Is there depth down under?

SYDNEY, Australia – American golf fans are clearly tickled pink right now given the youth movement on the PGA TOUR. As Tiger Woods faced his injuries over the last four years, the likes of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas emerged into super-stardom, and the production line keeps churning out youthful stars. Last season on TOUR, 20-somethings Thomas (5 wins), Spieth (3), Xander Schauffele (2), Cody Gribble, Mac Hughes, Hudson Swafford, Rickie Fowler, Russell Henley, Wesley Bryan, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Kyle Stanley, Bryson DeChambeau and Grayson Murray all took home victories. Clearly, the future is bright in the good old U-S of A. In modern times, Australia has long had the next best representation of players on the PGA TOUR. Since Greg Norman blazed his way to the top in America, Australia has had a solid core of TOUR players bringing success down under. Ian Baker Finch, Wayne Grady, Steve Elkington helped lead in Norman’s time. Then others like Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby emerged. Soon after, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley were leading the charge. And then Jason Day took things by the throat. In all this time, you’d routinely find eight to 12 Australians at most TOUR events. But Day recently turned 30, officially taking him out of the “young gun” category. And as he, and others, age there is a real possibility other countries will come and take their mantle. South Korea’s and China’s numbers are strengthening. More English players tend to want to play both in Europe and the US. So who is ready to step up and become the next generation of Aussie stars? Cameron Smith is now the leader of the 20-something Australians. At 24 and with a Zurich Classic title (with Jonas Blixt) under his belt, he is paving the path. With two top-five finishes during the fall series, Smith appears set for another good year. But he’s the only Australian on TOUR under 30. Behind him, the hopes lie on the likes of former U.S. Amateur champion Curtis Luck, former U.S. Junior champion Min Woo Lee, highly touted teenager Ryan Ruffels, British amateur runner up Dylan Perry and the likes of Brett Coletta, Karl Vilips and Cameron Davis. They’ve shown plenty of talent, but have been unable to take the next step towards stardom. “We do have a lot of young talented players here that just haven’t blossomed yet and I think once they do, we will have a good stable of players on the PGA TOUR,â€� Day said after surveying the youngsters in the field at the Australian Open. And he’s counting on it for selfish reasons also. Day still remains driven to become Australia’s greatest ever golfer and the more competition coming through, the better. The 16-year-old Lee, the brother of LPGA winner Minjee, recently out drove Day at a junior clinic. The teenager joked Day might already be scared of him. With a laugh, Day admitted he might be. And talked of the plethora of kids on the range pounding the long ball out there. “Just the sound of the ball coming off, when I was a kid, you’d never really hear that too often and now you go down the range and you just hear every kid sounds like it’s going a very long way,â€� Day said. “When I hear that and look at that, I know that I’ve got to do a lot more to try and keep up or stay in front of them. That gives me extra motivation.â€� Luck had a shot at a TOUR card in the Web.com Finals this year, but was unable to convert. Ruffels has had multiple chances in TOUR events. but failed to garner enough non-member points to forge ahead. The 22-year-old Davis has played in one TOUR event and finished T15, contending throughout. He will attempt to breakthrough at Web.com Tour q-School final stage next month. “There’s me and at least another five or six guys that are really coming through strong at the moment,â€� Davis claims. “It’s really Golf Australia and all the state programs, the players are getting stronger and stronger. It’s just a matter of time before they step out into those waters and see how good they are, because the scores they’re shooting at amateur tournaments are awesome and they’re putting themselves up there in professional tournaments as well. “I don’t see why (Aussies) can’t (replicate the U.S. success),â€� he added. “I feel like their best golf will win tournaments over there.â€� Over the next season or two the others will slowly get their chances. Lee, Ruffels and Vilips are still teens and have time on their side. They all do really – except the standard has now been lifted thanks to the Americans. And of course, other international stars like Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm. Vilips and Lee are already confident kids. Lee’s U.S. Junior win proved his pedigree as did his recent near miss at the Asia-Pacific Amateur. Vilips has been a standout in junior tournaments across the USA where he’s based. He is working with Spieth’s Australian coach Cameron McCormick. Day wants the young Aussies to back themselves. He famously came out saying he wanted to take down Woods in his early days and was handed some backlash. But he says you have to be confident to beat the best. “My biggest thing is if you have dreams and aspirations to do big things and do great things and you want to voice them, then go ahead and voice them,â€� Day, who is just the third Australian behind Norman and Scott to reach world No.1, said. “I’ve always been pretty honest with media and how I’ve been feeling, what I’ve wanted to achieve in my life, because to a certain degree, if I say it, then it kind of makes me accountable, and I need to work harder to try and achieve those goals.â€� The Australian Open has been a launching pad before. Norman was paired with Jack Nicklaus as a young man in the event with the Golden Bear telling him he should take his game to the USA. Aaron Baddeley went back-to-back in 1999-2000 to kick start his career. Perhaps the next wave of stars will emerge this weekend.

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