Woods not surprised by drop in ranking

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Tiger Woods says it was no surprise to lose golf's No. 1 ranking to England's Lee Westwood after struggling through a disappointing year.

Westwood assumed the top ranking Sunday to end a record run by Woods, who had been the world's No. 1 golfer for 281 weeks.

"As far as the world ranking is concerned, yes, I'm not ranked No. 1 in the world," Woods said Monday. "In order to do that you have to win and I didn't win this year."

Woods played an exhibition at Yokohama Country Club on Monday against Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa. He was on the way to the HSBC Championship in Shanghai which starts Thursday at Sheshan International.

Woods had been No. 1 since the week before the 2005 U.S. Open, where he was runner-up. He won the British Open a month later and his ranking was rarely threatened since.

That changed this year when Woods struggled through his worst season on and off the course. He took a five-month break from golf to cope with confessions of extramarital affairs, which ultimately led to divorce, and his game has not been the same.

Woods said he was doing his best to adjust to no longer being No. 1.

"As far as the emotions go, it is what it is," Woods said. "To become No. 1 you have to win and win a lot to maintain it. That's the way it goes."

Westwood is followed in the rankings by Woods, PGA champion Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker.

With three more events this year, Woods said he was hopeful of turning things around.

"I've got three more events this year and, hopefully, I can end on a good note," Woods said. "I'm really looking forward to these events and hopefully they will spearhead into a better 2011."

Westwood took the top ranking after PGA champion Kaymer failed to finish among the top two at the Andalucia Masters in Spain. He is the first European since Nick Faldo in 1994 to be No. 1, and the 13th player to be No. 1 since the ranking system began in 1986.

The Englishman's reign could be short lived.

The HSBC Champions has assembled such a strong field that Westwood, Woods, Kaymer or Mickelson could all be No. 1 by the end of the week. The tournament starts Thursday at Sheshan International where Mickelson is defending champion.

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Question is still not if Tiger will win, but when

Considering all the other indignities he's endured these past 11 months, losing the top spot in the world golf rankings will barely get Tiger Woods' attention.

It's not as though he's going to miss it.

Being No. 1 doesn't come with a trophy to wrap your hands around, a jacket to slip into or deposit so much as a dime in the bank - just a computer printout that lists, in descending order, who's played the best golf over the previous two-year period.

Besides, Woods hardly needed confirmation of the direction his game has taken since last Thanksgiving. That was the beginning of a sex scandal which led to his shocking downfall from global sporting icon to late-night TV punchline, and turned him - for the better part of five months - into a hermit.

Those of us who believed all that ridicule would fuel an almost-instant return to the dominating Tiger of old turned out to be dead wrong.

That prediction wasn't based solely on the fire in Woods' competitive gut or even his burning ambition to overtake Jack Nicklaus as the game's career major championship winner. With three of this season's four majors staged at courses where Woods won multiple times, we thought familiarity would be on his side, too.

There were moments of brilliance, to be sure, but moments are all they turned out to be. Woods never looked entirely comfortable on the course, even after his divorce was finalized and some semblance of normalcy was restored to his routine away from it.

When he announced his return, Woods was prepared for a rocky start, expecting to find his groove as he played more and more - and then, finally, to start winning again. Nothing, though, went according to plan.

He came back at the Masters and finished a very respectable fourth, then matched it at the U.S. Open in June at Pebble Beach. His reception from the galleries was almost as surprising. Planes towing banners in the skies above Augusta National taunted Woods during his first round back - "Tiger: Did you mean Bootyism?" read one, referring to Woods' interest in Buddhism.

But the galleries on the ground there and everywhere else welcomed him back, tentatively at first, then with more enthusiasm as the season wore on. Yet right around the time he figured to peak, Woods went into another tailspin. At St. Andrews, where he'd won the British Open the last two times it was played over the Old Course, he finished tied for 23rd.

Soon after, he hit rock-bottom.

At Firestone, where Woods had won the PGA tour event seven times in nine starts, he turned in the worst 72 holes he's ever registered as a pro by nearly every statistical measure. He had another dispiriting performance at the PGA Championship only to exceed expectations by posting a 3-1 record as a member of the losing U.S. team at the Ryder Cup.

When last glimpsed in his singles match there, Woods smoked Italy's Francesco Molinari by shooting 9 under in the 15 holes they played, including 7 under over the last seven. But earlier in the team matches, Woods was handed his worst defeat ever at the Ryder Cup.

Lee Westwood, who learned he'd supplanted Woods as the world's No. 1 while sitting on the couch at home Sunday, teamed with fellow Englishman Luke Donald to administer the beating of Woods and U.S. teammate Steve Stricker in the alternate-shot match.

"When you're playing Tiger, you just seem to up your game a little bit," Westwood said at the time.

"I suppose he's got nothing to win, apart from the point, but he's got a big reputation," he added, "and it seems like you go out with nothing to lose."

Officially, at least, Woods is now the pursuer at No. 2. Everyone who ever played alongside him came back with tales to tell about how cold-blooded Woods could be in moments big and small.

No more. Even he doesn't dare tell those stories about himself.

Every time this season Woods' game hit a peak or skidded toward a valley, it unleashed another round of analysis about where his head or his swing - or both - were at. Not long after the Ryder Cup, Woods himself sounded like a guy who'd spent a lot of time on the couch.

"I learned a lot about myself, and I learned how things went wrong, why they went wrong, and had to take a pretty deep and introspective look at myself," Woods said two weeks ago during a video conference call for his Chevron World Challenge, scheduled for December.

"And there wasn't a lot of things I like about it. But I had to do it, and I did it, and grateful that I did," he added.

With this week's HSBC Champions event in Shanghai providing one final chance to grab a PGA Tour win this season, no one but Woods knows what's going on between his ears. Yet it's hardly speculation to say some of the tension percolating there leaked into his golf game.

He wasn't the first guy whose job performance went south in the middle of a divorce, and he wouldn't be the last to get his bearings back, either.

The only question left to answer is when, not if.

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PGA Tour Confidential: Westwood passes Tiger for No. 1

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.

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Woods finally loses grip on No. 1 ranking, but Westwood's reign could be brief

England's Lee Westwood will become the new No. 1-ranked player in golf Monday morning, the inevitable coda to a 2010 that Tiger Woods would just as soon forget.

"It's a great honor and a big responsibility," Westwood said. "It certainly sounds and feels good right now."

His ascent to golf's No. 1 ranking for the first time in his 17-year pro career has been nothing if not unconventional.

For one thing, he hasn't even been playing golf, instead following the fortunes of a racehorse he owns — Hoof It, which recently won a race at 9-1 odds — while resting his battered body.

"All I did for a week was sit with my foot in the air and then I started in the gym last week," he wrote on his website, leewestwood.com, last week. "I was just about to start practicing when a bout of flu sidelined me again."

Westwood's reign at the top could be brief, depending on what happens at this week's HSBC Champions in Shanghai, where he will compete in a loaded field that also includes Woods, Phil Mickelson and Martin Kaymer.

All three players would take over No. 1 with a win.

Once known as "the English Tiger Woods," Westwood missed much of the summer, including the PGA Championship, with a right calf injury. He returned for the Ryder Cup in Wales, where he went 2-1-1 to lead Europe to a narrow victory.

It was a short-lived return to action, though, because while playing Kingsbarns at the Alfred Dunhill Cup a week later, Westwood accidentally slid down a bank and aggravated his calf, again sending him home to rural England for more rest.

Still, he's played more than Woods, who until Nov. 1 had held the top ranking for 281 straight weeks and 623 weeks overall.

Woods missed parts of 2008 and 2009 after having his left knee surgically rebuilt. His infidelity, personal crisis and ensuing divorce led to a late start to his 2010 season, which sputtered.For the first time in his career Woods went without a victory, which in the two-year cycle of the World Ranking meant he wasn't replenishing the points from his four 2008 wins, most notably the U.S. Open, With those points dropping off the board in 2010, his insurmountable lead turned into an inevitable passing of the torch.

Westwood has 20 career victories on the European tour, the most recent two of which came at the end of the 2009 season. He racked up a handful of top-10s in Europe in 2010, finished runner-up to Phil Mickelson at the Masters and to Louis Oosthuizen at the British Open, and won the PGA Tour's St. Jude Classic in June.

The owner of a 50-acre farm in England, where he has a golf practice area, he becomes the first player without a major title to his name to take over the top spot in the world.

Kaymer, the 25-year-old German who won the PGA, had a chance to take the top spot had he finished no worse than a two-way tie for second at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, which ended Sunday, but he never got much going and tied for 21st place.

In the 24-year history of the World Ranking, Ian Woosnam has been No. 1, as have Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Fred Couples, Nick Price, Tom Lehman, Ernie Els, David Duval and Vijay Singh.

The last player besides Woods to hold the top spot, Singh held the position for 32 weeks in 2004 and '05.

With Woods not starting his season until the Masters in April, and going without a win, he all but gift-wrapped the No. 1 ranking for one of his rivals, specifically Mickelson, the game's longtime No. 2 who has never held the top spot.

"If Phil plays the way he's supposed to this weekend," Woods said at one point, "then he'll be number one."

Such an eventuality would have played well across the country, where Phil-fever was widespread and perhaps even stronger than ever as his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, battled breast cancer — and with the revelations of Tiger's misdeeds.

Alas, it didn't happen — yet. Mickelson put himself squarely on Tiger's bumper by winning the Masters in April, but the streaky lefty failed to take advantage of several opportunities to overtake Woods atop the points table. Mickelson needed a victory at the Quail Hollow Championship in early May, but finished second, the victim of Rory McIlroy's thrilling final-round 62.

Mickelson had opportunities at the Players Championship, and at the U.S. Open and British Open, but by his own admission did not play well after slipping on his third green jacket.Westwood, Woods, Kaymer and Mickelson all scheduled to play in the HSBC Champions at Shanghai this week, so any of the above could leave Sheshan Golf Club with the top ranking.

The game of hot potato could last for weeks to come, with the men's game coming to resemble the LPGA, where a handful of players have briefly held the top spot but no one has been able to hold onto it since Lorena Ochoa retired earlier this year.

That said, the new number one in the men's game might just end up being the old number one. Showing the fruits of a new swing, Woods thrashed Francesco Molinari 4 and 3 in his last appearance, his Monday singles match at the Ryder Cup. At least one observer expects order to be restored in 2011 if not sooner.

"I think he'll perform incredibly well," Ian Poulter said last week. "I think that [Ryder Cup singles] match was definitely a sneak preview. He wasn't swinging it his best for a long period of time, but he was still performing well, and now he's gone for a swing change. I can only see his swing getting better, and it will somehow resemble what it was when he played his best in 2000. I think he'll have an incredible year. He's pretty damn good."

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Kaymer struggles, McDowell leads in Spain

SOTOGRANDE, Spain (AP) — Martin Kaymer is unlikely to take over the No. 1 ranking from Tiger Woods after falling 11 shots behind leader Graeme McDowell at the Andalucia Masters on Friday.

Kaymer struggled to a 3-over 74 in the second round to seemingly fall out of contention for the victory he needs to pass Woods. McDowell shot a 67 and was at 7-under 135. Fellow Northern Irishman Gareth Maybin was two strokes back after a 68.

Niclas Fasth of Sweden was another two shots back in third after a 66.

If Kaymer finishes outside the top two, Lee Westwood of England will take over from Woods as No. 1 - despite not playing this weekend.

McDowell said he doesn't think Kaymer has a chance to catch up to him.

"Martin has not had the best two days out," McDowell said. "He is a world-class player and I fully expect him to have a good weekend, but the forecast is for the wind to get up which could make low scoring difficult."

McDowell and Maybin played amateur golf together as teenagers, and were the only two players to break 70 in both opening rounds at the Valderrama Club, which hosted the Ryder Cup in 1997.

"I lost a bit of contact with Gareth since our amateur days because we don't compete in too many of the same tournaments," McDowell said. "But it is no surprise to see myself and Gareth up there on the leaderboard.

"Because Valderrama is his type of golf course and my type of golf course. You have to plot your way around it, you cannot overpower and that suits us."

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McDowell falls into tie with Maybin at Valderrama

SOTOGRANDE, Spain (AP) — Graeme McDowell and Gareth Maybin of Northern Ireland took a four-stroke lead at the Andalucia Masters on Saturday after a windy third round sent scores soaring.

McDowell, the U.S. Open champion, shot a 1-over 72, while Maybin had a 70 to reach 6 under. Conditions were so difficult at Valderrama that only six players were under par at the end of a day that began with 13 in minus territory.

Damien McGrane of Ireland shot a 70 to reach 2 under and grab a share of third with Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, who had a 71.

Martin Kaymer, who needs to win or finish second to take Tiger Woods' place atop the world rankings, improved on his first two rounds, but his 70 still left him nine shots off the lead on the course that staged the 1997 Ryder Cup.

McDowell squandered a good opportunity to take a big lead into the fourth round and boost his bid for a third title this year.

He had a two-stroke lead at the 18th when he misjudged the strength of a crosswind, put his second shot in a greenside bunker and ended up with a double bogey.

"Standing on the fairway I thought about having a comfortable lead and what happened was just careless," McDowell said.

"But there was enough good golf out there to make me happy. I am going into the Sunday afternoon with a chance to win a golf tournament and that's where I want to be."

Maybin struggled early, but stayed in contention for his first European Tour victory.

Beginning the third round two shots behind McDowell, he opened with two bogeys before responded with two straight birdies. He added another birdie at No. 9 and finished with nine straight pars.

Maybin knows he'll need his best to beat McDowell.

"Graeme is probably the hottest golfer in the world at the moment," he said.

Niclas Fasth of Sweden, who was third after two rounds only four shots off the lead, was among those who struggled with the wind. He dropped out of contention with six bogeys in nine holes and then lost his temper on the 18th tee.

After a camera shutter clicked as he drove into trees, the Swede stormed into the nearby crowd shouting abuse and branding a club before demanding officials take away the cameraman's credentials.

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3 tied for lead at Nationwide Tour Championship

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Joe Affrunti, James Hahn and Brendan Steele shot 6-under 66s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Nationwide Tour Championship, the last chance for all three to earn 2011 PGA Tour cards through the developmental circuit money list.

The top 60 earners qualified for the season-ending tournament at Daniel Island Club. The final top 25 will earn spots on the PGA Tour.

Hahn is 29th on the money list, Steele is 30th, and Affrunti 34th.

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