Dumping on the United States is always in fashion for the rest of the world, and golf is no exception. While Tiger Woods' greatness is incontrovertible, every other nation that can roll out a scratch golfer thinks they can hang with Mickelson, Furyk and all the rest of the red-white-and-blue-clad mouth-breathin' Yankees.

Think again, world. The United States is back on top!

This kind of snuck up on us; the last few international tournaments, the U.S. has been either a slight or a prohibitive underdog, but take a look at the stats over the last three years:

• 2007 Presidents: USA 19 1/2, Internationals 14 1/2

• 2008 Ryder: USA 16 1/2, Europe 11 1/2

• 2009 Presidents: USA 19 1/2, Internationals 14 1/2

One win is an aberration, two wins is a good streak. But three wins by five points each? That's domination, homes. And while it's fun for some to paint the U.S. as a crew of hollering white-trash jingoists -- fun to act that way, too, now that I think about it -- truth is that the Americans can now play some serious golf.

Sure, Tiger and Phil are good, but we already knew that. What we're seeing now is guys like Anthony Kim stepping up in international play, Steve Stricker earning the Tonto/Spock/Silent Bob award as best partner ever, Stewart Cink coming into his own on the world stage ... sorry, internationals, but the window has closed.

Bottom line, the U.S. right now has probably the toughest top-12 it's ever had. And with only a handful of players set to shuffle off to the Champions Tour soon, the domination could continue for a long time to come.