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Why all the fuss about being world number one?

To much fanfare, Lee Westwood has ended the 281-week reign of Tiger Woods as golf’s world number one yet the fact the Briton has not won a major raises a couple of questions — Do rankings reward consistency rather than great achievement? And how much do they really matter?

According to former world number one and six-times major winner Nick Faldo, the answer is not as much as the big tournaments.

“It’s interesting how times have changed, how you can get to be number one without winning a major,” Faldo said. “I never understood the points scoring system, even in my day.

“But I wanted to be number one. It is a nice one to win. But majors are the one, because you have to go and win them and finish them off.”

There is a similar situation in women’s tennis where Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki is the year-end number one without a grand slam to her name. The 20-year-old last month dethroned American Serena Williams, who has not played since winning her 13th grand slam title at Wimbledon in July.

With such obvious talents as 14-times major winner Tiger and Serena it seems bizarre that golf and tennis set such importance on the vagaries of a ranking system, when other sports set less store by them.

Spain top the FIFA soccer rankings, yet you are unlikely to see them tagged as world number one in the media or referred to as such by fans. Rightly, the World Cup win is considered their ultimate achievement.

Memorial offers pointers to Pebble Beach contenders

This week’s Memorial tournament, an elite PGA Tour event in its own right hosted by golfing great Jack Nicklaus, is sure to offer several pointers toward the likely contenders at this month’s U.S. Open.

Many of the game’s leading players are making their final appearances on the circuit before switching focus to the second major of the year, which takes place at majestic Pebble Beach from June 17-20.

Two of the big guns — world number one Tiger Woods and second-ranked Phil Mickelson – have more than a few question marks hovering over their form at the moment. Woods, whose private life spectacularly unravelled at the end of last year, is returning to the tour after three weeks on the sidelines to defend his title at the Memorial.

 The 14-times major winner has not competed since he was forced to withdraw from the final round of last month’s Players Championship in Florida because of neck pain. An inflamed joint made it difficult for Woods to execute his swing and his driving accuracy, never his strongest suit, was woeful in his last outing at the TPC Sawgrass.

Mickelson, who delivered a ‘feel-good’ moment for the game when he clinched his fourth major title at the Masters in front of his wife Amy who is recovering from breast cancer, has also struggled off the tee. The American left-hander missed his first PGA Tour cut in more than a year at last week’s Colonial tournament, where he would have replaced Woods he had he triumphed.

A short-game magician who thrills the fans with his creative shot-making, Mickelson has averaged less than 50 percent in driving accuracy this season to languish 185th in the tour’s standings. Given that U.S. Opens place a high premium on accuracy with their traditionally tight fairways flanked by thick rough, Mickelson will be banking on a major improvement in this area of his game.

Will Woods miss the cut again?

Among a bucketful of intriguing storylines going into this week’s Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass is speculation on whether Tiger Woods will miss consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career.

The American world number one, comfortably the greatest player of his generation and arguably of all time, was a shadow of himself at last week’s Quail Hollow Championship where he coughed and spluttered his way to scores of 74 and 79.

Woods ended up missing the cut there by the proverbial country mile, only the sixth time in his professional career he had failed to advance to the weekend.

It’s anyone guess as to the emotional state of his mind at the moment following his stunning fall from grace at the end of last year.

Woods will be playing only his third tournament of the season at Sawgrass, having returned to the game after a self-imposed break of five months following sordid revelations about extra-marital affairs.

While most of his peers expect him to bounce back at a venue where he triumphed in 2001, Masters champion Phil Mickelson is a marginal favourite on the betting exchanges for the event widely considered the “fifth major” by the players.

Is Mickelson’s ‘groove’ out of bounds?

Updated after Scott McCarron’s clarification this week:

Scott McCarron has issued a statement clarifying his widely reported comments on the use of Ping-Eye 2 wedges with square grooves. McCarron says he never accused Phil Mickelson of being a cheat, but he has stepped up his criticism of the the use of the 20-year-old club, saying he was appalled by his fellow American’s decision to use it at last week’s San Diego Open.

The Royal and Ancient game is renowned for its innate sense of fair play and the self-policing by its players and consequently incidents of cheating have been few and far between over the decades.

After the conclusion of Saturday’s third round at Torrey Pines, world number two Mickelson said he expected the PGA Tour to take action while hinting he might take legal action himself.

McCarron’s comments, as originally reported, always seemed inappropriately and totally unfair but the debate about whether using the clubs  is against the spirit of the game is still going on.

McCarron, a three-times winner on the PGA Tour since joining the circuit in 1995, had criticised Mickelson for exploiting a loophole in golf’s new groove rules by using the wedge.

As of Jan. 1, new rules relating to club-face grooves were implemented at the top level after research found modern configurations could allow players to generate almost as much spin with irons from the rough as from the fairway.

Best view of the Tiger? Join the People’s Liberation Army

The huge galleries following the final round match-up between Tiger Woods (“Laohu” to the locals) and Phil Mickelson at the WGC-HSBC Champions last Sunday made life uncomfortable for player and spectator alike on a humid day in Shanghai.

China’s wealthiest had paid up to 3,500 yuan ($513) for their tickets but the best view, on the fourth green at least, went to the soldiers in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) barracks on the other side of the canal which runs alongside the hole.

As of 2007, a private in the PLA earned just 1,800 yuan ($264) a year but these guys got a close up of one of the key moments of the day, when Woods plunged his drive into the water and started a downturn in fortunes that ended his attempt to win a first title at the Sheshan International Golf Club.

Mickelson, who missed a putt of less than two feet to bogey the hole, subsequently recovered his nerve and went on to win the tournament for a second time, despite a late charge from Ernie Els.

The snap-happy followers of the leading group were a talking point all day and Woods exploded when a media photographer took pictures during the downswing of his drive at the sixth tee, which ended up in a bunker.

“Can’t I even get a swing off?,” he shouted. “Jesus Christ!”

Feelin’ groovy about iron shots out of the rough

As professional tournament golf edges closer to the year-end, several of the younger players can be forgiven for not exactly feeling groovy about their prospects out of the rough once the 2010 season gets underway.

Simon and Garfunkel preached a slower pace to life in their whimsical “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” in 1966 but those uplifting harmonies are unlikely to be of any help to many golfers who miss the fairways next year.

From Jan. 1, new rules relating to club-face grooves will come into effect at top professional level after research found that modern configurations could allow players to generate almost as much spin with irons from the rough as from the fairway.

All clubs, with the exception of drivers and putters, will be affected by the change which will limit groove volume and groove-edge sharpness, effectively replacing U-grooves with V-grooves.

17th at Sawgrass — gimmick or greatest finish in golf?

Tiger Woods and Adam Scott have described it as gimmicky. Phil Mickelson believes it is the midway point in golf’s most exciting finish but former British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia says it has the same effect as a nervous wait for a nasty dental appointment.

It is the infamous par-three 17th at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the signature hole on the Stadium Course which will host the Players Championship this week for the 28th time.

Arguably more photographed than any other hole in golf, the 17th strikes fear into the heart of every competitor at the tournament regarded by the players as the unofficial fifth major.

Although the smallest hole on the par-72 Stadium layout, it unquestionably boasts the biggest reputation with its tantalising island green that narrows to the right side.

Shot selection is paramount, especially in the wind, and the tournament has often been decided there, a bone of contention for world number one Woods.

“It’s a wonderful hole but I don’t agree with it being the 17th or 71st hole of a championship because I think it’s a little gimmicky in that sense,” said the American, whose only victory at Sawgrass came in 2001.

Looking back, 2009 Masters will go down as one of the best

Spectators who were fortunate enough to be at Augusta National for the final round of the 2009 U.S. Masters will never forget the experience as the birdie roars returned to the undulating, par-72 layout with a vengeance.

On a sun-kissed spring afternoon in Georgia, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods led the way with a sizzling display of shot-making, charging into contention after starting the last day seven strokes off the lead.

Although both Americans ultimately fell short of a three-way playoff eventually won by Argentina’s Angel Cabrera at the second extra hole, they attracted arguably the biggest crowds ever seen at Augusta with the fans massing 30 deep around some of the greens.

Throw in a few late fireworks by overnight leaders Cabrera and American Kenny Perry and Sunday’s final round proved to be one of the most unforgettable at the Masters.

Mickelson exploded out of the gate with six birdies in seven holes to reach the turn in a record equalling six-under-par 30.

Woods, although not at his very best, rammed in a 25-footer to eagle the par-five eighth before making birdie on 13, 15 and 16 to surge into contention for the title.

Lefty’s golden opportunity

Having been overshadowed by Tiger Woods for most of his career, Phil Mickelson appears to have a golden opportunity to grab his share of the limelight this year.

All the early signs are pointing toward a season to remember for the American left-hander who is one of the most thrilling and gifted shot-makers to have played the game.

Before the start of the 2009 PGA Tour, Mickelson had surprisingly failed to accomplish two benchmarks already achieved by three of his perennial rivals in golf elite events.

While Woods, South African Ernie Els and Fijian Vijay Singh had each become world number one and triumphed in at least one World Golf Championships (WGC) event, Mickelson had repeatedly come up empty.