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A victory on the European Tour is a considerable achievement. Some very good players go years without one and some retire comfortably without winning one at all.

But Paul Casey's triumph at the Abu Dhabi Championship was greeted almost universally by a prevailing sentiment - 'about time'.

It was of course a back-handed compliment. Casey is a gifted player with undoubted potential and it is not unreasonable to expect such talent to pocket the prizes on a semi-regular basis.

Casey last won two years ago at the same event, and the Englishman had racked up 21 top-10 finishes without a win before regaining his title in the United Arab Emirates.

That may seem like a vast barren patch, but in professional golf the margins are so fine, and the fields so big, that it is not uncommon for top players to experience an extended absence from the winner's circle. Consider these examples:

Ian Poulter - Runner-up at the 2008 Open Championship and Europe's best player at the Ryder Cup, Poulter has not won on either of the main tours since triumphing at the Madrid Masters in September 2006.

Hal Sutton - A member of four US Ryder Cup teams, Sutton went eight years without a victory after topping the US Tour money list in 1983 - the year he won the US PGA Championship.

Oliver Wilson - Another member of Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup team in Valhalla, Wilson has finished runner-up a remarkable nine times in his professional career, but never won on the European or US Tours.

Lee Westwood - The 2000 Order of Merit winner went three years without a victory after ending Colin Montgomerie's seven-year reign as the king of European golf. "There were times when I thought about putting the clubs away," Westwood said after winning the BMW International Open in September 2003.

All of which makes Casey's two-year drought seem rather less remarkable than the media would have you think. The 31-year-old was nonetheless relieved to remove the monkey from his back and the psychological boost could lift him to big things in 2009.

Casey was among a group of promising young players tipped to carry the flame for European golf after the so-called big five of Severiano Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnan and Bernhard Langer left their mark on the 1980s, but the handover has been less than smooth.

With Casey back on form, however, Poulter buoyed by his Ryder Cup heroics, Luke Donald returning to action, Rory McIlroy blazing a trail and Sergio Garcia sitting pretty atop the Race to Dubai standings, maybe this will be the year the next generation finally assumes the mantle of responsibility - and begins a new era of European dominance at the Majors.

Bunker Mentality is not shy of putting its reputation on the line. A young European will win the Masters this year.

Will Tidey / Eurosport