Changing of the guard?

[Courty]

Luke Donald has just won the WGC Matchplay against Martin Kaymer. So the top 5 will look like this:

1. Kaymer
2. Westwood
3. Donald
4. McDowell
5. Woods

Casey, McIlroy & Poulter are also close behind.

According to the TV coverage, the last time Europeans held the top 4 placings was in 1992 when Woosnam was No. 1. Is this the beginning of the end of US domination of world golf, or just a temporary glitch?

[Jarro]

It's good to see IMO.

Euro players travel a fair bit more than the Yanks, so are truly more world players.

[Dcanto]

It's the end of civilisation as we know it. :wink:

[Eag's]

Great to see the yanks being put in their place :)

[3oneday]

World rankings are a joke anyway, Tiger hasn't won for 15 months and is #5, Ricky Fowler hasn't won ever and is 33.

[Sydney Hacker]

So is now a good time to push for the US PGA to be dropped as the 4th major and for it to be replaced with another major held outside of the states ?

[MegaWatty]

Time for the Norman World Tour.

[BrisVegas]

good to see I reckon. Hopefully it fires up Tiger to regain his spot and we see some great golf in the coming years.

[razaar]

I can't see any player dominating the game as Tiger did for 10+ years. Golf is simply impossible to master. IMO we have seen the best of the best players who have ever played the game. For a time Tiger enjoyed a physical and mental edge over the opposition to the extent that he was feared whenever he teed it up. That edge has been eroded over the last couple of years mainly through physical injury and personal issues. I often wonder if Tiger is not enjoying his life at present. His life as the most famous athlete in the world must have been a super extraordinary life style. The pressures involved whenever he appeared in public must have been stiffling. Good luck to him and I hope he can make it back to the No. 1. The game doesn't have the same zip without Tiger as he was.

[virge666]

So is now a good time to push for the US PGA to be dropped as the 4th major and for it to be replaced with another major held outside of the states ?

Shit Yeah !!!!

[Greeny]

This is great for (world) golf. I was surprised to see Matt Kuchar at #10!

[markTHEblake]

1. Is this the beginning of the end of US domination of world golf, or just a temporary glitch?
Neither, there has been many periods when more than half of the top 10 or 20 have not being Americans, even though the top two or so have predominantly yankees

[BayBum]

So is now a good time to push for the US PGA to be dropped as the 4th major and for it to be replaced with another major held outside of the states ?
I,like many,have been saying this for years :) To be the best in the world i reckon you have to be able to play & win anywhere/everywhere.It wouldnt suprise me if asia becomes a major in the next 10 years but i would like to see it in oz.

[IanO]

Absolutely agree ... the PGA should be regarded as a WW competition with Majors in other regions. Look at the quality of players and courses outside of the US and Europe now

[Dotty]

The interesting thing is the way that the points given to a player are based on strength of the field.

Now there are more European players with high rankings, then an European event will be worth more points than a contemporary US PGA event, leading to more non-US players rising up the rankings.

No different to the last 20 years, where players on the USPGA Tour dominated the rankings, because they played weekly events with the most points on offer.

[markTHEblake]

So is now a good time to push for the US PGA to be dropped as the 4th major and for it to be replaced with another major held outside of the states ?

Who are they going to push this too?

The elevations of tournaments to "major" status was not official, it was created by the media.