fine. There's just no incentive for the top U.S. players to play the European Tour.

[Wansteadimp]

You lot do know that most of the European Tour events are played in Europe (or the Middle East), right, where really good weather breaks out most of the time?

A very small percentage are played in Great Britain or Ireland, and even here the weather isn't always bad. (A poor attempt to convince myself).

[x129]

Lets look at the Open over the past 20 years. I have

5 euro winners

3 South Africans

11 americans

1 Aussie

I would call that winning at about the expected rate. Of course maybe the Open is considered to have good weather...

Originally Posted by zipazoid

My guess would be they would do just fine. There's just no incentive for the top U.S. players to play the European Tour.

[Wansteadimp]

Originally Posted by x129

Lets look at the Open over the past 20 years. I have

5 euro winners

3 South Africans

11 americans

1 Aussie

I would call that winning at about the expected rate. Of course maybe the Open is considered to have good weather...

Some of them have been exceptionally good - the year Tiger won at Hoylake for example, Faldo at St Andrews.

Others - Harrington (Birkdale), Norman (Turnbury), Clarke, O'Meara, Lawrie have been awful.

The question would be what is it with Aussies and Majors, the number of really good players they have had hasn't translated in to trophys.

[michaeljames92]

Originally Posted by Wansteadimp

Some of them have been exceptionally good - the year Tiger won at Hoylake for example, Faldo at St Andrews.

Others - Harrington (Birkdale), Norman (Turnbury), Clarke, O'Meara, Lawrie have been awful.

The question would be what is it with Aussies and Majors, the number of really good players they have had hasn't translated in to trophys.

Greg Norman. Brought a choking culture to Australian golf. Lets not forget for a country of 20 odd million people, we do alright for ourselves in world sport. One could say, perhaps the greatest sporting nation when taking into account population.

[Wansteadimp]

Originally Posted by michaeljames92

Greg Norman. Brought a choking culture to Australian golf. Lets not forget for a country of 20 odd million people, we do alright for ourselves in world sport. One could say, perhaps the greatest sporting nation when taking into account population.

As an Englishman that has suffered long years of bashing at cricket, League and Union, I know this all too well.

Mostly I'd associate Australian sportsmen with grittiness and getting the job done which makes the failure to close out Majors even weirder.

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by Wansteadimp

As an Englishman that has suffered long years of bashing at cricket, League and Union, I know this all too well.

Mostly I'd associate Australian sportsmen with grittiness and getting the job done which makes the failure to close out Majors even weirder.