Scotland's Catriona Matthew hits a shot from the 18th bunker during a practice round Wednesday before the start of the Women's British Open at Carnoustie Golf Club in Scotland. Female British golfers lag behind men in terms of success in the pro ranks.

No amount of sideways rain at Royal St. George’s could obscure the view that the sun is shining on the British empire. The British Open began with three men from the British Isles among the top four golfers in the world and ended with a fourth, Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, clasping the claret jug.

Lost in all the buzz about how Britain’s talent is rising like clotted cream to the top of the world golf rankings was the fact that, like many celebrated British courses, it is exclusionary. To celebrate the resurgence of British golf is to ignore that the women are lagging far behind their male counterparts.

Heading into this week’s Women’s British Open at Carnoustie Golf Club, the highest-ranked women from Britain are Catriona Matthew of Scotland (36), Melissa Reid of England (39) and her compatriot Laura Davies (68).

The lack of women at or near the top is all the more glaring given Britain’s rich golfing history, one in which players of both sexes have figured prominently. In the 1920s, when the sport was ruled by amateurs, the women’s game was the domain of Devon’s Joyce Wethered, who won five English Ladies Championships, four British Ladies Amateurs and the esteem of Bobby Jones, who described her as the finest golfer, male or female, that he had ever seen.

Among professionals, the female standard-bearer is Davies, a four-time major winner from Coventry, England, who was the LPGA’s leading money winner in 1994 and the player of the year in 1996.

Those who play and follow the sport suggest golf’s patrician roots in Britain have constricted the women’s professional progress. Neil Squires, who covers golf for The Manchester Evening News, estimated that 90 percent of the country’s golfers are men. There remain clubs, he said, where women are invisible by design.

“Historically, there’s always been an issue with golf and all-male clubs,” Squires said, adding that until recently there was a sign displayed at Royal St. George’s that reflected the prevailing attitude. “It read, ‘No Women, No Dogs in the clubhouse,’ ” he said. “If you’re a woman wanting to take up golf or even a guy with daughters wanting to take up golf, would you take your daughter along to a place like that?”

Reid, 23, is a two-time winner in Europe who aspires to be the female version of Rory McIlroy, the 22-year-old wunderkind from Northern Ireland who rose to No. 4 in the rankings after his victory in the U.S. Open.

“The blokes are doing pretty good,” Reid said this month during the U.S. Women’s Open. “Can we reach that level of success? I think so. For it to happen, we need someone like myself to take the golf world by storm. That would make golf more attractive to young girls.”

Reid accepts there are obstacles she must overcome that McIlroy never had to hurdle. To prepare for Carnoustie, for example, Reid could practice at Holywell Golf Club in Wales, near where she lives, but not on Saturday.

“There are no women allowed on the course on Saturdays,” Reid said, adding, “Unfortunately, it’s just the way the world is.”

Reid, a willowy blonde who has gotten more press in England for her good looks than her game, added: “I completely understand golf tradition in Britain. I love the tradition, but …” Her voice trailed off.

Unlike on this side of the Atlantic, where the men’s and women’s Opens are overseen by the same entity, the U.S. Golf Association, the men’s British Open is run by the Royal and Ancient and the women’s event by the Ladies’ Golf Union. The compartmentalization of the majors goes beyond administration. It carries over into the collective mindset.

During an Open tuneup in Scotland, the Englishman Ian Poulter, one of six players from Britain or Northern Ireland in the men’s top 18, was asked what’s ailing Scottish golf. “I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before a Scot breaks through,” he said, overlooking the fact that recently in the majors, it already has occurred.

In 2009, Catriona Matthew, an Edinburgh native, won the Women’s British Open a few months after giving birth to her second child. She was the second winner from Britain in six years, after Karen Stupples, of England, in 2004.

The golf writer, Squires, said, “It’s a great story, her winning after having a baby, but it was sort of a moment in time, really, and it’s faded away.”

Stupples’ victory, too, failed to leave a lasting impression. “I thought it would have more of an effect,” she said.

Stupples and Matthew play mostly outside their homeland, on the LPGA Tour, which makes it hard to leave a lasting impression. It would be akin to the U.S. men winning the World Cup in soccer and then disappearing en masse to rejoin their Premier League teams in Europe.

The Ladies’ European Tour was not created until 1978, almost 30 years after the LPGA Tour. “It is financially very much second best,” Squires said.

In Britain, women’s professional sports in general struggle to get top billing. “It’s not just golf,” said Reid, who pointed to the relative dearth of newspaper coverage afforded the English team during the recent women’s soccer World Cup. In the first week of the tournament, there was little, if any, mention of the matches except on days when England played.

And even then, the tone of the coverage was sometimes patronizing. A story in The Daily Mail read, in part, “Chauvinistic men can make dismissive noises about the Women’s World Cup but you’ve got to respect any tournament which can get 11 girls to wear the same outfit.”

Reid sighed when the line was relayed to her. Speaking of women’s sports in Britain in general, she said, “It’s frustrating because we do exactly the same job as the men and we get a tenth of the attention and the respect.”

Squires covered the men’s Open but said he would not be at Carnoustie this week to chronicle the women’s event. Asked why, he said, “I’m going on holiday.”

On TV

Women’s British Open, ESPN

• When: Thursday-Friday, 6 a.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m.; Sunday, 5:45 a.m.