Martin Kaymer opts for European Tour while Louis Oosthuizen will give PGA Tour a try
With more and more of the top European golfers declining PGA Tour membership for the 2011 season, including number-one player in the world Lee Westwood and number-10 Rory McIlroy, the
tour recently received some good news and some bad news from two of this year's major champions.
According to ESPN.com, Louis Oosthuizen, this year’s British Open champion, has elected to join the PGA Tour while PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer has decided to stay in Europe.
Oosthuizen, the 28-year-old South African, won the British Open this year by seven strokes over Westwood. It was the second professional victory for the 23rd-ranked golfer in the world.
Meanwhile, Kaymer, the 25-year-old German, has had arguably the best year in golf. The third-ranked player in the world has won four times this year, including three straight after winning
the PGA Championship in a play-off over Bubba Watson this past August. He also won the Abu Dhabi Championship in late January.
One of the main reasons why many of Europe’s top golfers are foregoing PGA Tour membership is the tour’s policy that members must play a minimum of 15 events to retain full membership.
Kaymer told reporters at the Dubai World Championship that this was too much to fit into his schedule. "I sat down last week with my manager, my family and we had a look at the schedule
and it just doesn't fit playing both tours next year."
Oosthuizen, qualifying for the PGA Tour thanks to his British Open win, admitted his decision to play full-time in the U.S. could be short-lived. "It has always been a dream of mine to
play in America, and having grown up in South Africa watching the U.S. Tour on TV, you always want to play there, so winning The Open gave me that opportunity. I will then make a
decision at the end of next year whether I want to be a member in 2012, and that will depend on how 2011 goes over there in the States."
In the past, international golfers such as Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, and Ernie Els would treat the PGA Tour as their ultimate goal. While it remains the most lucrative
golf tour in the world, the developing trend of European talent opting to remain in Europe should be a little concerning for the PGA Tour.
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