THE WHEEL always turns in professional golf but over the past year it has almost spun off its axis. Twelve months ago, Europe was billed as the new superpower, its superiority apparently set while an era of US dominance gently faded away. Alas, the future is not as clear as it used to be, albeit that Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood occupy the top three places in the world rankings. European players win regularly in the States and they win with style. But dominant?

Not if the results of the past two major championships are indicative of anything after they were both won by Americans, Keegan Bradley (PGA Championship) and Bubba Watson (Masters). And not if the list of winners on the world’s biggest tour is anything to by as the players go into its flagship event, the Players Championship, at Sawgrass today.

There have been 20 events on the PGA Tour in 2012. Sixteen have been won by Americans, including Watson at Augusta and Hunter Mahan, who has won twice – beating McIlroy in the final of the Accenture World Matchplay and then holding off the field at the Shell Houston Open.

Both Watson and Mahan were members of the “Golf Boys”, a spoof boy band which released a video poking fun at the sport last year. And they were joined in the winners enclosure by a third member of the troupe, Rickie Fowler, whose win at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday has been greeted by yet another redrafting of the sport’s future, this time with Fowler in a starring role.

The reasons for this are fairly obvious. Fowler, a Californian, is aged just 23 and looks like he might have been in the Beach Boys in another life. It helps too that he is likable and, by the standards of your average PGA Tour pro, fairly approachable. “It was so cool to see Rickie win,” said an effusive Phil Mickelson of his 2010 Ryder Cup team-mate. “He is going to have a long and successful career. I think he is great for the Tour.”

Do not think the PGA Tour does not know this. Fowler is a highly marketable and highly-marketed personality – to a potentially damaging extent, in the eyes of many who believed the hype was generating expectations that could not be met. Fowler’s victory, and the fact he achieved it against McIlroy, has given fresh encouragement to those have invested their hopes, and sponsorship money, in the young American.

There is also the question of a rivalry. After years of the mostly one-sided match between Mickelson and Tiger Woods, the sport is itching for a different narrative, preferably one that is more equal.

McIlroy has already proved his worth, winning a major championship and establishing himself at or near the top of the world rankings over an extended period. Fowler, ranked 24th, has yet to establish himself to the same degree, not that you would have known that as he manfully fended off invitations from the American media to place himself on the same pedestal as the Northern Irishman. “I’ve definitely watched him and stayed up with his career. Seeing other young guys like him play motivates me to play well,” he said.

It’s to Fowler’s credit he didn’t fall into the trap of convenience that had been set. McIlroy-Fowler equals Woods-Mickelson? Not yet. Not by any stretch. And perhaps it never will be. McIlroy has the whiff of greatness about him. Fowler, on the other hand, is a fine player but there are moving parts in his game that need to be refined before he can lay any claim to greatness.

But even if Fowler does not rise to meet the challenge of Europe’s young superstar, there will be plenty of Americans who will, some already proven winners, such as Bradley and Mahan, and some who have yet to make their mark. Write down these names – Bud Cauley and Harris English, both of whom are making a mark in their first year on the PGA Tour; Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth, two talented young amateurs who will turn pro within the year.

McIlroy will not go short of US rivals in the years ahead. American golf is back, not that it ever went away.

Guardian Service