Golf world ranking switch-up highly anticipated
Guaranteed a new number one
A new number one in the world of golf will be announced come 31 October. The question remains who will take over the position as world number one.
Lee Westwood, presently nursing a calve injury suffered on the seventh tee of Kingsbarns at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, is the most likely to take over the number one spot. Due to the injury, Westwood is not set to play until the HSBC Championship
in Shanghai, which takes place in early November. Ironically, his absence from the game has actually increased his average ranking due to the nature of the world golf ranking system.
When asked about his leg Westwood replied, "I haven't had a chance to get it healed, tried my hardest to get back to the Ryder Cup fully fit last week and got back to 80 per cent which I thought was good enough. That was a tough week back then."
His intention is to return to competitive golf no earlier than early November and if need be he will wait longer since his focus is be 100 per cent next spring for the 2011 Masters.
The fall of Tiger
Tiger Woods has held the title of world’s number one since just before the 2005 U.S. Open. He has stayed there over these past five years thanks to 32 victories – five of them majors – and 15 runner-up finishes. His brief hiatus from the game at the beginning
of the season and his slow return have left the door open to the number-one spot for players like Westwood, Michelson and Kaymer to creep in.
Woods has only two top-10s this year and the changing of the guard at the top can be explained both by Westwood and Kaymer’s exceptional play and by Tiger’s less-than-stellar performance. In fact, Woods has lost more world ranking points this year (330.105)
than any other player has earned.
Likely contenders for top spot
Woods, Westwood, Mickelson and Kaymer will all have a chance at the title when they meet each other in Shanghai in early November. This will no doubt be a highly anticipated event and all players have committed to the event excluding Westwood whose presence
will depend on the health of his calf.
Mickelson has been runner-up to Woods for most of the year, but has been unable to close the deal, shooting final round scores 78 and 76 at Firestone and TPC Boston. Mickelson has been number two in the world longer than anyone else in the history of the
ranking without gaining the top spot.
PGA champion Martin Kaymer is also in position to make a run at the number one spot. He is presently ranked number four in the world after his fourth win of the year at the Dunhill Links. Kaymer can make the jump to number one if he wins the Andalucia Masters
at Valderrama at the end of October.
The 25-year-old German Martin Kaymer enjoyed winning the final major of the year and finished in the top 10s in two other majors. He has been the player who has accumulated the most world ranking points in the past year and his convincing three-stroke win
at the Dunhill Links Championship last week may show that he is not a one shot wonder, but a legitimate contender.
For the time being, though, it is the injured Westwood that is likely to overtake Tiger when the rankings are revised on 31 October. When asked about how it would feel to gain the world number one spot he replied, “It’s something I’ve always dreamed of,
and it would be great if it happened.”
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