WOODS, Now World No 2 in Trouble, Drops to Ninth Place in Shanghai

Britain's Lee Westwood, who ended Tiger's reign as world number one this week, carded a two-under-par 70 to remain one off the lead, according to the article below. Tiger was having a bad day today and ended up in ninth spot after the second round. I hope that things improve this weekend. Tiger wll be playing in the Australian Masters Nov 11 - 14.      . . . June


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Woods drops to ninth, Westwood stays second in Shanghai
Sport | Reuters:

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - World number two Tiger Woods struggled on the greens to drop to tied ninth after the second round of the HSBC Champions tournament on Friday, five shots behind leader Francesco Molinari of Italy.

Britain's Lee Westwood, who ended Woods's reign as world number one this week, carded a two-under-par 70 to remain one off the lead.

In a frustrating round, Woods lipped the pin five times, twice with short putts, and cancelled out five birdies with a corresponding number of bogeys to finish with par 72.


"I struggled a little bit today," the American told reporters. "The pins were tough. I didn't hit very good, so the score could have been worse, but also it could have been a lot better."


Westwood produced three birdies during another solid performance but the 37-year-old missed on a likely fourth when he ignored his caddie's advice over the choice of club on his second shot out of the rough on the 18th.


"Billy (Foster) said it would be best to lay up and go with a full shot because of where the flag was cut," Westwood said.


"I obviously knew better as a player and hit a five-wood and left it in just about the worst place I could. But today, as per usual, I should have listened to my caddie."


The 37-year-old, on eight-under-par is in a strong position to defend his number one world ranking from Woods, Phil Mickelson and German Martin Kaymer who could all take over at the top with a victory in Shanghai.


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LEE WESTWOOD Takes Top Spot. Tiger Woods is Now World No. 2

 Tiger Woods finally lost his No 1 place in the world Golf Rankings. It was inevitable, but it really is a testament to how far ahead of the pack Tiger was to have kept that ranking for so long. For now, the No 1 spot goes to Lee Westwood of England, the first European in 16 years to hold golf's top ranking. He called it the most satisfying achievement of his career. But don't sell Tiger short. He has the ability to grab it right back
    . . . June

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Tiger Woods is No. 2 as Westwood Takes Top Spot
CBS Evening News - CBS News:

The turmoil in his personal life has taken a toll on Tiger Woods. After a reign of more than five years as the world's number one golfer, Woods has dropped to second behind a player who's never won a major.

CBS News correspondent Tony Guida reports that when Woods congratulated Lee Westwood at a tournament four weeks ago, he knew Westwood was gunning for his crown. Sunday, after 281 weeks at the top, Woods is no. 1 no longer.

'Tiger clearly has not been the most dominant player in the world for a long, long time,' says CBS Sports' Jim Nantz.

It's mostly because Woods took a five-month break from competition this season. He needed time to try to patch his life back together after confessing to a series of extramarital affairs.

"I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in," Woods said in a press conference.

Elin Woods was having none of it. The couple divorced and Tiger's game fell apart. He hasn't finished higher than fourth since.

"It's hard to play with that kind of pressure," says golfer Lawrence Elliott.

Inspired by Woods, Elliott took up golf five years ago. He worked hard to make himself a 6 handicap. Elliott thinks Woods will work hard too.

"He'll be back next year strong as ever," says Elliott.

For now, the laurels go to Lee Westwood of England, the first European in 16 years to hold golf's top ranking. He called it the most satisfying achievement of his career.

"The game went younger and it went global," says Nantz.

Nantz notes Westwood is just one of a new crop of top players who will challenge Woods for supremacy, but Nantz says don't bet against Woods.

"You never sell Tiger Woods short when it comes to what he's going to do in golf," says Nantz.

What Woods does this week at a tournament in Shanghai could put him right back at no. 1.

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Will Tiger Lose The World No 1 Spot To Westwood?

 I feel badly for Tiger. He actually played pretty well for most of the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately, he weill be remembered for the their disastrous rout in the last round of 4-Play. It was as though the entire European team caught fire as soon as they saw Tiger going down. It was simply impossible to make up that large lead. I hope that Tiger can take away something good from this game anyway
   . . . June

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Westwood moves to second; No. 1 coming soon
Golf - MiamiHerald.com:

Lee Westwood became the No. 2 player in the world on Monday, then watched his European team claim victory at the Ryder Cup.

Westwood passed Phil Mickelson to earn the second spot, and it may get even better for the Englishman. According to some reports, Westwood may be in line for the No. 1 spot as soon as next week.

Westwood is expected to be in the field Thursday at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. A big finish at St. Andrews, where he finished second at this year's British Open, could be enough to be No. 1 for the first time in his career. Westwood is also expected to play in the Portugal Masters in two weeks and it's been reported he would be No. 1 in the world with just two top-20 finishes.

So Tiger Woods kept the No. 1 spot for the 278th consecutive week, followed by Westwood and Mickelson. Steve Stricker, who defeated Westwood in Monday's Ryder Cup singles matches, stayed fourth, while FedEx Cup winner Jim Furyk, PGA Champion Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Rory McIlory and Ernie Els rounded out the top 10.

Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell remained in spots 11-13, while Edoardo Molinari and Ian Poulter both moved up one to Nos. 14 and 15, respectively. Hunter Mahan dipped two to 16th.
Retief Goosen and Anthony Kim held on to their spots from last week. Zach Johnson and British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen switched places this week with Johnson up to 19th and the South African down to 20th.
Bill Haas collected his second PGA Tour win at the Viking Classic on Sunday and moved up 25 places to No. 64.

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'Tiger Woods got me to Ryder Cup' says Lee Westwood

 According to the article below, Tiger persuaded Lee Westwood to let his injury heal properly, thus making him healthy for the Ryder Cup. So Lee Westwood will be playing on Colin Montgomery's International Team and  Tigerwill be traveling to Celtic Manor this week as  part of the Corey Pavin's US Team
    . . . June


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Lee Westwood: Tiger Woods got me to Ryder Cup
Golf, Sport - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk:

Lee Westwood has said that it was Tiger Woods' advice that persuaded him to take a six-week break and get himself in what he calls “100 percent shape for the Ryder Cup”.

“I played with Tiger in the first two rounds of the Bridgestone [Invitational] back at the start of the August and I was struggling with my ruptured calf muscle,” the Europe star said.

“Tiger saw me battling on and said to me, ‘God you're stubborn. What are you doing?'

“What he said resonated with me and I thought maybe I should look at this a bit more sensibly, withdraw from that event and the following week's USPGA and do the rehab properly.

“Tiger's right, I am stubborn and if I'd carried on playing I probably wouldn't be at Celtic Manor.”
That he will be is a huge relief to his captain Colin Montgomerie in the run-up to the big showdown, which starts on Friday.

“It was dodgy for a while and that was why I was so pleased when I had the text off Lee two weeks ago saying, ‘don't worry, I'm ready'. He brings a consistency to the team that the others can rely on,” said Montgomerie. “From a captain's point of view to have that sort of player you can rely on is absolutely vital.”
Nevertheless, Montgomerie is prepared to let down Westwood, who has stated his desire to play in every session.

“I think Lee possibly won't play five matches,” he said.

In fact, Montgomerie is considering taking the unprecedented step of resting all his players in at least one of the sessions. Yesterday, Thomas Bjorn, his vice-captain, explained the rationale.

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