Major Tournament Trends in 2011 Prove That Golf's Never Been Tougher

This year's golf season could end with all of the "major" and WGC tournaments having been won by a different player each time. Is the apparent downfall of 14-time major winner Tiger Woods over the last couple of years responsible for this unprecedented fact?

In a season that has also seen a record number of rookie winners in both the US and European Money Lists, only the WGC HSBC remains to buck that trend.

The huge and echoing message from the results of major tournaments in 2011 is that the world of golf has never before been so open, and probably only England’s Luke Donald can say that his season has been one of consistency.

His No. 1 spot in the rankings is based on merit and is, without question, thoroughly deserved. For good measure, Donald also won one of the WGC events, becoming one of the nine players in the last nine WGC events to do so.

It is true that Donald has yet to win a major, but in current form, it would be a brave man to suggest he won't end that drought in 2012. A win for Donald in the 2012 US Masters next April, for which he will likely be favorite, would follow the trend of seeing 13 different winners in the last 13 majors.

During this time, Woods has slipped, or rather, plummeted, down the rankings where he currently occupies the No. 56 spot.

Worse still, there seems no immediate way back, with Woods playing so few tournaments and the US Tour now over until January. This means he is not qualified to be in the field for this week’s final WGC tournament of the year, the WGC HSBC Championship in Shanghai.

Despite being awarded WGC status in 2009, the WGC HSBC event this year has been widely snubbed by players from the US PGA tour. The most notable of these is Phil Mickelson, twice a winner in Shanghai—once in 2007 (before it became a WGC event) and again in 2009.

Other top ranked players who have qualified but will not be headed to China include Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson. Donald, whose wife is expecting a baby any day now, also misses out this week.

It is good, therefore, for the organizers to see the likes of Nick Watney, Hunter Mahan and Bo Van Pelt taking their chances.

It is also good that all four major champions from this year will be competing: Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, US Open champ Rory McIlroy, Open champion Darren Clark and US PGA champion Keegan Bradley.

McIlroy will start as the player to beat after he won the richest tournament in the sport last week, winning the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters after a playoff with Anthony Kim. The win earned the world No. 3 a cool $2 million and put him as the favorite to win the WGC HSBC this week.

Lee Westwood, who has been holding down the No. 2 spot in the world rankings for most of this year, will be keen to close the gap on Donald at the top of the European Money List with a good performance.

He has had two tournament wins this year and a whole string of good finishes, but he will have been unhappy with his form last week, finishing well down the field behind McIlroy in the Shanghai Masters.

However, he was only one shot behind winner Francesco Molinari in this tournament last year, and a better performance can be expected.

But, for this author's money, it's Rory McIlroy who is the one to beat!