Padraig Harrington’s second consecutive major win at the PGA Championship means ¾ of this year’s majors were won by an international player.
Europe has won seven out of the last ten Ryder Cups, the last two of which could be considered a complete massacre.
Had Justin Leonard not made a ridiculous 60-foot putt on the 17th hole in 1999, the European team would have won eight out of the last ten Ryder Cups.
Other than Tiger Woods, who as we all know is a one man force dominating the PGA Tour, the majors have been dominated by international players.
In the past five years, aside from Woods, American golfers have won just four majors—compared to the nine majors won by international players.
In the ten years prior to that, again taking Tiger Woods out of the picture, American golfers won eighteen majors—compared to twelve majors won by their international counterparts.
So what is happening to American golfers?
Is the game becoming more international or are we simply not as good as we once were?
I don’t believe American golfers aren't as good as they once were—but I do believe that the economic dynamics of the world are now being mirrored on the PGA Tour.
Just as the world’s wealth is being dispersed across many more countries, the pool of young international golfers has also been growing.
This has been building up for years now, and it has become increasingly evident that the international contingent on the PGA Tour have at least levelled out with the US contingent—if they have not already surpassed them.
Unfortunately, golf is a luxury almost solely afforded to the middle-class and wealthy segments of the population.
15-20 years ago, the middle-class and wealthy segments of the population in America were significantly larger than any other country in the world. Wealth and prosperity was more widespread in America than just about any other place on the planet.
8 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Doug Bell 10 months ago
I wonder how the comparison would change if you at least made some semblance of balance by also removing the international player with the most majors from each comparision period. Like it or not, Woods IS an American player.
Also: "Had Justin Leonard not made a ridiculous 60-foot putt on the 17th hole in 1999, the European team would have won eight out of the last ten Ryder Cups."
Uh, there was still a hole to be played in that match and another contested match on the course. The result of the Ryder Cup was not solely dependant upon Leonard making that putt--it was just more dramatic having it decided that way.
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Michael Fitzpatrick 10 months ago
Thanks for reading the article Doug. You make some good points. If I had some more time on my hands I would have liked to have done some more research on this - such as looking at the percentage of top 10 finishers at each major in the past 5-10 years that have been American vs. International, increase in number of PGA Tour players from a country vs. that country's economic growth, etc.
I am as patriotic as the next American and would love to see us finally regain the Ryder Cup this year.
But, the fact of the matter is that as a whole the international golf community has caught up if not surpassed the American golfers on the PGA Tour.
Again, this is a topic I'd like to research some more because at a quick glance of stats it appears that the dynamics of the world/world economy are being somewhat mirrored on the PGA Tour in terms of the international players and the growing number of players from more and more countries making it onto the tour.
Thanks again.
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J. Michael Morris 10 months ago
I would also give Tiger credit for increasing purses enough that larger numbers of international players find it financially appealing to travel much more to the U.S. where the best competition is. Many great players stayed in Japan, G.B., S.A., Australia, etc. because the economics of travelling to the U.S. multiple times annually before they were multi-millionaires did not make sense. Great Article, I can't disagree with any of it.
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Michael Fitzpatrick 10 months ago
Thanks for reading the article. You are absolutely right about Tiger. I also believe that the PGA Tour will continue to be the main battle ground, so to speak, for the forseable future. The PGA Tour is where the money, sponsors fame and fortune lie. Three out of the four majors are also played in America. I believe that the major change we will see will not with the location of the events but in the increasingly international fields on the PGA Tour.
I actually looked into to Tiger's financial affect on the PGA Tour and wrote an article about it a little while back. Unfortunitely I don't have the time to research some of these articles as much as I'd like to but it contains some interesting facts about how much purses and earnings have increased since his arrival as compared to before he arrived on tour. Check it out if you have some time:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/18817-how-tiger-woods-has-produced-hundreds-of-millionaires-on-the-pga-tour
Thanks again.
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Lou Vozza 10 months ago
Do these guys still count as international players if they all live in Florida? I see the sport getting more and more Americanized. Has the European Tour growin in stature at all in the last 10 years. The PGA Tour is the only place to play and everywhere else is basically a minor league. Look at all the Korean girls on the LPGA. Are there any players left in Korea - not any good ones I bet.
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Michael Fitzpatrick 10 months ago
Thanks for reading the article Daryl.
I believe that the battle ground will remain in the PGA Tour. I don't forseeable one worldwide tour or a merging of the European Tour and PGA tour or Asian Tour and PGA Tour anytime in the forseeable future. The PGA Tour will remain the place where the world's golfers decend upon to play.
What I do forsee is that the PGA Tour will become increasingly more international. Whereas prior to 10-15 years ago, US Players dominitaed the PGA Tour and the Majors, that has changed as of late and I believe US golfers will become increasingly less dominate on the PGA Tour when compared with the international community of golfers - that is aside from Tiger Woods who is a one man dominating force on the tour right now and most likely will be for the next 10 years or so.
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Lou Vozza 10 months ago
I guess I got thinking about this during the last Ryder Cup. When play started, you had to take travel to England by ship. The whole thing was a multi-week ordeal. Now these guys are all neighbors in Orlando and belong to the same country clubs. Also, they play against each other every week anyway. The only real interest is to see these guys playing in a team format for change. Mildly interesting, but it's not what it was when it started. Back then golf was a British sport and the Americans were the upstarts. It really meant something when they competed. The Americans were trying to take the sport over from the British at the same time the British Empire was collapsing and being replaced by the American one.
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J. Michael Morris 10 months ago
Good thoughts.
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