St Andrews Magazine Edition 04

PROFESSIONAL
Over a century ago
Scotland was the world
leader in professional
golf. But it is now 20
years since the last
Scottish victory in a
major, and the
inspiration of hosting
the Ryder Cup has
done nothing to
change the situation. In
fact, no Scot has
finished inside the top
10 at any major in over
10 years.
Prior to the 2014 Ryder
Cup there was 1 Scot in
the world’s top fifty –
Stephen Gallacher.
There was 2 in in the
top 100 and 6 in the
top 200. At the time of
publication no Scots
were ranked inside the
world’s top fifty, there
was just 1 inside the top
100 – Russell Knox.
Sadly, only 3 are
currently ranked inside
the world’s top 200.
The decline is even
starker when you look
at the number of
victories by Scots over
the last four years.
Scottish golfers have
won just four times
across the two major
tours of the world. 2 of
them counting for the
PGA Tour and 3 for the
European Tour. Russell
Knox has won 3 of
those 4 titles.
Performance on their
home tour has also
been on the decline,
with 4 players set to
secure their card for
2019 via the Race to
Dubai.
Connor Syme and
Bradley Neil are still
young enough to have
a career on a par with
Justin Rose, however
Scotland still lacks a
young player to match
the impact of Rory
McIlroy.
Scottish wins since 2014
Ryder Cup
2015 Trophee Hassan II
RICHIE RAMSAY
2015 WGC-HSBC
Champions
RUSSELL KNOX
2016 Travelers
Championship
RUSSELL KNOX
2018 Dubai Duty Free
Irish Open
RUSSELL KNOX
CONCLUSION
Events which promise a
legacy of higher
participation and
greater success rarely
deliver, so Scotland’s
significant decline at all
levels of golf cannot be
blamed upon the 2014
Ryder Cup. However,
the fact it hasn’t acted
as an inspiration to
many youngsters is
somewhat of a surprise
in this golf-crazy nation.