There is a major clog in the American golf pipeline.
Just look at the latest world rankings. There are two 20-something Australians in the top 10: Adam Scott (26) is sixth, and Geoff Ogilvy (29) is seventh.
Move down the list and there are players such as Sergio Garcia (Spain, age 26) in ninth; Luke Donald (England, 28) in 12th; Trevor Immelman (South Africa, 26) in 15th.
You won’t hit a young American until 26-year-old Lucas Glover at No. 48.
This is a stunning development for a country that has prided itself on producing young prodigies Woods, Nicklaus, Palmer and Watson, among others. The United States simply isn’t growing them like it used to.
Recent developments make the gap look even more extreme going into this week’s British Open at Hoylake near Liverpool, England. Ogilvy will be in the spotlight after winning the U.S. Open and Immelman’s victory in the Western Open lifted his status among the game’s young guns.
Meanwhile, with Woods an old man at 30, the U.S. crop is lacking. Many of Woods’ supposed successors have been long on potential, short on results.
The expectations were high for Charles Howell III, David Gossett and Matt Kuchar, but they have fallen far short. Howell has missed three of his last five cuts, dropping him to 64th in the rankings.
U.S. Amateur champions Hank Kuehne, Ricky Barnes and Ryan Moore have struggled to make an impact. Earlier this year, J.B. Holmes, 24, won at Phoenix, and long-hitting Bubba Watson, 27, opened some eyes with strong finishes. Neither has done much since then.
In fact, Ben Curtis and Jonathan Byrd are the only 20-something U.S. players with two victories on the PGA Tour.
How about this statistic: Woods has been the youngest player on the last four U.S. Ryder Cup teams. He was the only player younger than 30 on the 2004 U.S. squad, while the victorious Europeans featured five.
“It’s really disappointing,” CBS golf analyst Lanny Wadkins said. “It makes you wonder what’s going on with our guys.”
There are plenty of theories:
Power over precision: This is the most popular reason cited. The young Americans are so enamored with bombing their drives and irons, they haven’t learned how to play the game.
“Here’s what has happened,” NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller said. “This generation got into hitting their irons 90 million miles. They’ll hit a 6-iron 200 yards, and you go, `Wow, that looks great.’ The ball stays in the air for a week.
“But there never has been a great iron player who hit his irons that far. It’s all about spin and getting the ball on the ground as quickly as possible. Cremating your irons is not the way to score.”
Northwestern golf coach Pat Goss, who also serves as the instructor for Donald, says too many of the young U.S. players can’t control their distance, especially with their short clubs.
“I’m fortunate to have a guy like Luke around our program,” Goss said. “The way Luke plays is uncommon to today’s young player. On tour you have to control the ball out there, like Luke does. Hopefully, Luke can influence them that you have to shape the ball and have distance control.”
The clubs: Goss says technology also is a culprit. He says a player is more apt to change equipment than his swing.
“In some ways, the game has become less of a craft,” Goss said. “Maybe they aren’t digging in the trenches enough.”
Illinois golf coach Mike Small agrees.
“The equipment is so good, they only learn how to hit one shot,” Small said. “They become more of a robotic-type player. The imagination and creativity isn’t as good as it was 15 years ago. You see a lot of great swings in junior golf, but the scores don’t match up.”
The hunger factor: Miller thinks there is so much money out there for simply making cuts, it takes the edge off the young players. He would like to see them go out there with more “bravado.”
“When Lanny Wadkins came up, it was, `Get out of my way, Nicklaus,'” Miller said. “I felt the same way. What I see in the new generation is that the young players are very deferential to the older guys. It’s `Oh my God, I can’t beat Tiger.’ They don’t go to the course thinking, `I’m going to win this week.'”
Miller was impressed that after Donald won the Honda Classic in March, he talked about wanting to become the No. 1 player in the world. Donald wasn’t bragging. Rather, he was daring himself to dream big.
“I think the European players play more to win,” Miller said.
Catching up: Donald developed his game in the United States, going to school at Northwestern. If anything, he is more of an American player than European player.
“I think Americans have a great college system, and when I went through, it really helped me get to where I am,” Donald said.
Donald played college golf against Howell, Gossett and many of the other young Americans. He can’t explain why they haven’t been more successful.
“Maybe the expectations, I’m not sure,” Donald said.
Curtis, 29, felt the burden of those expectations after his surprising victory in the 2003 British Open. He failed to crack the top 125 on the money list the next two years.
Curtis finally broke through a couple of weeks ago, winning the Booz Allen. He offers a simple theory for the lack of dominance from young U.S. players:
“I just think the rest of the world has gotten that much better. I think they put their focus on not just the European Tour or the Asian Tour or whatever; their dream is to come over here and play [on the PGA Tour].
“They start from a very young age to strive for that now. I think that has made it tougher for us Americans in that regard.”
Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: American youth isn’t being served in golf.
Golf’s young guns
Twentysomethings ranked in the world’s top 50:
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6 Adam Scott Australia 26
7 Geoff Ogilvy Australia 29
9 Sergio Garcia Spain 26
12 Luke Donald England 28
15 Trevor Immelman S. Africa 26
27 Carl Pettersson Sweden 29
30 Paul Casey England 28
48 Lucas Glover U.S. 26
Players who recently turned 30 in the rankings:
16 Henrik Stenson Sweden
17 Tim Clark South Africa
28 Rory Sabbatini South Africa
36 Zach Johnson U.S.
43 Ben Crane U.S.
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esherman@tribune.com
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