Is Europe Catching Up to America In Women's Golf?
But I was struck by something when looking at the year-end women's world rankings. In the Top 50, at the end of 2012, there were more women from European countries than from the United States.
Here are the golfers in the Top 50 from each side of the Solheim Cup:
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USA 3. Stacy Lewis 11. Cristie Kerr 12. Paula Creamer 18. Brittany Lincicome 19. Angela Stanford 24. Lexi Thompson 29. Brittany Lang 38. Morgan Pressel |
Europe 6. Suzann Pettersen 14. Catriona Matthew 16. Azahara Munoz 28. Anna Nordqvist 32. Karine Icher 33. Sandra Gal 40. Caroline Hedwall 48. Caroline Masson 50. Carlota Ciganda |
On the American list, only Lexi Thompson can be thought of as an "up-and-comer." But on the European side, there are three such youngsters: Hedwall, Masson, Ciganda (some might even include Munoz, but I think she's too well-established by this point).
And while it's true that the American list is missing some golfers who will probably be back inside the Top 50 - Michelle Wie, for example - the European list is missing those Solheim Cup stalwart Swedes Maria Hjorth and Sophie Gustafson.
Europe, as a whole, has more than twice the population of the United States. That's one reason - demographics, pure and simple - that men's pro golf in Europe has largely caught up to men's pro golf in the USA. But golf has penetrated more European countries on the men's side than the women's. There are still plenty of European countries, largely in Eastern Europe, where women's golf is barely played.
But even if you look only at those countries in which women's golf is well-established, the populations are similar between the USA and Europe. Which means that if participation rates are the same in both regions, then the overall quality - the depth of the talent pool - should even out between European and American women's golf, too.
I think we're starting to see signs that that is what is happening.
