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Nowhere among the world's top two ranked golfers will you find Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk or any other American.
U.S. golf supremacy, once as dependable as the American dollar, well, still is. While the PGA Tour's Bob Hope Classic was playing out Sunday as a final-round battle between everybody's favorites, Jhonattan Vegas and Gary Woodland, far across the world Germany's Martin Kaymer was winning the Abu Dhabi Championship and vaulting into the world No. 2 spot behind England's Lee Westwood ahead of Woods.
Kaymer, the 26-year-old who made last year's PGA Championship his first major title, shot a 6-under-par 66 to finish 24 under and eight shots clean of Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy. Retief Goosen and Graeme McDowell were another two shots back in third.
Kaymer's winning score and victory margin were the best in tournament history.
Making those facts particularly impressive is the Abu Dhabi field featured all four reigning major champions in addition to
Westwood, Mickelson and a total of seven of the world's top 12.
Only a few years ago, if a tournament field drew that kind of firepower, it almost certainly would have been disproportionately American players and contested in the United States.
More: Tiger Woods Falls to No. 3 in Rankings
Instead, the Hope Classic, for so long a headliner on the PGA Tour's early season West Coast swing, was being played for the third year without a title sponsor and with little star power.
All of a sudden, U.S. golf is starting to look like Pee Wee Herman in a tank top at Muscle Beach.
All of a sudden, U.S. golf is starting to look like Pee Wee Herman in a tank top at Muscle Beach.
"I don't know if I would say that," Mickelson said in response to the suggestion that the shift has been surprisingly sudden, "given that Australia has always had a strong presence in the major championships, as has Europe. We can't overlook what Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros have brought to the game; Ian Woosnam winning major championships; Colin Montgomerie, even though he was not won a major, he's won so much over here in Europe; Olazábal winning the Masters. There have been so many great European players, I would not go so far as to say it's a surprise, no."
OK, so Phil is not surprised that American golf is losing its mojo. Maybe no one should be. The world game has always been about ebb and flow. But Woods went almost six years holding the No. 1 spot, and Mickelson seemed like he spent more time at No. 2 than Ed McMahon.
Now it's Westwood and Kaymer. Golf's new rivalry sounds like a law firm.
"Like I told you the last few days and last year, No. 1 in the world, I don't want to putt that pressure on myself," Kaymer said. "Of course it is one of my goals, but my biggest goal is to win as many tournaments as possible and if it happens that I become No. 1 in the world, it happens."
A lot of things have happened in golf the past year or so that prove Kaymer right: it happens.
And anytime you step past Woods in the world ranking, that's positive momentum. It was Kaymer's 100th start on the European Tour, and his ninth career win.
"It's quite nice to overtake somebody who is probably the best player in the world, perhaps the best player that ever lived," Kaymer said moving past Woods. "To be in front of him for a little bit -- we'll see how long it takes him to overtake me again -- but you know, it makes me very proud to be better in the world rankings than the best player in the world."
Meanwhile, Mickelson finished 37th , meaning he falls from fourth to fifth, giving way to Graeme McDowell.
"I think it's interesting and it's certainly a goal of all players to get up on top of the world rankings but I think it's more interesting to see how it plays out in the majors," Mickelson said. "I'm not as concerned with the rankings as some. ... I'm more concerned with getting my game ready for the majors."
At last report, the U.S. still does host three of the four
By Mick Elliott
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