South Africa ruling the world

[golfdonkey]

Just had a look at the world rankings and can't believe how strong South Africa are. They have four player in the top 15 - Els, Goosen, Sabbatini and Immelman. Schwartzel and Clark are also top 50. I think it's the Major effect - Els and Goosen won big tournaments and the others were inspired to greater things. Britain needs a Major win desperately.

 

[birdieman]

Kids in South Africa play sports and exercise, kids in UK eat Doritos and play computer games. This is partly due to the weather but is one of the reasons South Africans excel at sports, bit like the Aussies.
We will always have a few good hardcore golfers here in the UK but not nearly as many as we could have had we a golf academy or scholarships like they do in the US.
The last pairing of Brits at Wentworth on Sunday played like I do!
I think our only hope of a British major winner at the moment is Paul Casey. The others Donald, Rose, Poulter, Howell, Monty etc just aren't quite there in terms of belief or ability, for me Casey has the right mix of cockiness and power. Justin Rose grew up as a South African so maybe he has a shot at a major, definitely seems to be the fastest improver recently.

 

[John_Findlay]

I'm sure that if we had their weather we would be doing far better in the world rankings. It's notable that Casey and Donald served their apprenticeships in the U.S. where you can practice properly without 30mph winds and rain during the winter.

Lloyd Saltman played some events in Australia recently and came back to the UK and won 4 big amateur events on the trot whereas we fellow club members were having medals abandoned or non scoring due to bad weather. There's a lot to be said for a bit of sunshine !