Every week of the 2010 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation in the comments section below.
WESTWOOD ON TOP, BUT FOR HOW LONG?
Mike Walker, senior editor, Golf Magazine: Happy Halloween to the only people I know who would appreciate my Ben Crane costume (bucket hat, move very slowly). The No. 1 topic is of course the new world No. 1, Lee Westwood, who unseated Tiger Woods from the top spot he held for 281 weeks. Westwood's been outstanding the past two years, but he's barely played since injuring his calf before the PGA Championship. He has never won a major, and he's won only five tournaments in the last seven years. How deserving is Westwood of the top spot, and for how long will he keep it?
Jim Herre, managing editor, SI Golf Group: The World Ranking is all about mathematics. In the real world, Tiger hasn't been No. 1 since mid-summer. Westwood is No. 1 only due to the vagaries of the formula. My guess is that his reign will be a short one.
Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Westwood is as deserving as anyone, but I don't think he'll stay in that spot for long. It looks like a potential game of musical chairs with Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, for starters. Now that Woods has backed way up, Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker, among others, are within striking distance of No. 1.
Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: The money list and the victory list are the best ways to identify the best player in the world. But the ranking is what fans look to and know about, no matter how wacky it is.
Jim Gorant, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Truth is that Kaymer and Westwood will play way more than any of the other contenders over the next three months because the Euro tour is just starting up. Either of those two could build up a nice cushion if they play well.
Damon Hack, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: In the minds of his competitors, Tiger lost the No. 1 ranking long before Sunday. I agree with Vans. Westwood is as worthy as anyone to wear the crown. I also think the crown will move around.
Gorant: As for Westwood, I don't think he's worthy. Just doesn't feel like a guy who has done enough. Phil is the disappointment here. From the Masters to the end of the season, all he had to do was win to be top dog, but he couldn't get it done. It should have been him.
Mark Godich, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Well, Westwood always seems to be in the hunt, and he does seem to play his best golf in the majors, even if he can't finish.
Walker: Westwood looked like the best player in the world at the Ryder Cup.
Godich: He's done that at pretty much every Ryder Cup of late.
David Dusek, deputy editor, Golf.com: I agree that there will be a lot of movement at the top in 2011, and in a way I think it will make the season more compelling. Big-point events like the WGC-Accenture Match Play in February will mean more if several players can become No. 1 by winning it.
Hack: To me, Vijay is the only guy who really took the ranking away from Tiger. He beat him straight up in Boston in '04. I'm surprised Phil didn't capitalize on his Masters win and salt away the ranking for the rest of the year.
Van Sickle: Damon raises a good point. Going into 2011, Mickelson may be an even bigger question mark than Tiger. Phil had every opportunity to steal the spotlight and the top spot in '10 after his Master win, but he fumbled every one of them. If you think the Tiger Era is over, and I'm not ready to say that, what's that say about the Phil Era? Maybe we're witnessing a complete changing of the guard.
Dusek: I think we are. Kaymer, Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald. Europe has a lot of muscles to flex. At the same time there are plenty of young Americans like Ricky Fowler, Anthony Kim, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson, who've shown flashes of excellence but nothing sustained. Maybe it's Europe's time for a few years.
Lipsey: Asia could get into the mix too. Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers all say they have droves of great young Asian students. The men's pipeline could someday match the influx of Asian players on the LPGA.
Herre: Tip o' the hat to the Euro tour. Not long ago we wondered if it was viable. Now it's in the catbird's seat.
Lipsey: And the PGA Tour is playing copycat to the Euro tour by staging events all over the world.
Van Sickle: Which is a potentially big, USA-audience-killing mistake.
Gorant: The Tour's motto has been follow the sun, but in reality it's follow the money, and the money, in terms of sponsorships, is moving out of the U.S. Thus the Tour's move to expand its borders.
Van Sickle: We've seen with the LPGA how following the money around the world results in a proportionate lack of interest here at home.
Gorant: Do you think the LPGA ratings are that different between the U.S. and foreign events? I honestly don't know the answer, but most of their events don't air live anyway, and the viewers are the hardcore golf fans who likely watch either way. I bet there's not that big a difference.
Van Sickle: I don't mean just ratings. I mean the general interest level in the LPGA. Out of sight, out of mind — that's the Tour's biggest problem now.
Herre: It's pretty clear that the PGA Tour puts a premium on the U.S. audience. Globalization is great, unless it negatively affects interests — ratings or sponsors — in the U.S.
Van Sickle: Maybe No. 1 will be like a traveling trophy for a while. I think the strongest contenders for a long-term reign are a resurrected Tiger, whose tee-to-green game will be much improved next year, and Kaymer, my upcoming nominee for SI Sportsman of the Year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kaymer get hot in the Middle East early next year and sprint to a quick lead, and back up his PGA title with at least one more major. Kaymer could be the next big thing we've been waiting for.
Dusek: If you think about it, Woods can gather a lot of world ranking points easily if he plays well. Tiger could replace a lot of zeroes with points since he skipped Torrey Pines, two WGCs, and Doral last season.
Van Sickle: Funny that a Golf Channel promo for next week's event in Shanghai hyped it as the last showdown of the year between Tiger and Phil ... as if they've been a factor in anything in six months. Classic bad hype. If the Tiger and Phi Eras are over, the TV geniuses aren't going to know what to do. They might have to resort to showing the actual golf tournament.
PGA Tour Confidential: Biggest Ryder Cup surprises so farQ&A: Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden
