Outside of Donaldson and Price, Welsh presence on Tour is small

This season on the European Tour, there are only two Welshmen who have full playing privileges: Jamie Donaldson and Phillip Price.  Donaldson, winner earlier this year in Abu Dhabi, is ranked 42nd in the world and sits at 14th on the Race to Dubai.  Price, a three-time winner on Tour, has not finished inside the top-100 on the money list since 2004.  For a country that hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup, having only two fully exempt players three years later is quite disappointing.

Welsh golfers have always had a small presence on Tour, mainly due to the number of the country's golfers.  According to Nigel Edwards, the recent Walker Cup-winning captain, there are only 60,000 total male and female golfers in Wales.  Therefore, Wales struggles to produce the large quantities of golfers that countries such as England, France, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden do.  

Outside of the legendary 29-time Tour winner Ian Woosnam, the Welsh golfer with the most Tour wins is Stephen Dodd with three.  The four "D's," as I like to call them, and Price, have been at the forefront of Welsh golf since "Woosie" turned 50 years old and began playing on the European Senior Tour.  

Donaldson has won twice in a span of 13 months and will be looking to make a push for next year's Ryder Cup team.  The 37-year-old recorded his best finish in a major in the 2012 PGA Championship when he finished T-7.  His goal for the rest of the season should be to remain inside the world's top-50 so that he can be eligible for the four majors next season and give himself an opportunity to play in the "big money" events so that he can make his dream of playing in the Ryder Cup a reality.

Rhys Davies won the 2010 Trophee Hassan II (only Tour win) and was very close to making that year's Ryder Cup team, en route to finishing 18th on the Race to Dubai.  It's been a struggle, however, since then as he had a sub-par 2011 and lost his playing rights after finishing 121st on the money list (top-115 retain their cards).  He's currently focusing his schedule on the Challenge Tour, where he sits 41st.

Bradley Dredge, a two-time Tour winner, had a remarkable run of finishing in the top-100 on the Race to Dubai from 2001-2011 until finishing 125th last season.  He won the World Cup with Dodd in 2005 and has also competed on two Seve Trophy teams.  The 40-year-old has played poorly in the limited number of events in which he's played, making one cut on both the European and Challenge Tours.  

Dodd, a three-time Tour winner, has played a limited schedule since losing his playing rights after the 2011 season.  At 46-years-old, he is probably looking forward to the Senior Tour.  He sits 241st and 231st on the European and Challenge Tour money lists, respectively.

Price, probably most known for his singles victory over Phil Mickelson in the 2002 Ryder Cup, has seen his play suffer due to a lack of distance off the tee (has not averaged more than 277 yards in the past eight seasons).  The 46-year-old is still interested in competing against the "young guns," but he has to be looking forward to competing against a level playing field on the over-50 circuit.  He's currently 136th on the Race to Dubai.  

There is some light at the end of the tunnel, however.  On the Challenge Tour, Stuart Manley lies 7th on the rankings list (the top-15 qualify for the European Tour at the conclusion of the season).  Mark Laskey is currently 3rd on the EuroPro Tour Order of Merit and Oliver Farr is 18th (the top-5 earn Challenge Tour cards at the conclusion of the season).  Rhys Enoch is 15th on the Alps Tour Order of Merit (same criteria as EuroPro Tour).  Rhys Pugh won the 2012 European Amateur Championship, which earned him a spot in this year's Open Championship where he joined Donaldson as the two of the three Welshmen in the field, along with PGA professional Gareth Wright.  Pugh was also the only Welshman on the winning 2011 Walker Cup team, and also the youngest on both teams at 17-years-old.

With the ISPS Handa Wales Open taking place in two weeks at the 2010 Ryder Cup venue, Celtic Manor, every Welsh golfer will be fighting hard to become the first home player to win the event.  A Welsh victory would be widely-celebrated and a tremendous boost to the tournament.

The present and future looks promising, but as with anything, these things go in cycles and it's time for Welsh golfers, as a whole, to become prominent on Tour again.