Exodus threatens to cloud Westwood reign

European Tour faces tough fight to resist dilution of quality as more players surrender to temptations of United States

European golf now has a new king in Lee Westwood, but he might reign next year while watching his subjects flee into exile across the Atlantic to the lucrative kingdom of the US Tour.

European golf now has a new king in Lee Westwood, but he might reign next year while watching his subjects flee into exile across the Atlantic to the lucrative kingdom of the US Tour.

These are the best of times and potentially the worst of times for the European Tour. Westwood's winning of the Order of Merit at Valderrama, breaking Colin Montgomerie's seven-year reign, can only be good for the game in Europe. As good as he was and is, Montgomerie's domination for the past seven years suggested that the talent in Europe was not good enough to get to the top. That was never actually true, and Westwood's emergence as Europe's No 1 only confirms what many have suspected for the past several seasons - that he has the game to be one of the greats.

This past season was also made all the better by the fact that Darren Clarke challenged Westwood all season for the Order of Merit title. Here is a rivalry to match that of Lyle and Faldo in the 1980s. It is a rivalry that Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, who manages the two players, thinks will last for many years. "They're both world-class players," said Chandler. "They've threatened to do what they've done this year for the last two or three years, and it was only a matter of time before Lee won the money list. Indeed, Darren will win the money list, too. They are that good.

"Now that Lee has won it he'll probably want to win it again, and Darren will want to win it so they've got double or quits on that pound that's for sure," said Chandler, referring to the £1 bet the two men made on which of them would win the Order of Merit. "It's good for golf because we've had Montgomerie at the top for seven years with Darren and Lee right behind him for the last few seasons. Montgomerie's been great for European golf but it's good that there are younger players coming through to give him a serious challenge. He'll want to win it back next year but he knows he'll have a hell of a fight on his hands," added Chandler.

The fact Westwood and Clarke were chased all season by the likes of Thomas Bjorn, Michael Campbell, Phillip Price, Padraig Harrington and Gary Orr points to a surplus of young talent on the European Tour. The question is: what does the future hold for many of those young players? Will they remain in Europe or take their clubs to the United States?

Europe has already lost the talents of Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik to the US Tour. Next season will see more players heading Stateside to try to cash in on the increased prize funds on offer over there. Jose Maria Olazabal has confirmed he will play more golf on the US Tour next year, so has his countryman Miguel Angel Jimeñez. Bjorn is another who has hinted at a move to the States. Throw in Montgomerie's assertion that he needs to play in America more around the major championships, and you have a considerable pool of talent playing away from home.

The exodus of players will seriously hamper Europe's efforts of winning back the Ryder Cup at The Belfry in September. With 10 players earning places on the team through the Order of Merit, the European captain, Sam Torrance, only has two wild card picks to fill out the 12-man team. He could conceivably have to pick two players from five of the team who played at Brookline in 1999.

Ken Schofield, the European Tour's executive director, bristles at suggestions that Europe's young players are moving to the States because the European Tour is lagging far behind its American counterpart financially. "All 66 players who played in the Volvo Masters took home record purses from any year and certainly from any golf tournament," said Schofield. "We just succeeded in having that purse doubled from £1m to £2m."

Schofield made those comments at Valderrama in connection with last week's petition from 62 European players calling for the Tour to be more open about the way it runs its books. Such internal bickerings do not help to sell the Tour to potential sponsors.

So the troubles of ruling a kingdom belong to Lee Westwood next season. Just what type of kingdom he inheritsremains to be seen.

FACTS AND FIGURES FROM THE 2000 EUROPEAN TOUR

Lowest rounds

61 (-9) T Woods (WGC-NEC Invitational) 62 (-10) P Lonard (Rio 500 Open) 62 (-10) P Harrington (Rio 500 Open) 62 (-10) A Forsyth (Rio 500 Open) 62 (-10) G Orr (British Masters) 62 (-9) E Romero (European Masters)

Lowest total

259 (-21) T Woods (WGC-NEC Invitational) 261 (-23) E Romero (European Masters)

Low 1st 36

125 (-15) T Woods (WGC-NEC Invitational) 127 (-17) A Forsyth (Rio 500 Open)

Low 1st 54

192 (-18) T Woods (WGC-NEC Invitational) 194 (-19) E Romero (European Masters) 197 (-19) G Orr (British Masters) 197 (-19) M Campbell (German Masters)

Biggest win

15 shots T Woods (US Open)

Most wins

5 L Westwood (Deutsche Bank Open, European Grand Prix, European Open, Scandinavian Masters, Belgacom Open)

High winning score

280 (-8) R Muntz (Qatar Masters)

Highest 18-hole lead

6 M Campbell (English Open)

Highest 36-hole lead

7 T Woods (US Open)

Highest 54-hole lead

10 T Woods (US Open)

Lowest cut

140 (-4) Moroccan Open

Highest cut

152 (+8) European Grand Prix

Holes-in-one 34

Albatrosses 4

Course records 27

First-time winners 13

AXA PERFORMANCE DATA WINNERS

Best stroke average: 1 L Westwood 69.62, 2 E Els 69.67, 3 C Montgomerie 70.25

Longest driver (average distance; must be on fairway): 1 E Canonica 295.3yds, 2 A Cabrera 293.5, 3 A Scott 292.4

Most accurate driver (percentage of fairways hit): 1 R Green 79.5%, 2 J Coceres 78.7%, 3 John Bickerton 78%

Most greens in regulation: 1 G Orr 77.8%, 2 C Montgomerie 77.1%, 3 J Coceres 76.4%

Best putter (average putts per round): 1 L Westwood 28.4, =2 P Fulke, J Spence, D Chopra 28.5.

Best bunker player (percentage of sand saves - up and down in two from greenside bunker): 1 T Johnstone 78.9%, 2 I Hutchings 77.9%, 3 M Mouland 77.8.