New kids will have to bide their time

Stats suggest the new kids may have to wait a little longer before a major success, writes Philip Reid

“The vast majority of players on tour are in their 30s . . . which makes golf markedly different from contact sports like football and rugby, where players generally have seen their best days when in their 20s. And, yet, some young golfing guns are emerging. These have come into the professional game with reputations sharpened in their amateur days

THINK OF this. When Sergio Garcia next tees up in a major, he’ll be 30. When Tiger Woods next tees up in a major, he’ll be 34. When Lucas Glover – the only player in his 20s to win a major since, well, Woods – next tees up in a major, he’ll be 30.

Kenny Perry, the nearly man of majors in recent years, will be a healthy 49. Vijay Singh will be 47. Pádraig Harrington will be 38.

Think of this. Jumble together the ages of the players ranked in the top-10 of the official world rankings and you’ll discover that the average age is 36. Of that group of 10 players, Garcia is the only one in his 20s; the Spaniard is 29, but turns 30 next January.

Glover, at 29, was the youngest of this year’s major set when he claimed the US Open . . . YE Yang was 37 when collecting the Wanamaker Trophy at the USPGA, Stewart Cink was 36 when claiming possession of the Claret Jug at the British Open, and Angel Cabrera was 39 when a green jacket was placed on his shoulders after winning the US Masters.

What does this tell us? Where’s the youth? If the perception is that golf is a young man’s game, it’s not. If you’re to win a major, and that is the criteria that all of the top players use when setting their personal targets each and every year, it would seem – Woods apart – experience rather than youthful exuberance is the key to unlocking the secret.

The statistics of recent years from the US Tour back up the theory that golfers play their best golf in their 30s and some, mainly Perry (a winner five times in the past two seasons) and Singh (who has 22 titles since passing the big 4-0), have reserved their best play until their 40s.

Since Woods turned professional in 1996, the US Tour has seen an average of over nine winners each year over the age of 30; indeed, back in 2003, no fewer than 15 players aged over 40 won tournaments. However, the vast majority of players on tour are in their 30s . . . which makes golf markedly different from contact sports like football and rugby, where players generally have seen their best days when in their 20s.

And, yet, some young golfing guns are emerging. These new kids on the block have come into the professional game with reputations sharpened in their amateur days . . . and the biggest surprise of this new generation of players is that the ones tipped for superstardom are not American: one is from Northern Ireland, one from New Zealand (via Korea) and the other is from Japan.

If it was felt that Tiger Woods’s arrival as the greatest player of his era and possibly of all time would spawn a new generation of youngsters in the USA, it would seem that his influence has actually been felt more around the globe as Rory McIlroy, Danny Lee and Ryo Ishikawa all claim that the world’s number one has been a role model for them just as Nicklaus was a role model in his time for Woods.

Golf, for sure, needs a conveyor belt of young talent to continue to emerge. As Cink put it in remarking on McIlroy’s emergence: “Rory’s a breath of fresh air, he’s such a nice kid and has unbelievable potential with his golf game.”

Of the new kids on the block, McIlroy – at 20 – is the oldest, but his third place finish in the USPGA has reaffirmed the potential that accompanied him throughout his amateur days and on into his fledgling professional career.

The exciting thing about Messrs McIlroy, Lee (19) and Ishikawa (17) is that they know how to win and all three have already won tournaments: McIlroy and Lee, as an amateur, on the European Tour; Ishikawa, aka “The Bashful Prince”, a handful on the Japan Tour.

McIlroy and Ishikawa have had to get accustomed to huge media attention very quickly, but have sought to keep their lives as normal as possible. As McIlroy put it, “I still like to go out with my friends . . . in Belfast, or wherever it is, I do get recognised but it’s something that you just get used to, I suppose. But, no, I don’t feel as if I’m any sort of superstar. I’m just trying to play golf and play golf well.”

Of all the young players, nobody has had as much in-your-face coverage as Ishikawa. Wherever he plays, he has a media entourage that, would you believe, is greater than that of Woods. Yet, he would prefer to be seen as a normal teenager who just happens to be exceptionally good at golf.

When asked what he does away from the golf course, Ishikawa’s response was: “Right now, (studying) English. At my house I do some TV games, like soccer games.”

Lee, who celebrated his 19th birthday last month, has found the road bumpier than either McIlroy or Ishikawa to date. Having turned professional after playing in the US Masters last April, Lee – whose family has moved to Dallas – has had to rely on sponsors’ invites on the US Tour and explained recently, “I knew this would not be as easy as I thought. It is really tough out there, and there’s so many good players out there . . . it’s not easy. Well, as my dad says, you’re still 19, and you’ve got a long way to go . . . you’ve just got to keep trying.”

For sure, it’s a tough and often lonely road on tour. And the new kids only have to look at Garcia to realise how tough it is to take the next step up to winning a major championship. As a teenager, the Spaniard contended in his first major but has since gone through his entire 20s without actually claiming one. Although, the statistics would back up the assertion that he will have a better chance once he hits his 30s.

For the likes of McIlroy, Lee and Ishikawa, time is their friend. As McIlroy said, “I’ve got the game to do well in major championships and that as long as I stay patient and don’t get ahead of myself I know that my game can stand up to the hardest test in golf.”

Generation Game - The New Kids On The Block


Rory McIlroy(Northern Ireland)

Age: 20

Height: 1.75m/5'9"

World ranking: 23rd

Best finish in a major: 3rd (2009 USPGA)

Interests: Manchester Utd, cars, tennis, movies, music

Tour wins: European Tour - Dubai Desert Classic (2009)

Danny Lee(New Zealand)

Age: 19

Height: 1.83m/6' 0"

World ranking: 119th

Best finish in a major: MC (2009 US Masters)

Interests: Surfing, music, movies, Manchester Utd

Tour wins: European Tour - Johnnie Walker Classic (2009, as an amateur)

Ryo Ishikawa(Japan)

Age: 17

Height: 1.73m/5'7"

World ranking: 68th

Best finish in a major: 56th (2009 USPGA)

Interests: Manchester Utd, video games

Tour wins: Japan Tour - KSB Cup (2007, as an amateur), ABC Championship (2008), Yomiuri Classic (2009), Sun Chlorella Classic (2009).