The descent of the outsiders

With big ticket events such as the PGA Tour, the US is a hot destination for pro golfers and is attracting foreign players in droves.

The US is indeed the land of opportunities for many professions. And it is no different for golfers. An increasing number of foreign players are entering the US and descending onto the various pro golf tours.

Whether they be the US PGA Tour, the Ladies PGA or the Nationwide, the second rung tour for men. Then, of course, there are these smaller tours like the Goose Tour, while another Developmental Tour backed by Butch Harmon is on its way to attract foreign players.

The arrival of international players, another term for non-US players, means that more and more titles are being won by outsiders. The reason is simple: The world's best players' ultimately dream is to reach the American golf courses and vie each week for purses upwards of $4.5 million.

The World's No.1 player on both the men's and women's Tours are non-Americans "" Vijay Singh of Fiji and Annika Sorenstam of Sweden. The No.3 Ryuji Imada of Japan and No. 6 Brendan Jones of Australia (both of them play on the Nationwide), are also outsiders.

This year, for the first time, more than half the titles on the USPGA Tour were won by "outsiders", who took 26 of the 48 titles. That figure included nine by Fijian and World

No. 1 player Vijay Singh. Another seven were won by Australians and five more were shared by the two South Africans, Ernie Els (3) and Retief Goosen (2).

The Ladies PGA too has seen a huge influx of South Korean and other Asian women for a few years. With a few more events to go this year, 20 of the 31 titles on the LPGA Tour have been won by international stars, with Annika Sorenstam leading with seven wins.

In 2003, the LPGA had 24 foreign-born winners. In 2000, Americans had only won six of the events during the season. The last time that American players had actually won in the majority of events on the LPGA goes as far back as 1997.

The Tour Championships for the PGA Tour and the ADT Championships (due this week) for women are the season-ending events, where only the top 30-odd players are invited. This year, the men's Tour Championship had 15 players from 11 countries and they joined 16 Americans, meaning almost half of the top

30-odd are non-Americans. It is no different among women, where the field of 30 for ADT Championships has 18 foreign players.

Yet amidst all this, Americans can take consolation in the fact that, as a single country, they still provide the highest number of winners. Americans won 22 of the 48 titles in the men's category, which is still higher than any other country. The next best record is held by Vijay Singh who accounted for nine title wins. Australia had seven, led by Adam Scott with two.

On the women's side, America won 11 times in 31, with the next best country being Sweden with a total of eight. South Koreans accounted for four titles.

While 2004 may have been the first time that "outsiders" have shaded the Americans on their home turf, this is likely to become a regular feature.

The reason being that European stars like Sergio Garcia of Spain, Justin Rose, Darren Clarke and Luke Donald of England, Irishman Padraig Harrington, Aussie Adam Scott and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama are concentrating far more on the US Tours.

While there might be a mixed attitude towards the composition of the US Tours, the US is indeed the ultimate destination for pro golfers. But at the same time, it also spells trouble for the smaller and less lucrative tours around the world because the players are no longer interested on the Asian, the South African, or even the European Tours.

The same is true for the women champions who emerge from the Japan or the Korean Tour to finally arrive onto the bigger stage which is America.