European golf ends the year boasting the world's best golfer, six of the game's top 10 players, two Major winners and a victorious Ryder Cup team.
If ever there was a year for European golf to lord it over their neighbours across the pond, 2010 was it. It may not get better next year, but there is always room for improvement. Lee Westwood will try to validate his place as the world's number one by winning his first Major title in 2011.
Several other prime Europeans have yet to win one of the big four gongs, while it would be foolhardy to describe Tiger Woods as a spent force, despite his struggles in 2010.
The possibilities seem endless, but let us take the opportunity to rejoice and reflect upon a momentous past 12 months for this bewitching sport.
Having watched his wife and mother struck by breast cancer in 2009, Phil Mickelson returned in some style to clinch the US Masters in April. It was an emotional victory as 'Lefty' held off the challenge of Lee Westwood to don his third Green Jacket aided by some swashbuckling shots. Hopefully, better times lie ahead for player and family in forthcoming months.
Rory McIlroy finishes the year ranked as the world's 10th best player. The young Northern Irishman led the Open after the first round and went close at the US PGA before helping Europe regain the Ryder Cup in October. The highlight of his year was the round of 62 he carded to win the Quail Hollow Championship in May. At 20, he became the youngest player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to win on the US Tour.
Graeme McDowell enjoyed a stunning year in becoming the first European player to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970. He returned to his home town of Portrush in Northern Ireland proudly clutching the famous old trophy.
Louis Oosthuizen enjoyed a monumental week at the home of golf in July to win the Open. The young South African performed like Ernie Els or Tiger Woods in putting the field to the sword around the Old Course in Scotland. Oosthuizen won by seven strokes, leaving figures such as Paul Casey and Lee Westwood in his slipstream.
The 2010 US PGA Championship will forever be recalled for 'that' bunker shot. Dustin Johnson was denied a place in a play-off alongside Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson after being deemed to have grounded his club in an official bunker around Whistling Straits, a course that seems to consist of as much sand as grass. He missed a putt on the 18th hole that he thought was for the title before being whacked with a two-shot penalty. Sport can be a cruel environment.
Kaymer refused to let Johnson's misfortune affect him as he kept his cool to take out Watson in the play-off to lift his first major trophy. Kaymer has a real chance of claiming the moniker of the world's best golfer in 2011. He also won the Abu Dhabi Championship, the KLM Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in finishing the year ranked as the third best player in the world by lifting the Race to Dubai trophy, the European Tour's old order of merit.
The European and US Ryder Cup WAGS were on hand to lend their support to their men before the Ryder Cup got going at soggy Celtic Manor in Wales back in October.
The makers of umbrellas and wetsuits were the real winners of the first three days of the Ryder Cup as torrential rain forced the tournament into a dramatic final Monday with Europe building up a 9.5-6.5 lead before the closing singles.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The US came roaring back in the singles leaving US Open champion Graeme McDowell requiring a win to give Europe the trophy. Was it ever in doubt? McDowell slid in a stunning birdie from 15 feet to move two ahead of Hunter Mahan as the match headed for the 17th hole. Moments later, it was all over as Mahan offered his hand in resignation after making a mess of a chip at the 17th hole. It prompted wild scenes of celebration.
European captain Colin Montgomerie had suffered disappointment in several Majors over the years, but this was his time to bring home the bacon. Monty was a captain in every sense as Europe regained the trophy with the sort of togetherness that went missing under Nick Faldo's captaincy in 2008.
Lee Westwood had his eyes on the prize all year. He was rewarded for his consistency as he became the first British player since Faldo in the early 1990s to become the world's number one golfer. He validated his good year by winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa by eight strokes. True form from the world's best player.
No golf year would be complete without a mention of Tiger Woods. The American lost his spot as the world's best player and finished the year without a tournament win after returning in April from a five-month break due to his well-documented personal problems.
He looked set to claim victory at the Chevron World Challenge in California a couple of weeks ago only for that man McDowell to recover a four-shot deficit in collecting his fourth title of the season. A couple of 20-foot birdies on the 18th hole in regulation play and then the first play-off hole were enough for McDowell to topple Woods. A stunning end to the year for McDowell in every sense, but expect Woods to come roaring back next year.