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My father was known as Big John, even though he was only 5-foot-7, to distinguish him from my brother, labeled Little John. Dad's regular foursome was a colorful collection of guys all of whom also had nicknames: Eyebrows, Tillie and Sham. Like Dad, they worked the mills of Western Pennsylvania back at a time when Western Pennsylvania still had mills. And like Dad, they lived for their nine-hole shop league competition every Thursday and for the 25-cent skins game they played with several other foursomes each Saturday and Sunday morning.

Truth be told, as much as they loved the golf -- and they loved the golf -- they also enjoyed with considerable relish the card game in the back room at Castle Hills Golf Club, the public course where they played for a $90-a-year membership. It wasn't so much the card game they enjoyed as it was the opportunity for conversation it created. Cards were played after the round, usually with a baseball game on TV and always with a cold beer at hand. It was there Big John, Eyebrows, Tillie and Sham would solve the problems of the world -- or at least identify them.

Golf was a lot simpler back then. Arnold Palmer was the King, some fat kid with a crew cut from Ohio named Jack Nicklaus was casting an imposing shadow across the border into Pennsylvania, and the international contingent was pretty much Gary Player. The British Open had only recently resurfaced as a true major championship in 1960 when Palmer started playing in an event most American pros ignored because it was too far to travel for too small a purse. Borders were defined and respected.

What would Big John, Eyebrows, Tillie and Sham have made of the WGC-Accenture World Match Play last week in Tucson? Sure, there were 23 Americans in the field -- far more than any other single nation -- but 41 players in the competition were from places an American now needs a passport to visit, and none of my Dad's foursome had ever had a passport. Traveling the 52 miles to Pittsburgh for a baseball game was as far as they went. The world of golf is now far different than it was then, or has ever been. It is now, literally, the world.

The final match of the Accenture between Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and Henrik Stenson of Sweden, won by Stenson 2 and 1, was a perfect snapshot of where the game stands right now. While the top three players in the Official World Ranking going into the Match Play -- Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson -- were from the United States, the next 11 were not and represented seven different nations. Only one American -- Chad Campbell -- made it to the final eight at the Accenture, and he lost the third-place match to Trevor Immelman of South Africa.

Back when Big John, Eyebrows, Tillie and Sham held court at Castle Hills, the United States was still riding a wave of post-World War II prosperity while most of the rest of the world was trying to recover from the twin catastrophes of the war and the Great Depression. Part of what we learned in the desert last week is that the world has caught up when it comes to golf.

What Big John, Eyebrows, Tillie and Sham would have trouble comprehending is how the United States fell behind when it comes to golf. They would probably want to know why the sheer force of numbers and the power of the purse have not been enough to keep the Americans dominant at the game. It's a good question. Does the flaw that has allowed the rest of the world to catch up reside in the teaching, in the talent or in the degree of opportunity offered?

The 23 Americans in the field at the Match Play represented a nation of 300 million people. Australia, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom have a combined population of about 133.5 million, and they had a total of 27 players in the field. A population less than half that of the United States produced four more competitors.

But the Match Play was about more than numbers. It was about success -- or lack of it. Eight Americans were defeated in the first round by non-Americans. Woods, Furyk and Mickelson combined to win only four matches. And when Campbell lost to Immelman in the consolation match, American fans got a chance to chant, "We're No. 4! We're No. 4!"

The situation now appears to be not so much a blip as it is a foreshadowing of the future. Who are the best young players in the world right now, those guys 30 years of age or younger? Try these names: Adam Scott (Australia), Stenson (Sweden), Luke Donald (England), Ogilvy (Australia), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Immelman (South Africa) and Paul Casey (England). They were all ranked in the top 14 in the world coming into the Match Play.

The Americans are still doing OK in the majors, winning 28 of the last 40. But 12 of those have been by Woods, and four of the last six U.S. Opens have been won by non-Americans. What we saw at the Accenture Match Play last week was a world of which Big John, Eyebrows, Tillie and Sham would never have dreamed.

What we saw at Tucson was the world. And there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, there is everything right with that. Much of the rest of the world has caught up to the United States in golf. And if the Americans are going to keep from falling farther behind some questions need to be asked, and some solutions need to be found.

Too bad Big John, Eyebrows, Tillie and Sham aren't around to help sort this out. They may not have the answers, but I'm pretty sure they would identify this problem: America needs to figure out how to get better at golf. Maybe in defeat motivation will be found.

Ron Sirak is the executive editor of Golf World magazine.