Player Profile - A New Golfing World Order?

This week’s player profile highlights the new world order in professional golf, brought about at the weekend by Martin Kaymer’s ascent to the top of the world golf rankings.

The past year has seen a dramatic shake-up in the world golf rankings. The gradual but certain weathering of Tiger Woods, once considered unbeatable, from the position of world number one made headlines throughout 2010, with Englishman Lee Westwood replacing him at the top of the world rankings late last year. Westwood’s reign was to be short-lived however, as talented young hopeful Martin Kaymer and such players as Graeme McDowell vied for the coveted position. After Westwood was eliminated in the Accenture Matchplay Championship in Arizona at the weekend, it was German-born Kaymer who would replace him as world number one, despite losing to Luke Donald of the United Kingdom, an accomplished player who almost certainly has aspirations of challenging Kaymer himself in the near future.

After almost a decade of total dominance by Woods, the race for world number one has become anything but predictable. With a wealth of talented players on the rise, many of them young and highly ambitious to boot, the coveted title is likely to change hands on a regular basis, providing ample excitement for golf fans who are relishing the excitement of the current season.

The ascent of these talented young players highlights another phenomenon of the changing world of professional golf – the rise of European golf. Though golf originated in Scotland, since the 1950s it had become a predominantly American affair, with such greats as Jack Nicklaus and former world number one Tiger Woods dominating the scene along with talented players including Phil Mickelson. Today the situation appears to have reversed, with the world top five likely to be European for the first time in decades. While the United States remains a major force in world golf it is the Europeans who are, at the moment, dominating the professional rankings.