Irish elite must snap out of slide show

Tour Scene News round-up:The Ryder Cup (at The K Club) has come and gone and, if that great extravaganza acted as some sort of inspiring force to the Irishmen who actually made the team, it would seem the feet since then have been taken off the pedal.

If not quite as morose as the lyrics in the old Simon and Garfunkel song, Slip, Sliding Away, there are growing concerns that the Irish tour players are - almost to a man - on a slip, sliding downward spiral.

This is the reality: at the start of 2006, three Irish players - Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McKinley - occupied places in the top-22 of the official world rankings. Another player, Graeme McDowell, lingered just outside the top-50, in 55th position. Those, as we now know, were heady heights for the leading Irish tour professionals.

How times have changed in such a relatively short time span. Now, of Ireland's golf professionals on tour, only Harrington (at 11th) is even in the world's top-100. McGinley has slipped down to 153rd in the latest rankings, while Clarke has dropped to 116th and McDowell, who at one stage this season was as low as 139th, has rallied slightly to lie in 120th.

And, behind the top rung of the Irish players on tour, things aren't offering too much indication of anyone gate crashing the party. Of the remaining Irish players on tour, Damien McGrane has a world ranking of 274th, Peter Lawrie is 280th and Gary Murphy has dropped to 402nd.

So, what's the problem with such slides? Well, for the players, the world rankings carry an ever-increasing amount of power. For instance, a position in the top-50 carries with it automatic entry to the four majors and also to the world golf championship events; while, for the past few years, it has also been used as the qualifying means to gain entry into the World Cup, with the highest placed available player (for a country) off the world rankings determining whether his country gains an automatic place in the field.

As things stand, Harrington's position of 11th in the rankings would mean that Ireland would definitely earn an automatic place in the field for this year's World Cup, which takes place in Mission Hills in the province of Shenzhen in China on November 22nd-25th. But it is not that simple. Harrington's wife, Caroline, is expecting the couple's second child around that time, so the player - rightly - has yet to commit to the event, which is no longer part of the world golf championships.

If Harrington doesn't play - and nobody can dispute his attachment to the tournament as he has represented Ireland every year since making his debut in 1996 - then it would require a significant improvement up the world rankings this season from at least one of his fellow Irish players for the country to seal an automatic place in the field. Otherwise, two men will have to attempt to come through the qualifying route.

The World Cup, though, is something of a side issue. The bigger picture is that Ireland's top tour players have collectively suffered a dip in form that is backed up by performances on tour and the fact that Clarke has not won on the European Tour since the 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational, while McDowell's last win came in the 2004 Italian Open and McGinley's last win on tour came in the 2005 Volvo Masters.

Indeed, since the euphoria of the Ryder Cup at The K Club last September, only Harrington - with wins in the Dunhill Links championship and the Irish Open - has managed to add to his total of tournament wins and, even so, he has fallen from seventh in the world rankings last January to 11th.

Despite their dramatic slide down the world rankings in the past 18 months, Clarke and McGinley have at least been given something of a lifeline into the remaining two majors this season, the British Open and the US PGA, with their participation secured due to the fact that they are current Ryder Cup players.

McDowell is not so lucky. The Ulsterman must attempt to qualify for next month's British Open at Carnoustie when the 36-hole international qualifying takes place at Sunningdale next Monday. McDowell actually played a practice round over the course yesterday, en route to this week's French Open in Paris where he returns to tournament play for the first time since competing in the US Open.

Professional golf is a numbers game in every way. The lower you shoot, the more you make. As far as the world rankings are concerned, just like boosting bank balances, it is wins that matter most. With half the season over, and only Harrington with anything substantial to show for it, it is time for Ireland's top players to somehow get the foot back on the pedal.