"Sometimes I question the teaching of the game."

John Huggan looks at Lee Westwood's claim of being the best player in the world despite not having the trophy case to quite back that up, and then looks at the notion of golf producing fewer "winners." Lots of interesting stuff here, but in particular was this from Ben Crenshaw on instruction and where Americans choose to play.

Coaching – or should we say over-coaching – is another characteristic of top-level golf in the 21st century. Today, it is almost unheard of for any leading player not to employ a swing coach, a sports psychologist and a fitness trainer.

"Sometimes I question the teaching of the game," says two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, a man who grew up under the laissez-faire tutelage of famed instructor, the late Harvey Penick. "I hate to use the word 'stylised', but it seems that way to me, everything in the same box. I don't see some players able to adjust on the course. You have to be able to do that on the course, especially when you are not playing well. It's no good waiting until you can go back to the range for the answers. They are relying too much on the guys standing behind them.

"I'd like to see America's leading players competing more outside the PGA Tour. If you get a set of conditions that are somewhat the same week to week, it can't be good. You have to change the arena now and then. Give them something different. Plus, a reliance on lots of people in your camp doesn't always equate to success."