The Only Way Is Up For Our Globe Trotters

It looks very much like five or six of our guys will be campaigning regularly on the US Tour for the first part of the season.
Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood have taken their US Tour cards and they will be joined by our associate client Ian Poulter while David Howell and Graeme McDowell have benefited from the rising profile of European golf to gain sponsors invites for the AT & T and the Nissan in Los Angeles.
Howeller will return after the Accenture Match Play to play in Dubai before returning for Bay Hill and TPC.  McD will remain over the other side of the pond in the hope of gaining more invites aimed at reaching the top 50 in time to qualify for Bay Hill, TPC and The Masters.
Meanwhile Paul McGinley will also play the AT & T before moving on to Malaysia where he hopes to move into the world’s top 64 and so qualify for the Match Play.
Although Lee will return from America to play in Dubai it very much looks like Darren’s European season will not kick off until the British Masters in May.
I am delighted that so many of our guys are getting the chance to play against all the world’s best more often and I am convinced they will very soon be joined by several others from the stable.
It is a very good advertisement for the European Tour that there are so many of its members campaigning around the world at the highest level.  That number will only increase as it has steadily over the years and maybe it might persuade more Americans to spread their wings to sample what’s on offer elsewhere around the globe.
Competition in Europe is getting fiercer all the time.   More and more good youngsters are coming through - several attached to us and particularly in the very productive South African sector - and standards are getting higher and higher.  Things are on the up and up and we’re keeping pace.