Everyone who thinks that golf betting is the best place to look for odds has seen an evolution of the game that has transformed it from primarily American into a true international sport in which Europeans are beginning to dominate the top of the Official World Golf Ranking charts.

Americans are shut completely out of the top four in the rankings and there are just three Yanks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. With the era of Tiger Woods ruling the charts with an iron fist or nine iron that is, it is important to recognize the new breed from Europe that is here to stay.

Luke Donald and Lee Westwood of England are ranked one and two respectively on the Official World Golf Ranking. The Englishmen are separated by less than 3 points with Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland third, Martin Kaymer of Germany fourth, and then Americans Steve Stricker and Webb Simpson fifth and sixth. Adam Scott of Australia is seventh, Dustin Johnson of American is ninth, with South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel of South Africa ninth and Jason Day of Australia tenth.

Donald was the PGA Tour money title winner as he had two wins and 14 top ten finishes in 2011 with over $6.6 million in winnings. His biggest win last year was the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship.

Westwood has primarily concentrated on the European Tour but will have his busiest PGA Tour schedule ever in 2012. Westwood has just two2 PGA Tour wins with 27 top ten finishes out of 146 events played.

Rory McIlroy has emerged as one of the most popular European players on the PGA Tour in America. He was the winner of the U.S. Open last year and made the cut in 7 out of 10 events on the PGA Tour last year.

Martin Kaymer caught the attention of the PGA Tour last year with his win in the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions. Kaymer made the cut in 8 out of 10 PGA Tour events last year. Kaymer was also dominant on the European Tour and is considered to be one of the most promising players of the future.

Stricker is the one American that commands respect as being a world class player. He has 12 career wins and he finished 2nd in the FedExCup rankings last year.

Golf hasn’t been quite the same since Tiger Woods had his wild and crazy personal life exposed for the whole world to see. It also happened at a time when he was dealing with serious injuries. All of a sudden, the Tiger Woods juggernaut was derailed, opening the door for other young phenoms like Rory McIlroy.

Will 2012 be different? Every indication is that Tiger might have put the injuries and emotional roller coaster behind him. It would be absolutely foolish to count him out. Perhaps this year will be the year where Woods gets back on track to chase down Jack Nicklaus for the most majors ever.

Tiger has announced that he will make his PGA debut in 2012 at the iconic the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The tournament will be played from February 9th through the 12th. It will be Tiger’s first appearance at this tournament since 2002.

Tiger will play his first 2012 tournament in his first Abu Dhabi Championship, battling some international stars like U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, along with Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer. Money talks so I’m not surprised he’s going there. Tiger loves the cash!

Of course this will change all of the odds in the pro golf game. Tiger always changes everything. First through his talent, but also because he draws a ton of interest. When the tournaments start, watch the betting odds when you play Golf @ TopBet and you’ll see what I mean. This won’t be a surprise to anyone, but how Woods plays will be the top issue if you like to go to play sports betting when you go to Las Vegas. Watch him closely and see if he’s back!

We seem to be entering into a new era in golf, and that will affect everyone from the casual fan to tournament sponsors to golf betters in Vegas. Tiger Woods has dominated the game of golf for so long that many people are accustomed to the notion of one dominant player being chased by everyone else in the field. Tiger Woods is an international icon, and his involvement in a tournament boosted ratings and affected sponsorships. Many of the other golf pros were also intimidated by his game.

All of that seems to be changing. It had to change some time – every athlete starts to get older and sees his skills decline. But with Tiger we’ve seen a stunning series of events that have knocked him off his perch.

If you like to bet on golf you need to get used to this “new normal.” Recently, you had a young kid, Rory McIroy, win the US Open after blowing The Masters. Then you had a guy like Darren Clarke win the British Open. Everything is changing, so there’s much more uncertainty. TV ratings are down, but for the golf purists this might be more interesting.

The kid did it. After blowing The Masters, Rory McIlroy roared back to dominate the field and win the US Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. With all the fuss about Tiger Woods, we might just have a new golf phenom on our hands.