Australia declared the second most successful country in golf

A new research study by money.co.uk has found Australia to be the second most successful country for golf behind the United States.

The study analysed men’s and women’s major tournaments, and World Cups, and looked at the amount of times an individual or team from each country has won one of those prestigious events to reveal the most successful countries for golf.

The United States were way out in front with a total score of 504 and a normalised score out of ten of 9.14, however Australia’s ability to produce major champions across generations ensured our nation’s proud golfing history was rewarded with a total score of 34, a normalised score out of ten of 6.67.

Australia’s five multiple major winners - Karrie Webb (seven times), Peter Thomson (five times), Jan Stephenson (three times), Greg Norman and David Graham (both two times) - played a significant role in the ranking as did five men’s World Cup wins.

The team event has been off the golfing calendar for four years now, but Australia’s success at the tournament is not to be forgotten with Kel Nagle and Peter Thomson (1954 & 1959), Bruce Devlin and David Graham (1970), Peter Fowler and Wayne Grady (1989), and Jason Day and Adam Scott (2013) all lifting up the World Cup.

Major victories to Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Elkington, Ian Baker-Finch, Wayne Grady, Kel Nagle and Jim Ferrier also ensured that Australia finished above England (third), Sweden (fourth) and South Korea (fifth).

PGA of Australia Chief Executive Gavin Kirkman said the research confirmed the notion of Australia’s prominence in the international game.

“We bat out of our weight division,” said Kirkman. “In fact, from a playing point of view, we’re a powerhouse in the game internationally. At a professional level, we provide a significant percentage of the fields at most major golf events around the world and that’s a contribution that we’re proud of.

“So many great players have established themselves on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia. We continue to build strong alliances and relationships with all Tours within the golf eco-system that gives our players both men and women the best pathway and opportunities to make it onto global tours, win majors and play for their country. 

“Australian Golf continues to produce talented young players who become superstars on global tours, inspiring young girls and boys to play our sport." Golf Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland said Australian Golf should be proud of what it has done and ambitious about what it could do in the future. “It’s an eye-opener in some ways to see Australia ranked at No. 2 in such a truly international game,” said Sutherland. 

“But in other ways it is just a reminder of Australia’s status in the game. We’re committed to producing more amazing male and female players through our high-performance system which exists to nurture the best Australian golfers to ultimately win majors and olympic medals. It’s been incredible to see the rise of the likes of Minjee Lee who has just moved to fourth in the World Golf Rankings as one of four Australian women in the Top 50, along with the likes of Cam Smith and Lucas Herbert who make up eight of the Top 100 male golfers in the world, all graduates of our high performance program. 

“Golf’s in a great place right now and we have an important and exciting year ahead as we align even closer with the PGA of Australia to create a summer of golf that provides opportunities for our young players, and connects Australians with our Aussie heroes who’ve been dominating overseas.”

England (44) and South Korea (35) recorded greater totals than Australia, however as some competitions are played more regularly than others, each country was given a normalised score out of ten for each sporting event, referencing the number of times played. 

This allowed an average score to be determined, revealing which countries have had the most sporting successes.

You can view the research in full here: https://www.money.co.uk/mortgages/sporting-capitals

Article by Dane Heverin via Golf Australia