Will the real number one please stand up?
Those who support the World Golf Ranking Method, probably support Martin Kaymer grabbing the World No. 1 title as well. While there are supporters that agree with the method, there are countless that consider the world golf rankings is
hopelessly screwed up.
Recently, Lee Westwood has become the new number one in the world of golf while Tiger Woods has dropped to number two after ruling the charts for a remarkable 281 week stretch. The rankings have been devised from a Points Average Method
making Westwood, the first European to become number one in golf after Nick Faldo in 1994.
The Official World Golf Ranking is sanctioned by four Major Championships and six professional tours that make the International Federation of PGA Tours. These tours witness a new ranking every Monday accrued after considering a two year
“rolling” period of the players.
Rankings define forms of highest quality, players with the best record and the substance of highest importance. Rankings basically define what is real and what is factual but the golf world ranking begs to differ. Considering the current
standings, they don’t consider how the players have been performing at the current year but what he played some years back – and that is not fair.
The recent fight for the number one spot was between Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer who stood at number three.
Considering Woods first, he should have stepped down the rankings when he held only six events last year and not even one major since the year 2008. The thirty-four-year-old failed to perform like a top player in 2010.
Kaymer on the other hand has grabbed one major, the PGA and two more events in the same year when Woods had been facing injuries and a messed up marital life. The twenty-five-year-old won the KLM Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
at the Netherlands and St. Andrews this year and seized the Dubai tournament in January to initiate his 4 event record of 2010. If this isn’t enough for the world golf ranking, Kaymer also holds two victories from last year.
Other than his conquests, Kaymer tops the money list in Europe and looks like the only person to agree with the ranking and support Westwood’s current position.
“Westwood is currently the best player in this world” Kaymer said.
After the twenty-five-year-old won the Alfred Dunhill Links, Kaymer said that Westwood is currently topping the world ranking so he’s the number one golfer for him. He referred to Westwood’s play at the Ryder cup in October and said that
his performance at the tournament is a justification enough of why he’s standing at the top right now.
Of course, Lee Westwood’s abilities are not being questioned here. The problem is just the method, not the player achieving the rank. Westwood is known to be a sunny player but holds only two victories in Europe for his games in the last
three seasons. He didn’t win any major but managed to end up second in two majors of 2010.
So it all gets down to Westwood’s 2 wins this year and 2 runner-up finishes in major compared to Kaymer’s 3 victories this year and 1 first place finish in majors. Two victories can also be added from 2009 which makes a total of 6 victories
and it is still Westwood that claims the top position. That’s a six versus 4.
Coming out of the number one frenzy for a minute, there’s also the issue of Tiger Woods still holding on to second place in world golf ranking. Woods has no major win from the year 2009 and has no victories in 2010. Surely Kaymer’s record
has been better than Woods considering the last two years so why is he standing at the third spot.
Tags: