American players fade in Golf
The year 2010 in golf was surely a very bumpy one. Considering the PGA and the LPGA, controversies came up, scandals revealed, and things are much different than they used to be.
In the light of the previous year, a broad and general trend has been seen. It appears as if Europe and Asia has taken over the World of golf.
American Tiger Wood’s five year reign as golf’s best star was ended by European Lee Westwood. The European team won the Ryder Cup that was taken by America in 2008. Even looking at the LPGA, only one of the top six players is an American.
Currently, in the official golf World rankings for men, six of the top ranked players are European. The only Americans are Tiger Woods at number three, Phil Mickelson at number four, Steve Striker at fifth, and Jim Furyk at the sixth position.
If one really does target the American golfers, it should be Phil Mickelson also known as lefty, who disappointed his countrymen. Being at number two place for quite some time, Mickelson had about twelve chances to dethrone Woods from his position as golf’s
top cat.
Since Phil couldn’t make a move, it was Lee Westwood who took advantage of the situation. Phil, however, was the only American to win a major when he was victorious at the Masters. As for the other majors, two were won by European golfers and one was taken
by a South African player.
Some even say that it was Tiger’s mistakes and downfall that automatically paved way for Westwood to be number one. Lucky for him, the points systems favoured Lee. Westwood became World number one on October 31st despite being injured this year
and not playing in many tournaments.
Martin Kaymer is yet another young European, who is the hottest thing in golf right now. Kaymer won the PGA Championship in August and also played an important part in Europe’s win in the Ryder Cup. Also winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland,
he has now topped the European money list and won the Race to Dubai.
Despite everything, this year’s biggest disappointment for Americans was none other than Tiger Woods. The 14 time major winner didn’t win a single event this year, something that has never happened in his career.
Playing very poorly, Tiger posted his worst score with an 18 over at the Bridgestone Invitational. It’s true that his divorce really affected his game and his career, but Tiger should have been more cautious about not letting his personal life influence
his profession.
As for the LPGA, the Tour Championship is taking place in Orlando, Florida. With nine of the top ten ranked players competing, the season finale of the LPGA Tour will surely be an exciting one. Out of the top six players, only Cristie Kerr is an American.
The strongest contenders for the end of the year awards are mostly Asian. The South Korean Na Yeon Choi is leading the money list with$1,814,558.00. Jiyai Shin, who is also South Korean, is in second place and is $34,790 behind. Both these ladies will really
be struggling to win the list this weekend.
The South Korean, Choi, is also leading Vare Trophy contest list. With a scoring average of 69.77, she appears like the strongest Candidate to win the Trophy. Second after her is Kerr, who is just .09 behind and really hopes to play well at the Grand Cypress
this weekend.
As for the Rolex player of the year Award, Yani Tseng from Taiwan is leading with 188 points. Following Tseng is the Japanese Ai Miyazato, with Choi in third place. For this prestigious award by Rolex, Kerr is in fourth place with a total of 173 points.
Overall, it appears like the graph of American accomplishments in golf is taking on a negative slope. Hopefully, in 2011, more success would be shown by players from the States.
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