Not since 1997 have four golfers gone into a tournament with the chance of finishing it as the world number one, but that is the situation at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai this week.
Tiger Woods’ 581 week reign as the best golfer in the world may have ended this week with Lee Westwood’s arrival at the summit, but Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Martin Kaymer all have the chance of replacing him on Sunday.
Martin Kaymer
Martin Kaymer has the strongest claim to be the form golfer this week, as Westwood and Mickelson are coming off breaks from the game and neither have strong recent form. Kaymer, however, has a run of three wins, including the USPGA broken last week in Spain. If ranking points from 2010 only were used to determine the number one golfer, Kaymer would be it. On those rankings Luke Donald would be second and Lee Westwood, despite his injury problems, third.
Two Year Period
The rankings, however, cover results from the last two years and the number of points gained is divided by the number of tournaments played, with a minimum divisor of 40. Tournaments are weighted, with the most recent counting for most points and those from the previous year less. This system has enabled Lee Westwood to take over the number one position having only played one ranking tournament in the last two months. Playing fewer tournaments has actually helped him. Few would argue, however, that he has been the most consistent performer over the last two years and fully deserves his top ranking.
That won’t stop three other golfers trying their very best to ensure he only keeps it for a single week. Whatever this week’s results, the battle for number one will be more open over the next few months than at any time since Tiger Woods turned professional, and that can only add excitement to the golfing season.