For the first time ever, six Europeans are in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings.  Yup, it's official - American golf is dead.  Well, at least A- level American golf is dead.

Wait a moment.  No American of significance was playing this weekend.  Not a one.  But all of the prominent Europeans were together in Dubai (and some were in Japan, too) to game the system and earn some big time world ranking points.

You see, in addition to the loaded field in Dubai, the Dubai World Championship boasted every player in the top 30 of the Euro Tour's money list.  That's how the field was determined.  So, that meant that the tournament got extra world ranking points to give away.  In other words, the Euros did three things really well this weekend: (1) get a great field together in November, (2) get lucky and have a close race for the money title, and (3) game the world ranking system so that Europeans would get buko points.

Now do you understand why Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke, and the like went and advised Rory McIlroy to stay on the European Tour?  McIlroy could still skyrocket up the world rankings playing full-time in Europe without every doing anything of significance in America.  See, Clarke and Montgomerie were powerhouses in Europe despite never having won in America.  So their recommendation to stay in Europe comes from the bias that they were still sort of revered in the US by ignorant fans who didn't realize that Monty couldn't win here. 

But, I think McIlroy is both confident and smart enough to see through that game.  McIlroy knows that the best way to make his name - at least right now - is in the United States.  Three majors are here (even though you may not like it), the most money is here, and it requires the least amount of travel to play of any major tour in the world.  Win-win-win for Rory.

Still, that's not to say that Europe is not presenting some fantastic tournaments.  This Dubai World Championship was fun and exciting.  For as much as the course was a letdown to the players, the competition was fun to watch.  Europe boasts a good ten events like this each year which are a great substitute for weeks when the PGA Tour is dark or presenting a stinker of an event.  The gamble on Dubai may prevent the European Tour from being a direct competitor for some time to come, but the PGA Tour certainly can look across the Atlantic to a host of young, hungry players looking to turn their home stage into the biggest stage.