I swear... it is like a constant competition between Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Colin Mongomerie to see who can top my "Golfers I Hate" List on a weekly basis.  However... Monty kind of has a point this time. According to a Reuters report published in the New York Times, Montgomerie no longer believes that the U.S. PGA Tour represents the best source of world ranking points:

"This is the greatest time we've ever had so why the need (for the players) to go to America the way it was five years ago? The need is not the same," Montgomerie told reporters.

"If you're talking world ranking points that these guys are after, the need doesn't arise to go to America. There are more points available in Europe," added the triumphant Ryder Cup captain from the match against the U.S. in Wales two months ago.

"World rankings are a very important part of our game and to think at the Abu Dhabi Championship nine of the top 10 in the world are going to play there," Montgomerie said of the January 20-23 European Tour event where only Tiger Woods from the top 10 will be missing.

You know what?  As much as I hate to admit this: Monty is somewhat correct.

The top golfers on the planet really don't have to play in American events any longer in order to prove their worth, especially after the Euro-dominated 2010 professional golf season.  But then again, let's not get ahead of ourselves and just assume that this trend will continue.  Even though a significant number of notable European players have chosen to not renew or seek membership with the PGA, there are still quite a few players from "across the pond" that have chosen otherwise. 

Furthermore, the better these players who have chosen to stay with the PGA begin to play, the more these PGA-only events will factor into the World Golf Rankings.  And no matter what Monty believes, the stronger fields will determine how many points players like Westwood and Kaymer receive for beating up on the locals.