Westwood's reign at the top thrown into doubt by Kaymer's rise
Poised to replace Tiger Woods as world No. 1 at the end of this month, Lee Westwood's ascension to the top has been thrown into doubt, thanks to the brilliant form of his Ryder Cup teammate, Germany's Martin Kaymer.
Westwood has decided to take the rest of October off in order to rest the calf injury that kept him out of competition in the month before the Ryder Cup - yet the Englishman could still replace Tiger Woods as world No. 1 in three weeks’ time.
Indeed, with the world golf rankings calculated on the basis of an individual's performance over a two-year period, Westwood had been practically confirmed as the new No. 1 in waiting. With neither Woods nor Westwood taking part in any competitive tournament before the beginning of November, the 37-year-old from Worksop was guaranteed to overtake Woods, and thus claim the top spot.
But Westwood's seeming inevitable rise to the top looks in danger of being at least temporarily thwarted however, now that Kaymer has decided to contest the Andalucia Valderrama Masters in Spain in three weeks' time.
Kaymer is currently ranked No. 4 in the world following his victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this weekend - that's his third win in three Tour events, and doesn't include the role he played in Europe's triumph at the Ryder Cup. Should the 25-year-old put in a good performance in Spain, he can leapfrog both Westwood and Woods to claim the status as the planet's greatest golfer.
Westwood might prefer to land the No. 1 spot while he's actually playing, but make no mistake, he would take the honour "any way I can get it." That includes taking the crown despite missing out on golf's highest accolades; though Westwood's performances at recent majors have been impressive, he is yet to claim an outright win at a major.
That's by no means unique for a world No. 1 - previous holders of the coveted position who reached that epoch without having claimed a major included Ian Woosnam, David Duval and Fred Couples, though all three players went on to win one later in their career.
Westwood finished this week's Alfred Dunhill Championship in a tie for 11th place, but last year's Race to Dubai winner is likely to improve after a break - before his singles defeat to Steve Stricker at the Ryder Cup, he and Luke Donald were in inspired form against Stricker and Tiger Woods.
Meanwhile Tiger Woods is without a win in 2010, and remains world No. 1 in name only, but showed definite signs of improvement in his singles match at Celtic Manor a week ago. Westwood plans to return to action at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai at the start of November - which is also set to host the next scheduled appearance of Tiger Woods, too.
Both men will be keen to prove their superiority over one another. Instead, each may find themselves playing second banana to Martin Kaymer's seemingly unstoppable rise.
Tags: