The man who replaced Tiger in October for best golfer in the world will not be playing in this weekend's tournament. Lee Westwood is not literally AWOL, that was just to make for a catchy title, but he did miss the cut today and will have to sit out the Qatar Masters. Martin Kaymer, who recently overtook Tiger for number two in the world, did make the cut however. If Kaymer finishes first or second, then he will overtake Westwood as the number one golfer in the world. He is currently 10 shots back.
Westwood missing the cut at Qatar is the follow up to a 64th place finish in the European Tour's event in Abu Dhabi last month. He says his struggles are mainly to do early season rust, but it does make you question whether he is truly the best golfer in the world. Yes, a few months ago it certainly looked like he was when he dominated the field in South Africa at the Nedbank Challenge. Don't get me wrong the best can struggle at times, but when you start out the year with a 64th place finish and a failure to make the cut that is a lot of struggles. Lee Westwood is definitely not the golfer that we thought he was when he overtook Tiger at the end of last year, especially now that is position as the top golfer is being threatened after a mere 3 months.
In reality, Kaymer will probably not take overtake Westwood at the Qatar Masters. He shot a 70 today and is 10 strokes back, as stated earlier. This means that he would have be nearly perfect throughout the weekend to have a chance at first or second. Even if he doesn't overtake Westwood this tournament, having a good weekend will get him that much closer to the number one spot, and with Westwood back to the range to figure out what he's doing wrong, it could only be a matter of time before we crown Martin Kaymer as the number 1 golfer in the world.
All this uncertainly at the top must make golf officials very unhappy. The sports is bound to flop if there is no de facto number one, or at least some excellent players fighting for it like Nadal, Federer, and even Djokovic in tennis. In the good old days of golf there was Tiger Woods as the unquestioned best golfer in the world and everyone else was trying to catch him. Nowadays Woods is falling faster than the chances of the Lakers 3-peating and it it seems that the other golfers are just golfing and if they manage to do well enough to take the number one spot then so be it. Golf needs a star to emerge and take the number one spot. Golf needs another Tiger Woods.
References:
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6089963
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Westwood#PGA_Tour_wins_.282.29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Kaymer
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