When it comes to professional golf these days, it's easy to believe that we're all about to move to Rory's World.
You just can't watch as a 22-year-old lad from Northern Ireland skips across the pond to win our U.S. Open with a record score of 16-under par and not become at least slightly convinced that Rory McIlroy might soon make people forget Tiger Woods.
Nor does the young man seem terribly concerned about living up to such colossal expectations. Said McIlroy on Tuesday: "As long as I can keep the commitment and dedication and put the hard work in, I don't see why there's any reason not to handle it."
And maybe that's one reason why the last five majors have been claimed by non-Americans, as well as why the top four golfers in the world all hail from Europe.
Success doesn't seem to change the Europeans, South Africans and Asians. Win or lose, they plod along, steady as she goes, a picture most perfect of commitment, dedication ad hard work.
Of course, to be fair, there are nine Americans among the world's top 20.
Yet dire as those first four spots must seem to the Red, White and Blue a mere 11 days from the Fourth of July, German native and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Stephan Jaeger believes American golf is just fine.
"In my opinion, the U.S. still has the upper hand when it comes to youth [golf]," said Jaeger. "The only difference now and in the past is there are so many more good foreign players to compete against them."
Jaeger - who also prepped at Baylor - is clearly becoming recognized as one of the world's better amateur foreign players after finishing the season as the two-time reigning Southern Conference Golfer of the Year and earning a collegiate ranking of No. 42 in the Golfstat Cup.
Such honors helped him receive one of two exempt slots for amateurs in the European Tour's BMW International, which begins today on Jaeger's home course in Munich, Germany.
"This is a dream come true," said Jaeger. "I've followed this event my entire life. If I could choose just one event to compete in, this would be it."
If he could choose one advantage the foreign players appear to have on their American counterparts, it wouldn't be toughness or talent or dedication, however.
"The driving is a lot harder [on European courses]," he said. "The fairways [you grow up on] are much tighter than in the States."
Yet Jaeger also offers an asterisk on that point, adding, "I personally believe that greens and tactics in America are much tougher to learn because of the firmness of the greens and speed of the greens."
So why the current dearth of U.S. golfers at the very top, now that Tiger's injuries and personal problems have evicted him from the penthouse?
"I just think there are so many guys out there now who have the game to play and win a major, no matter if European or American," he said."
He also challenged the notion that the United States' golf future could be bleaker than its past.
In fact, asked to pick the next the next McIlroy, Jaeger actually listed a couple of Americans as potential candidates, saying, "I was really impressed with the American amateurs at US Open, Russell Henley [Georgia] and Patrick Cantlay (UCLA). I have played with Russell plenty of times and he is just clutch, but we'll see."
What Jaeger will see this weekend is a BMW field that includes world No. 3 Martin Kaymer, No. 11 Dustin Johnson, No. 12 Paul Casey, Retief Goosen, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia, Colin Montgomerie and former Masters champs Jose Maria Olazabal and Bernhard Langer. McIlroy will sit this one out.
Not that Mocs coach Mark Guhne is worried about his star player being overwhelmed by such a sterling field.
"Jaeger prepares like no one I've ever been around," said Guhne. "It's just a great opportunity for him."
It's certainly a great opportunity for UTC golf to earn a little international attention, which Jaeger intends to help along by, "Wearing my UTC golf cap."
But the United States being the land of opportunity, Jaeger also says we may have only ourselves to blame for the rise in European golf talent.
"All the good European players realize that they have to go to the U.S. to play golf," he said. "Almost every top player's done it. Paul Casey, Luke Donald ... the list goes on. That's where the American system helps us Europeans in ways that Europe couldn't."
Maybe one day the American system will start helping Americans again.