Despite not playing as much golf as one might expect of a world leader, Lee Westwood has maintained his position at top of the world golf rankings for the 3rd week in a row. In fact, the only change in the entire top 10 ranked world golfers was the two Northern Irish players, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy, who swapped positions to leave McIlroy down in 10th and McDowell up to 9th. Having finished 4th at the Australian Masters at the weekend, Tiger Woods has also stayed put, remaining in 2nd place behind the English world leader.
Outside of the leader board, Lee Westwood has won his 10th European Tour title by closing the UBS Hong Kong Open with a 22 under par aggregate of 258, causing him to leap 3 positions up the rankings, to world number 11! A single step higher for Poulter will make him the 4th Englishman in the top 10 ranked world golfers, along with Paul Casey, Luke Donald and, of course, Lee Westwood. Although that will bring England level with the USA in terms of the top 10, we mustn’t get too cocky as, after Poulter, the rankings are devoid of any English players until Justin Rose and Ross Fisher at 28 and 29.
New world number one Lee Westwood remains confident and, after his performance in Shanghai, who can blame him?
In his first round as world number one, Lee Westwood delivered a magnificent 66 – including 3 birdies in 4 holes – to be beaten only by a 65 from Francesco Molinari. Considering Westwood hasn’t played for 3 weeks, this is impressive work from the Englishman, especially considering his game plan was “just to go out there and enjoy myself and see what happened”. Despite a trio of birdies in the middle holes, Tiger Woods finished behind Westwood with a 68, though seemed happy with the result; “I hit a lot of good shots and also putted well.” the world number two stated.
Not everybody is convinced of Lee’s dominance of the world rankings, however. Nick Faldo, for example, has questioned the validity of naming a world number one who is yet to win a major title. In response, Westwood declared Faldo’s comments to be “Fairly obvious”, explaining that “the previous world No 1 players...have all won major championships. It would be nice to join that club as well”.
Westwood is clearly being realistic about his rise to the top of world golf. When asked about the rankings, he has said “it’s one thing getting there but it’s another thing staying there”.
After 281 weeks at the number one, Tiger Woods drops down to second place in the official world rankings.
Tiger lost out to English player Lee Westwood, who spent today "bumbling around Sainbury's" and "shopping for some rubber gloves and mashed potato" as officials calculated his win of top spot.
But Tiger Woods isn't disappointed, he told The Guardian Newspaper:
"You have to win in order to become No1 in the world and you have to win a lot to maintain it. That's just the way it goes."
Tiger Woods' last win was November 2009, days before the media frenzy regarding his private life. Woods took a five-month break from golf after his confessions of extramarital affairs, which led to him divorcing wife Elin Nordegren.
Now it's been reveled that tickets to see Tiger Woods play in Australia aren't selling with tickets still available for the Australian Masters, which saw tickets sell out in advance six weeks in advance last year.
David Rollo, speaking for Golf IMG Australia said the diminished ticket sales are nothing to do with Tiger's extramarital affairs, but rather, are due to this being the second year running that Tiger has visited Australia.
Rollo said "It was the first time he'd been here in 11 years [last year] and at that time I guess there were people who thought he may not be here for another chance to see him."
The official top 10 world rankings:
1 - Lee Westwood (ENGLAND) 8.29 points
2 - Tiger Woods (USA) 8.13 points
3 - Martin Kaymer (GERMANY) 7.98 points
4 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 7.83 points
5 - Steve Stricker (USA) 7.20 points
6 - Jim Furyk (USA) 7.09 points
7 - Paul Casey (ENGLAND) 6.14 points
8 - Luke Donald (ENGLAND) 5.70 points
9 - Rory McIlroy (N IRELAND) 5.44 points
10 - Graeme McDowell (N IRELAND) 5.43 points
Charlie Baron, Las Vegas golfing legend, is to be inducted into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame tonight, alongside Joe Kelly. Although it’s been over 20 years since Baron helped establish the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, he has directed it with energy and passion since 1988. For this, along with his lifetime’s worth of contributions to local golf, Baron has earned his place amongst the likes of Dwaine Knight and Jim Colbert.
I, for one, leapt for joy at our victory at the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. However, jubilant though I was at seeing the Americans beaten, I still couldn’t help myself feeling a little bit sorry for Hunter Mahan, as I watched his choked and bumbling attempt to answer questions about his defeat to Graeme McDowell. Apparently, however, this isn’t abnormal for our cousins across the Atlantic:
Golf's biggest tournament is now over for another two years. To help ease your withdrawal symptoms we’ve got you a round up of all the tasty news, stories and gossip!
A win for Europe!
By now you probably know who won the cup for Europe: Irish hero Graeme McDowell. McDowell was overjoyed, calling the experience "crazy".
"This is crazy," added McDowell. "I was trying to do it for 11 team-mates, for all the fans, for the caddies, for Europe and for Monty - and we were all trying to win it for Seve (Ballesteros) too.
"The back nine at Pebble Beach felt like a back nine playing with my dad at Royal Portrush.
"It's so much pressure and this is a special feeling - there's nothing quite like it.
"Monty was amazing. For the last two years he has been up for this."
We want to say a MASSIVE well done for McDowell – what a great victory for Europe!
"Cigar Guy"
If you've been getting your golfing news online it was impossible to miss the Daily Mail’s fantastic shot of Tiger Woods hitting the ball straight into the camera - but in case you have click here to see it.
A Daily Mail photographer captured an amazing photograph of Tiger Woods hitting the ball; sadly Tiger mucked up the shot and aimed it straight at the camera, by mistake. In fact, the ball hit the lens, but not before the photographer caught it mid-flight in the air.
But, that wasn't the impressive part of the photo. The most interesting part of the photo was a man standing on the right that the Internet has since dubbed 'Cigar Guy'. Wearing a turban with a cigar hanging out of his mouth, the 'Cigar Guy' is the focal point of the image, stealing the glory away from the amazing ball, mid-flight.
Soon the Internet was all over the photo, with one blogger doctoring the original photo and pasting Cigar Guy's head onto every member of the crowd AND over Tiger's head too.
See it here: http://deadspin.com/5655370/
Rain rain go away…
Well, of course everybody should have expected the rain during the Cup matches: they were played in Wales after all, a country that's as famous for its rainy days as it is for superstar signer Tom Jones!
But sadly, the American golfers had a bit of an issue with the weather, or rather, the gear they were playing in.
The suits were taking far too long to dry, plus they were becoming bogged down in water. Bags the American team was provided with were reportedly soaked through, prompting complaints from several of the players' caddies.
Because of the rain, little golf was played during the Friday of the tournament, hurtling the waterproof rain suit malfunction into the sporting press as the ‘story of the day!’
Finally, PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka issued the following statement about the suits to Golf Digest magazine:
"All of the companies that produce this rain gear meet the technical specifications that you would want to have for extreme conditions," he said. "They do more testing than we could ever do on our own, and we look at the specifications and take them for what they are. And the fact of the matter is, they didn't perform as well as they needed to. Now, there are a number of players that were quite comfortable with the rain gear, but not everybody was, and you know, we have got to represent all 12 players and 12 caddies, as well."
The following courses are three of Yorkshire’s finest. Ganton and Moortown are great if you’re looking for a challenging course steeped in history and tradition, whereas Rother Valley is perfect if you’re looking for a bargain day out and a great round of golf.
Ganton Golf Club, North Yorkshire
Ganton golf club is steeped in history, since it was built in the summer of 1981, over 100 years ago.
The course comprises of 18 holes and is a challenging Championship Course, so is only suitable to golfers with a current handicap certificate.
It's located near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Ganton Golf Club accepts visiting golfers both during the week and at weekends. Times are subject to availability, so make sure you make the necessary arrangements first.
Ganton hosted the Ryder Cup in 1949 and more recently, the Walker Cup in 2003.
The fees are very reasonable: £80.00 per day midweek (peak season) and £90.00 per day at weekends/bank holidays.
Ganton Golf Club also boasts a thirteen acre practice range and a short game practice facility.
The club oozes charm and visitors have reported that the club is very formal, though pleasant to newcomers.
Moortown Golf Club, West Yorkshire
Founded in 1909, the Moortown Golf Club has seen a lot of history over the last 100 years, including a Ryder Cup win for Great Britain and several rounds of the English Amateur, Brabazon Trophy and European Tour.
The course is located in Alwoodley, near Leeds and accepts visiting golfers, who can select from two different packages for their visit:
The Gibraltar Package:
- Morning Coffee & Bacon Rolls on Arrival
- For Lunchtime Soup & Sandwiches on Arrival
- Warm Up Balls & Facilities
- 18 Holes of Golf
- Longest Drive & Nearest Pin Markers
- Two Course Dinner in the Ryder Cup Room
Cost £90 (per head)
OR:The MacKenzie Package:- Coffee & Bacon Rolls on Arrival
- Warm Up Balls & Facilities
- Morning Round
- Soup & Sandwiches Lunch
- Afternoon Round
- Longest Drive & Nearest Pin Markers
- Presentation Table
- 3 Course Evening Dinner in the Ryder Cup Room
Cost £105 (per head)
Previous visitors have told us that the club is ‘good quality with an old school feel.’
Rother Valley Golf Centre, South Yorkshire
Rother Valley Golf Centre boasts an 18-hole golf course that was recently voted by Society Golfers as the best golf venue in England for under £20.00. There is also a par 3 9-hole course too.
Rother Valley is cheap compared to the other courses listed here. There are numerous deals listed on their website, including a fantastic Ryder Cup deal: Get a great value bundle deal on 18 holes of golf, a meal and a beer. Prices start from as little as £20.00.
New: Rother Valley Golf Centre now take tee time bookings online - how convenient!
Feedback from golfers: 'This course is one of South Yorkshire's finest.'
We hope you like our Yorkshire golf course guide and found it very useful!
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