[1]Tiger Woods’ world number one ranking is on the line again this week, but Phil Mickelson said his only chance of seizing the top spot is to put the matter out of his mind.
“It would be something very special,” Mickelson said of the chance to gain the number one ranking for the first time in his career.
“But to accomplish that, I can’t focus on that,” said Mickelson, who could move atop the rankings with a victory. “I still need to go out and play like the number one player in the world.”
Woods, the 14-time major champion whose life erupted in turmoil last November amid lurid revelations of marital infidelity, has rarely loosened his grip on the number one place he first claimed in 1997.
He has been ranked number one a total of 601 weeks, and his latest spell at the top has lasted 259 weeks.
David Duval and Vijay Singh are the only golfers to topple him — Duval for 15 weeks in 1999 and Singh five years later for 32 weeks.
But Woods’ five-month break from golf as he dealt with the fall-out of personal scandal, and his struggles since his return, make him vulnerable.
After finishing tied for fourth at the Masters in his first start of 2010, Woods missed the cut at Quail Hollow in Charlotte and withdrew in the final round of the Players Championship with a neck injury.
“Tiger’s performance and schedule are unpredictable at the moment,” world number three Lee Westwood said at Wentworth last week.
“Phil is a world-class player and has already won a major this year. The World Rankings are about consistency and number one and number two are more achievable than they have been in recent years,” said Lee. — AFP
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