Lee Westwood may be the only English golfer in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking, but the picture is far from the bleak landscape being painted for a country which not so long ago boasted the World's Number One player in Nick Faldo and, during the last decade, Ryder Cup players of the stature of Peter Baker, Paul Broadhurst, Howard Clark, David Gilford , Mark James, Barry Lane, and Steven Richardson.
So is there something wrong with the state of English golf? Well, not if you study the form books closely. During the closing months of the 2000 season on The European Tour's International Schedule there were some impressive performances by English golfers, and that trend has become even more pronounced in 2001.
Take the victory by Ian Poulter from Leighton Buzzard in the Italian Open last year. Poulter, aged 25, captured his first title with four sub-70 rounds at Is Molas, beating the experienced Gordon Brand Jnr by one shot to effectively seal the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award.
Poulter picked up in 2001 where he left off, claiming third place behind another pair of outstanding youngsters, Aaron Baddeley and Sergio Garcia, in the Greg Norman Holden Classic in Sydney, climaxing the tournament by holing a bunker shot for an eagle three at the 71st hole. Consequently the Hertfordshire player has moved up to 142nd in the Official World Golf Ranking
Two weeks later Warren Bennett, 29, made a remarkable return to The European Tour after a series of misfortunes including pneumonia and a prolonged neck injury. Much like Poulter, Bennett's performance in finishing runner-up to Vijay Singh in the Caltex Singapore Masters added weight to the view that English golf is on the rise once again.
Bennett, from Broadstairs in Kent, the 1999 Scottish PGA Champion, chipped in for an eagle at the 72nd hole at Singapore Island Country Club to dramatically deprive Colin Montgomerie of second place.
Only the previous month, Hampshire 20 year old Justin Rose enjoyed two wonderful duels in South Africa with Australia’’s equally precocious Adam Scott and the evergreen Zimbabwean maestro, Mark McNulty, respectively.
Rose, who had dealt wonderfully well with the adversity of a string of missed cuts following his superb fourth placed finish in the 1998 Open Championship while still an amateur, produced successive runners-up finishes in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Mercedes-Benz South African Open.
Despite narrowly missing putts for a play-off on both occasions, the young Englishman nevertheless earned sufficient money to secure his card for 2002 and at the same time offered the promise of a successful season ahead.
Indeed, he was voted the Asprey and Garrard Golfer of the Month in January on the strength of those performances and his impeccable off-course etiquette. Justin has now entered the World's Top 200 in 197th position.
Other players worthy of consideration are Anthony Wall and Brian Davis still only 25 and 26 respectively. Wall gained his maiden European Tour victory at the 2000 Alfred Dunhill Championship and returned to make a highly commendable defence of that title in 2001, shooting rounds of 69-64-70-67 for an 18 under par total of 270 and outright fifth place.
Davis, from London, also made his breakthrough in the 2000 season, winning the Peugeot Open de España at PGA Golf de Catalunya with rounds of 71-68-66-69 for a three stroke win over Markus Brier and Eduardo Romero. He has moved just outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking in 108th position.
Finally, there is Yorkshire's 23 year old Simon Dyson. A member of the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup side in 1999, Dyson took his golf game to Asia and the Davidoff Tour in 2000 and became that continent's Number One player after three victories. That outstanding feat has earned him a place in the World Golf Championships-American Express Championsip at St.Louis in September.
Remember, too, that another member of that victorious Walker Cup team, Paul Casey, has turned professional in the United States and intends playing several tournaments on The European Tour in 2001 with a view to achieving full Membership. Who said England was a country in crisis with no talent on the horizon?
