Where Are the Young Guns?
Sunday, October 17, 2004 at 10:18 AM The Orlando Sentinel’s Steve Elling dares to defy the PGA Tour’s “young gun” marketing push by questioning just how many young American players really are among the world’s elite.
“In a sport increasingly populated by internationals and
long-lived players in their 40s, the wave of up-and-coming American
youth ostensibly has slowed to a trickle. Young U.S. players seem like
small fish in a big pond and the under-30 undercurrent feels
increasingly like a rip tide based on where the demographic trends
appear headed.
”The top 70 players in the world rankings
feature only three Americans under age 30 -- Orlandoans Tiger Woods,
Charles Howell and rookie Zach Johnson. In the same sample size are 11
international players in their 20s. Facts are, there are more than
twice as many U.S.-born players above age 40 (seven) as there are under
age 30 (three) in the world top 50. For the United States, which for
decades has been acknowledged as the top breeding ground of the game,
that's tantamount to major systemic failure. International players
seemingly are developing faster, not to mention in greater number, as
much because of the sport's economic pressures as any perceived
athletic edge.”
Elling quotes former USGA technical director Frank Thomas, who says, “We believe that commercialization in the U.S. has had a detrimental effect on the game.”
Elling says that “in a matter of a decade or so, the richest country in the world has undermined its success on the professional golfing stage by selling out for short-term gain. It was an unforeseen, double-edged sword that inadvertently has given the rest of the world a quicker leg up in player development.”
Elling talks to David Leadbetter, who kindly points out that the AJGA, USGA and other bodies aren’t quite getting it right. Leadbetter also tries nice to say that the U.S. is producing too many spoiled kids.
"To me, it seems like the international players are usually hungrier," Leadbetter said.
Elling also tackles the issue of why Australia is producing so many great players, and does a “where are they now” recap of the Tour’s infamous “young guns” of 2002.
PGA Tour