Westwood Rise To World No.1 Caps European Ryder Cup Victory
In the past 30 years, some of the best players ever to have walked the fairways have claimed the title as the ‘Number 1 Player In The World’.
Of course, Tiger Woods heads the list. The American currently tops the rankings as he has done, off and on, for some 600-odd weeks since his domination of the modern game became absolute in 1998. Few can or will ever match the feat of the 34-year-old who despite recent troubles is far from finished yet.
This select list also includes such greats as Greg Norman, Nick Price, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros.
As far as UK golf is concerned, Ian Woosnam and Nick Faldo are the sole representatives. Faldo enjoyed 98 weeks as world No.1 largely on the back of his six major titles (3 US Masters wins and 3 times the Open champion) and Woosnam was at the top for 50 weeks, aided by his own success at Augusta National in 1991.
In fact, every player to have topped the rankings has won at least one major golf championship (the Masters, US Open, the Open or US PGA). All except possibly the next world No.1, Lee Westwood.
Due to the peculiarities of the ranking system, the 37-year-old from Worksop could soon displace Tiger Woods at the top of the pile without having tasted victory at the very highest level. Ryder Cup winner, yes, major winner … not yet.
Westwood has reached this level through a series of consistent efforts at the world’s biggest events (top ten finishes in all the four majors) but as yet the Englishman is yet to add the biggest prize of all.
He might easily sacrifice the No.1 spot, maybe even his recent Ryder Cup win with the European team, for a chance to win an elusive first major. Only then could he be considered as the best in the world.
Westwood is 20/1 with Betfred to win the US Masters, the next major event in 2011.
