The explosive emergence of Jordan Spieth on the world scene is a reflection of the fact that American golf is once again regaining the privileged positions in the international concert that until a few years ago, under the leadership of the then unbeatable Tiger Woods, dominated with authority.
Spieth, the precocious player from Dallas, began to show signs of his worth in 2013 months after turning professional. He was just days shy of his 20th birthday when he debuted his record of professional titles with his triumph in the John Deere Classic by beating Zach Johson and David Hearn in a triple play-off. In 2014 he attracted worldwide attention when he almost won (he was leading on the 8th hole on the last day) the Augusta Masters, where he finished second behind Bubba Watson. This year, after his second win on the PGA Tour (Valspar Championship), he fulfilled his dream: to wear the green jacket at Augusta.
In the first Grand Slam tournament, five of the top ten finishers were Americans, and at that stage of the season more than half of the top twenty in the world ranking, twelve to be precise, were of that nationality, with three in the top five. Among those top twenty, there were five Europeans.
Although it has its critics who consider a two-year ‘rolling’ period to be too long (in that time, there can be prolonged layoffs due to injury or other reasons or you can have a persistent bad streak during the first rolling year without altering the scores too much), the official world ranking is an important tool to follow the evolution of the players.
Taking as a reference the last ten years and the first twenty classified in the world ranking at the end of each season, it can be seen how from 2012 onwards there is a greater presence of Americans in those positions. Thus, if in 2011 there were seven Americans in those twenty positions, in 2012 there were already nine, and in 2013 and 2014 that figure rose to ten. Currently there are a dozen. The year with the fewest was 2007, with five, but, yes, three of them occupying the first three places in the ranking. Comparing the rankings of Americans and Europeans in the world ranking, after a give and take between 2005 and 2011, with small differences between the two (one or two players in the top twenty: 7-6, 6-8, 5-5, 7-6, 8-8 8-7, 9-7) and a slight European advantage in the last two years, it is from 2012 when the Americans began to outnumber the players of the Old Continent. Thus that year they are nine against eight in the top twenty, and in 2013 and 2014 they are ten against seven. This season the difference has increased significantly, and the number of Americans is more than double the number of Europeans in those places: twelve against five.
Sticking to the top 10, the U.S.-Europe duel has been very even since 2009, with four years recording a tie between players from each continent in those top ten positions, while in 2011 there was one more European (4-3) and in 2013 two more Americans (5-3). There was one season, 2009, in which both powers topped the top 10, with five representatives each.
If we look at the podium of the ranking, that is, at the top three positions, in 2010 there is a clear change in the trend of American power, since since 2005 these privileged places had an overwhelming American color. Thus, in 2006, 2007 and 2009 Americans occupied the first three places, always with Tiger as number one, and in 2005 and 2008, also with Woods at the top of the ranking, two of the first three were of that nationality.From 2010, coinciding with Tiger’s temporary withdrawal for several months following the public disclosure of his marital infidelities, the tables clearly turned and it was the Europeans who were in the lead on the world podium. That year it was the Englishman Lee Westwood who finished the season as number one, followed by Tiger and the German Martin Kaymer. In 2011, the top three will be Europeans, in this order: England’s Luke Donald, Westwood and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy. In 2012, Tiger again did his best and climbed to third place, but the Europeans occupied the other two places of honor, with McIlroy first and Donald second. In 2013 Woods regained the world crown, while Australian Adam Scott finished the year in second place in the ranking and Stenson in third. Last season McIlroy again finished the year as number one, with Stenson second and Scott third. This season McIlroy remains at number one with a good income with respect to the second, Spieth, whom he leads by more than two points, and Stenson is third, although he is on his heels, three tenths, the American Bubba Watson.
Another ranking that can bring us closer to reality and see which countries or continents dominate in world golf is undoubtedly that of the best professional circuit in the world, the PGA Tour. The outlook here for Europeans is more than depressing this season. At the end of April, the first player from the Old Continent on the American Tour earnings list was Paul Casey from England, in seventeenth place! Ahead of him were no less than fourteen Americans, with nine of them in the top nine, Spieth leading the way. There was only one other European in the top twenty: Sweden’s Henrik Stenson. If we take a look at the same ranking at the end of the 2014 season, a few months ago, the picture was quite different. The ranking was led by McIlroy, there were two other Europeans in the top ten (Sergio Garcia, fifth, and Martin Kaymer, tenth), and another, Justin Rose, was fifteenth. There were fifteen Americans in the top twenty, the same as in April this year.
If we look at the victories in the majors in recent years, we observe that since 2010, out of a total of twenty-one tournaments, North American players have won eight Grand Slam victories, while Europeans have won nine (the rest, three South Africans and one Australian). In 2010 and 2011 there were two European wins each year to one American, while in 2012 and 2013 it was just the opposite. In 2014 the Europeans swept, with three wins to one American, and this season has started with the stars and stripes of the U.S. flag.
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