Westwood leading an English charge
March 11, 2010
DORAL, Fla. (AP)—Lee Westwood is the leader of an English revolution in theworld of golf as the highest-ranked player at No. 4 in the world and a two-timewinner of the European Tour money list.
He has been there before, once reaching No. 4 at the turn of the lastdecade.
Back then, he was alone.
And while it gives him pride to have so much company at the top—IanPoulter and Paul Casey are stacked up behind him in the world ranking—Westwoodis at a stage in his career where he is more interested in looking in front ofhim.
Camilo Villegas, left, of Colo… AP – Mar 10, 1:46 pm EST Alvaro Quiros of Spain, reacts… AP – Mar 10, 1:20 pm EST YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index = 1; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_lazy_images = [http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100310/capt.5701628930ce4addb1b4b723d914f8f6.ca_championship_golf_flls102.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=1&yc=1&wc=306&hc=340&q=70&sig=J4cglKc.xfPzwUzKLV3reA--]; YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(window,load,YAHOO.Sports.articleLazyLoadCarousel.init); 1 of 2 Golf Gallery function prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index – 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();
“I think it’s good for English golf,” Westwood said Wednesday on the eveof the CA Championship, the second World Golf Championship event in the lastfour weeks. “I don’t really pay attention to what other people do too much. I’mlooking at the three people in front me, rather than his is behind me, and hopeto keep going.”
Ahead of are three Americans—Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker and PhilMickelson.
Westwood could take a big step forward this week at Doral, trailing Strickerby just over a point. Getting all the way to the top? That depends not only onhis future, but that of Woods.
Woods remained a topic of chatter two months into the season, especially nowthat he his practicing at Isleworth and swing coach Hank Haney dropped in forsome supervision earlier in the week.
That has ramped up speculation that Woods is close to returning from thefiasco in his personal life brought on by his extramarital affairs, althoughthere continues to be mixed signals, an inordinate amount of gossip and no clearindication.
Westwood isn’t too bothered by when Woods will return. He’s not bothered bymuch of anything, really.
Even so, he can’t deny the possibilities.
“I kind of go with the flow and do my own thing,” he said. “But whenyou’re fourth in the world, it’s not that far to No. 1 in the world, and justrecently that’s probably come a bit more attainable with Tiger playing less.It’s very close (from) fourth to second, so it’s a goal.
“I think anybody that gets to a high standard—I think four in the worldis a pretty high standard—if you’re asked, yeah, of course you would like tobe No. 1 in the world,” he added. “You want to be able to say you’re the bestat what you do. So it is a goal. But it’s not something I really think about toomuch.”
Mickelson is the defending champion at Doral, and looking for his firstvictory of the year.
He was the top candidate to fill the void left by Woods, especially havingwon the Tour Championship and HSBC Champions in Shanghai at the end of lastyear. He has yet to win in four starts this year, which most likely has more todo with his struggle at home as his wife recovers from breast cancer than anytechnical aspect of his game. Without a pro-am this week, Mickelson was toarrive at Doral Wednesday evening, meaning he would not have a practice round.
Camilo Villegas is coming off a victory in the Honda Classic last week andmight be the hottest player in golf. In five tournaments, the only time hefailed to finish in the top 10 was his season debut in Abu Dhabi, where he tiedfor 19th.
“Obviously, I’ve had a good start for the year,” Villegas said. “But it’snot the way I think. Just try to keep going. I’ve had a great attitude all year,and I came pretty close in Match Play and I had a chance there at Phoenix. Buttomorrow is Thursday, and trust me, every Thursday, we start from zero. It’stime to forget what happened the previous week.”
Ian Poulter is three weeks removed from his first victory in America at theMatch Play Championship, while Geoff Ogilvy is a past WGC winner at Doral whoopened the year with a victory in Kapalua.
Only two players from the top 50 are missing—Woods and Ryo Ishikawa, whostayed in Japan to graduate from high school.
Woods has dominated these World Golf Championships, winning 15 of them. Sixcame at Firestone, while he has one this WGC (CA Championship, formerly AmericanExpress Championship) on six courses, the last one at Doral in 2007.
His picture was on a billboard, and occasionally flashed on a video screen.
His absence is not bothering Westwood.
“If he’s here and he’s on form, he’s the favorite,” Westwood said. “Buthe’s not here, and you don’t know what kind of form Tiger is in. But if you lookat the strength of the field, it’s still a world-class field, and it will take astrong winner. Phil won last year and Tiger was playing right in front of me.You can’t disrespect the other guys playing or discount them. You still have tobe on your top game to win.”
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