Sport in The United Kingdom - Elite Level Sport - Elite Level Individual Sports - Golf

Golf

Modern competitive golf originated in Scotland. In the early 20th century British golfers were the best in the world, winning nearly all of the U.S. Open championships before World War I. American golfers later became dominant, but Britain has continued to produce leading golfers, with an especially strong period in the 1980s and 1990s. There are usually more British golfers than Americans in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking relative to population, that is to say more than a fifth as many. However, Britain did not produce a major new golf star in this century until Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy emerged with record-setting performances in the 2011 U.S. Open and 2012 PGA Championship, the latter of which returned him to the top of the world rankings. He went on to win the 2012 money titles on both the PGA and European Tours. Several other British golfers have reached the world's top 10 in the early 2000s. England's Lee Westwood ended Tiger Woods' five-year reign atop the rankings in autumn 2010. In May 2011, fellow Englishman Luke Donald reached the top of the rankings, and by the end of that year became the first golfer in history to top the money lists of both the PGA and European Tours in the same season. Other British golfers to have appeared in the top 10 in the 2000s are Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, all from England; and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland. McDowell also became the first European to win the U.S. Open in 40 years when he won that event in 2010.

Golf is the sixth most popular sport, by participation, in the United Kingdom. The Open Championship, which is played each July on a number of British golf courses on a rotating basis, the majority of them in Scotland, is the only men's major golf tournament which is played outside of the United States. The most famous of these courses is St Andrews, which is known as "The Home of Golf". The R&A, the governing body of golf outside the United States and Mexico, is based in St Andrews. Although The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, in Scotland, is the sport's home course, the world's oldest golf course is actually Musselburgh Links' Old Golf Course. The PGA European Tour is headquartered in England, and the main European Tour plays more events in the United Kingdom than in any other country. In international team competition the United Kingdom provides a large part of the European Ryder Cup team, which has beaten the United States team in four of the last six events.

Women's golf does not have as high a profile as the men's game, but British players, most notably Laura Davies, have found success on both the Europe-wide Ladies European Tour and the overwhelmingly dominant women's tour, the LPGA Tour in the U.S. Through 2012, the Women's British Open is the only event recognised as a major by both the Ladies European Tour and the U.S. LPGA.