91Èȱ¬

Lee Westwood was down. Really down, as disappointed as he had ever been in a career that had already witnessed severe lows as well as massive highs.

It was time for a gentle pep talk because at this moment of huge despondency the path of his golfing life could quite easily have taken vastly contrasting directions.

Not only that, he'd earlier squandered a decent chance of putting himself well clear of Stewart Cink and Tom Watson, the men who contested that shoot-out in his absence.

People remember that Open for the then 59-year-old Watson almost creating golf's greatest-ever story, but that championship should have been won by Lee Westwood and he knew it.

Read the rest of this entry

Higher mathematics has never been a strong point of mine, so I've been struggling to get to grips with this equation: one victory + one full tournament appearance in 14 weeks = world number one.

That is the scenario for at the end of the month, provided finishes outside the top two at next week's Andalucia Masters.

Given that the German is on a three-tournament winning streak that began with it is not completely certain the Englishman will succeed Tiger Woods as officially the best golfer on the planet, but the odds still point to Westwood rising to the top of the rankings.

Never mind that a calf injury has severely curtailed his tournament appearances since mid-June, or the fact that he has won only one event all year and has never won a major, the carefully compiled statistics of the golfing world are likely to result in him becoming the new number one when we head into November.

Read the rest of this entry

We have a very special talent in our midst. that mark him out to be a genuine superstar for years to come.

The 25-year-old German's was his third in a row. A sequence that began with his in August.

It was his fourth win in a year that has also seen him make a . Very few players manage to claim as many as four wins in one European Tour season.

Look at the names of the players who have managed this feat: , , , , , , and .

Read the rest of this entry

It takes two fully committed teams to make a full-blooded contest - and that is over the unprecedented four-day Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.

Let no one be in any doubt over America's passion for this biennial contest. Of all the extraordinary images generated by this compelling match, none resonated more than that of facing questions at the closing news conference.

The ferocity with which Jim Furyk slammed down the microphone after being asked about his country's commitment to the Ryder Cup being called into question shook the desk and made it abundantly clear how he felt.

Then there were the tears of poor Hunter Mahan following his defeat to Graeme McDowell in . When asked to recall his thoughts on the tumultuous climax, Mahan was so choked he found it hard to speak.

Read the rest of this entry

Remember this weekend a year ago? Glorious in the valleys, it was. How many times have we heard that said over the past week here at ?

Yes, it is perfectly possible to have wonderful weather in early October, as was proved here this time last year. But the truth is, when the days shorten the odds lengthen on that being the case.

And so it has come to pass that they played the here a year too late. Conditions were perfect 12 months ago when they launched the "Year to Go" celebrations at this south Wales course.

Now, though, we're looking at a Ryder Cup spilling over into a fourth day for the first time and despite the fine weather of October 2009, it is no surprise at all that the Celtic Manor edition of match should be the first not to finish on time.

Read the rest of this entry