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American Golfers, Where have they gone?

Snap Hook

Snap Hook

I before E,excpt Titleist
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So a guy on sportscenter said something this morning that got me thinking about American Pro Golfers.

1. Currently all 4 major titles are currently being held by a non-American.
2. Of the past 20 Majors played, International Players have won 12 against the 8 titles won by Americans. That seems close but when you factor in 4 out of the 8 American titles were held by a guy named Tiger. So if you take Tiger out of the equation, Americans not named Tiger have only won only 25% percent of recent majors (12-4).
3.When I look at the first 5 names at the Master's this year, I see 3 Australians, a South African and Tiger.

Anyways, looking at these stats, my first thought is that Tiger's play has single handedly been hiding the fact that the rest of American Golfers have been coming up short compared to their International Counterparts.

Where were all the young American Guns this week at the Masters? Hunter, Kuchar, Bubba, Anthony Kim,? Edit: Barnes did post a -3 for a tie for 20th.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the amazing depth and talent that the international players are showing?
 
I have two thoughts about this entire subject.

1. You are comparing one country to the entire world.
2. I dont believe it has been that different over time.
 
clearly South Africa rules golf right now! They hold 2 Major Championships.
 
Golf is a Global game. We have international players winning because of that. The misconception is that the PGA Tour is an American Tour. And while the events are played in the US, lots of the players are internationals. You have to think as well that all of the coverage we watch is American based so there is a strong bias there as well.
 
I think people make too much out of what nationality someone is from. Does anyone really care that all 4 majors are held by a non-American? Great golfers come from all over the world to play in America, and any one of them can have a great tournament at any time.
 
I cant wait to see golf in the Olympics!
 
One-T said:
I cant wait to see golf in the Olympics!
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I guess we will get a true sense of golf powerhouses in terms of geography at that time.
 
JB said:
1. You are comparing one country to the entire world.
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My exact thought. I also think international golfers have easier access to the PGA Tour now then they previously did before.
 
Considering it's a european game, I'm quite happy to see more than one country holding titles.
Now if this were NASCAR, and the US couldn't score.... that'd be different.
 
JB said:
I guess we will get a true sense of golf powerhouses in terms of geography at that time.
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I agree, I wonder how its going to be played
 
One-T said:
I agree, I wonder how its going to be played
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+1 to that. I'm anxious to see this unfold. And how will america pick its players?
 
JB said:
I have two thoughts about this entire subject.

1. You are comparing one country to the entire world.
2. I dont believe it has been that different over time.
Click to expand...


I agree JB....I don't know why everything has to be the U.S. against the rest of the world.
When is the last time we saw any sporting event that was England vs the World ?
 
Drumdog said:
I agree JB....I don't know why everything has to be the U.S. against the rest of the world.
When is the last time we saw any sporting event that was England vs the World ?
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I think the answer is a little political, so I will refrain from posting it.
 
Drumdog said:
I agree JB....I don't know why everything has to be the U.S. against the rest of the world.
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It's just the way it is. The US plays Europe in the Ryder Cup. The US plays everone else in the Presidents Cup.

Don't put too much stock into the Olympics. I doubt the US has their best golfers representing us anyway.

We're the big, bad bully in the world. The home of huge houses, huge cars, plastic women, the "american" dreams, other countries love beating us and letting us know when they do it. I put no stock into any of it. Golf is a game of ebbs and flows, and right now, the waters aren't very warm to Americans on the big stages. It won't last long, it never does.

tapatalk: even available for lefties!
 
I don't look at it as if American golfers have fell off the earth but more like the players who are playing great right now happen to be from different countries. Hell most of them live in the U.S. so I don't put too much stock in that stat to be honest. Unless it's the Ryder Cup I don't who's where, Ryder Cup time I properly hate those bums from Europe who come here and take our money and steal our women.
 
Puttin4Bird said:
I don't look at it as if American golfers have fell off the earth but more like the players who are playing great right now happen to be from different countries. Hell most of them live in the U.S. so I don't put too much stock in that stat to be honest. Unless it's the Ryder Cup I don't who's where, Ryder Cup time I properly hate those bums from Europe who come here and take our money and steal our women.
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I was thinking along the same lines. How many of the non-US golfers went to University in the US and live in the US?
 
for me golfs a global game i had copious amounts of enjoyment watching the masters over the weekend. weather it was a englishman i was watching or not it was awsome entertainment
 
I heard a caller to a radio program make what I thought were some interesting comments. It was his contention that many of the best Americans are too robotic. They all swing the club the same way, and many have the same coaches. He feels they lack some personality to their swings, and in turn their games. He claimed the best Non-Amercian players are more creative, more free wheeling, and enjoy themselves more, especially in high pressure situations like Major Championships.

Not sure I buy all of it, but some of it strikes a chord with me.

Kevin
 
Esox said:
I heard a caller to a radio program make what I thought were some interesting comments. It was his contention that many of the best Americans are too robotic. They all swing the club the same way, and many have the same coaches. He feels they lack some personality to their swings, and in turn their games. He claimed the best Non-Amercian players are more creative, more free wheeling, and enjoy themselves more, especially in high pressure situations like Major Championships.

Not sure I buy all of it, but some of it strikes a chord with me.

Kevin
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This was noticeable in the masters I thought (The enjoyment factor). The only american who was screaming with joy when he made key putts was Tiger (imho) when you could see others like Jason Day who really looked like he was just out there to have fun.
 
JB said:
I have two thoughts about this entire subject.

1. You are comparing one country to the entire world.
2. I dont believe it has been that different over time.
Click to expand...

Very well said. Nothing has really changed.
 
These things go through stages. The US has plenty of young golfers who will be successful in the coming years. I wouldn't worry about the state of the game.

I think we might be seeing the culmination of golfers from all over the world finally having the benefit of the resources afforded to youngsters in the US too. The chances and support young golfers have in the US should be the envy of the rest of the world, and I'd love the UK to follow suit by offering more programmes and courses. The reason you see so many Euros coming over to study and play is because we just don't have that here.

I'd also encourage people to look at the population factor when considering one country versus another! :D
 
the_paulo said:
I'd also encourage people to look at the population factor when considering one country versus another! :D
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I agree with that. Just as I think that one should look at the population of the US vs the world.
 
JB said:
I agree with that. Just as I think that one should look at the population of the US vs the world.
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Absolutely, it works both ways. Or, it should!
 
The simple existence of competitions such as the Ryder or President's cup reinforces my idea that the US is fertile ground for champions. What other country would be bold enough to entertain such a challenge?
 
I am not sure I would call the play of the contemporary tour player robotic. However I think there is much more similarity between their games than we have seen in years past. That might appear to be more the case for US born pros since they are exposed to similar training techniques from an earlier age. So many of the pros seem to receive their most relevant training in the US and the result is that there are just a few more exceptions in the international crowd than in the US born group. Invariably more modern training techniques seem to become something of a process and there is something of a cookie cutter aspect to that.

The audience tends to translate that into less personality and that is a bit disconcerting especially given the desire to draw more casual viewers into the game both as an audience for the pro tour and as amateur players.

While the Masters turned out to be a very exciting contest I am not sure there is enough going on in typical PGA event to hold the interest of a casual viewer.

I am a bit concerned that for so many of the tour players now, from hole to hole it is a bomb of a drive followed by a wedge or scoring iron in. Soon enough, the whole telecast for the home audience just looks like a procession of the same shots over and over again with little to differentiate the players regardless of their origin. The announce teams do not help much either. I can't figure out if they just do not have any interest in pointing out the differences between the swing and shot characteristics of the various players or if the differences are so subtle now that there is just not much for them to talk about. About the only thing that seems to get more attention now is slow play.
 
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