Martin Kaymer's nerveless putt to retain the Ryder Cup may have quietened forty odd thousand rowdy American golf fans as well as lifting the spirits of his European teammates and inspirational captain Jose Maria Olazabal but another Ryder cup victory for Europe looks unlikely to improve the lot of professional golf in Europe.
While European players continue to dominate world rankings(4 of the current top 10 are European) the European Tour or 'The any Golf Event outside of the US' as it could more accurately be described continues to recede. Of the victorious Ryder cup team Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Peter Hanson, Graeme MacDowell and Sergio Garcia base themselves exclusively in the US playing with Lee Westwood due to join the majority when he sells his Worksop home in November. Most play a regular season which involves playing golf in Europe no more than four times in a season a far cry from five years ago when a European playing regularly on the PGA tour was a rarity. The respective schedules of Europes top professional's is a combination of lax rules regarding maintenance of European tour membership in comparison to stricter membership rules across the pond on the US tour as well as the significant sponsorship, finance and weather in the States.
The European tour currently requires each player to participate in 13 events something all 12 of the current team have to do to be considered for selection. On paper this may seem like a significant portion of their diaries however when one considers that these can include the four majors and four World Golf Championships as well as the Ryder Cup from 2013 on wards maintaining membership of the European tour doesn't seem quite so tricky. On today's European Tours the most prestigious events actually occur in the middle east and further afield meaning playing golf in Europe is something which can be avoided if that's what your accountant suggests. The US tour on the other hand forces players to play 15 events to keep their tour cards and while including the same 8 events as the European tour, PGA bosses in Florida can take solace in the fact that 6 of these events are played in the US already. While finance ensures Europe's finest will be attracted to the states, relatively easy rules are making it easier for players to have a token membership of the European tour.
Tour officials in Surrey would rightly point to the economic climate in Europe as the reason it is so difficult to attract top sponsors to European events, I would argue that the weak field in terms of the lack of frontline Ryder Cup players is the reason the prize money on offer is currently too low. Essentially if the best players in Europe were showing up more frequently prize money would rise given the increased exposure these players offer to tournament sponsors. Finance has stayed strong and even increased in football and rugby so why should it collapse so dramatically in golf. Increasing the number of events required to maintain membership may seem a high risk strategy however it is almost certainly one worth taking given that Europe's Ryder cup heroes add very little to regular European tour events as things stand. Doing this would at least give sponsors the chance of attracting a Ryder cup player to their event assuming the players named above decide to stick with the tour. Given how important the Ryder cup is to players surely they wouldn't forego the opportunity to play in it. Maybe the Ryder Cup victory can propel golf in Europe after all.
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