Battle for top PGA ranking heats up as Martin Kaymer aims for Andalucia crown
After 280 weeks on top of the golfing world, Tiger Woods will give up his number-one ranking on 31 October. That much is certain. The only question left is whether he will be passed by
Lee Westwood or Martin Kaymer.
Up until recently, everybody thought it would be the Englishman Westwood supplanting Woods at the top. But thanks to a victory this past weekend at the Dunhill Links Championship, it turns
out that it could be Kaymer of Germany, the hottest player in the world right now.
Due to a gradual reduction of points and the fact that neither Woods nor Westwood plan to play an event until early November, Westwood will pass Woods on Halloween, unless the 25-year-old
Kaymer wins the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, beginning 28 October in Sotogrande, Spain, which would vault him from the fourth ranking all the way to the top.
Kaymer, who won this year’s PGA Championship as well as three European Tour events, would leapfrog Phil Mickelson, Westwood, and Woods, with a win in Spain.
Woods, Mickelson, and Westwood don’t plan on playing an event until the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, China, scheduled for the first week of November. That means the World Golf Championship
could be an intense showdown with four players able to reach the number-one ranking with a win.
Colin Montgomerie, captain of the European squad during last week’s Ryder Cup, has gone on record as saying that losing that number-one spot will motivate Woods, perhaps even to victory.
"Knowing Tiger as I do, Tiger will probably go out and win the HSBC world event," Monty said. "He won't like being number two at anything."
Westwood, who is dealing with a calf injury, needed a second-place finish or better at the Dunhill Links to attain the top spot after the event. But after a disappointing T11 at the tournament,
Westwood was forced to wait. If he attains the number-one spot, he would become only the third player to do so without ever winning a major championship. The other two, Fred Couples and David Duval, both won a major soon after becoming number-one.
As for Kaymer, he has won the last three tournaments he has played in. The last player to accomplish this was Woods and the last European to do so was Nick Faldo back in 1989. Only one
other German, Bernhard Langer, has held the number-one spot. Langer had it for three weeks in 1986.
Woods has been missing his noted form since returning to golf earlier this year after a high-profile infidelity scandal forced him away from the world of golf temporarily. Despite returning,
he's struggled to an uncharacteristic degree while underdoing a separation and divorce from his wife, leaving the field for Kaymer and Westwood to take over.
The Andalucia event is returning after a one-year hiatus, and will be offering four million euros in prize money, meaning Kaymer will have more incentive than just ranking to try and steal Tiger's (and
Westwood's) crown.
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