Woods wants to regain top spot
Tokyo, Nov. 2: US golf star Tiger Woods says he is upbeat about regaining the world number-one spot with three events remaining this year, starting with this week’s HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai.
“As far as the world ranking is concerned, yes, I’m not ranked No. 1 in the world,” Woods said after beating Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa in a nine-hole made-for-television exhibition match in Yokohama near Tokyo.
“In order to do that you have to win, and I didn’t win this year,” he told media on Monday when his world ranking was confirmed to have slipped behind Englishman Lee Westwood after 281 weeks, or more than five years, at the top.
But the 34-year-old could still regain the highest ranking at the World Golf Championship event which starts on Thursday at Sheshan International golf club in Shanghai. “I’ve got three more events this year and, hopefully, I can end on a good note,” he said, according to TigerWoods.Com. “I’m really looking forward to these events and, hopefully, they will spearhead into a better 2011.”
The 14-times Major winner’s settled life was thrown into turmoil by revelations of extra-marital affairs that led to the collapse of his marriage and a break from the game.
England’s Lee Westwood knocked Woods off golf’s pedestal for the first time in five years on Monday, capping the American’s fall from grace that began a year ago with revelations of marital infidelities.
But the new world numbers one and two will have their hands full in Shanghai against reigning champion Phil Mickelson and other stars whose presence underlines the tournament’s rise as an elite world golf event.
All but two of the world’s top-10 players are playing Thursday, including key European Ryder Cup stars such as PGA Champion Martin Kaymer, US Open winner Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, and Rory McIlroy.
But besides vying for the seven-million-dollar purse, Woods, Mickelson and Kaymer all could bring an early end to Westwood’s reign and supplant him with a win at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
“It’s an exciting time for golf,” Westwood, the first European golfer to head the rankings since compatriot Nick Faldo in 1994, told the BBC. “If anyone can put a run together it’s so close they could take the number one spot.”
Pic Caption:
Golfers Tiger Woods (left) and new world number one Lee Westwood (right) follow Tai Chi moves as they hold traditional Chinese swords during a photo session in Shanghai on Tuesday.
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