World no 1

Rory has reached the top, but can he stay there, or is it just a short stay?? Can Luke regain his spot??, or is Tiger on his way back??

Cockend Woods will get back into th etop ten, but no chance he'll get to number one.

He has the talent, it would seem he has the temperament (now), he's going to play enough events and the system favours consistency, so I would say he has a good chance of staying there for a while...

But this is sport and very much a form sport, so I'd still class it as a probability as opposed to a certainty.

Remember everyone pointing out that it was Luke's consistency that got him to #1 and stay there. I can't imagine that consistency has left him (albeit with a slow start to the season). Will Coco really remain that consistent? He seems to have the ability to throw high numbers in from time to time and lose his focus. Just because he didn't at the honda doesn't mean its a thing of the past

i think its really ominous for the world of golf that Rory managed to win ugly. he was top of the scrambing stats this week. in the past its always been his short game that has prevented him from closing out tournaments on a regular basis.

I'm no expert on the rankings workings but presumably Luke has more points to defend this year so it could be tougher for him to get back to number one?
On that basis Woods, if he finds good form, should really surge back up.
But I'd guess Rory will be number one for 2012 now he's got there. I was also of the opinion that he wouldn't be consistent enough but he looks arrogant on the course....in a good way....and he knows he's the man and he clearly loves that.

I think that Rory might stop there till for a couple of months, but would question if he has the class to maintain it for all of this year.

It is obviously very close between Rory Luke and Lee at the moment so the rankings could switch around quite a bit in the next couple of months. But by the end of 2012 I think Rory will be the top dog by a good margin. Despite 3 wins in his last 12 outings I am still not convinced by his ability to close but he is certainly getting better at it.

The one unknown is Tiger. He has had a lot of false dawns over the last couple of years but he seems to be coming on leaps and bounds and it would not surprise me if he comes out firing at Doral… Should be a great season!!

And well done Rory!!

It's definitely setting up for a great season, it's easy to look back at the last couple of weeks and think Rory will now kick on and establish himself as a strong number one...BUT...cast your minds back 15-18 months, how many of us thought the same about Kaymer when he was going through his purple patch.

I do think the top 3 will stay the top 3 although they may juggle around a bit, I can see the fight for 4 however being quite a dogfight and I do now think Woods will be part of that dogfight, I also think Sergio will continue to rise and I can see Schwartel having a good season so Kaymer will have his work cut out staying at number 4.

The top 3 have established quite a gap over 4th and below. Which of them has the best year will pretty much dictate who's no. 1 the longest. Rory's on an unbelievable run of form at the moment, much as Luke was for most of last year. Lee just seems to pick up his points with wins in odd places and late surges into top 5s like yesterday. He's not had the best start to the year but I can see Luke exchanging blows with Rory and the top spot switching between them a few times this year. Lee may well continue to pick up enough points to maintain 3rd, unless Woods plays well enough to force his way into the top 3.

Good points presented here but what does it say about Kaymer who reached number one and suddenly became almost irrelevant and similar to LW as smithersjones puts it: "... Lee just seems to pick up his points with wins in odd places and late surges into top 5s like yesterday...".

It seems like MK's developed a fear of success. Within the past decade or so, are there others like him on both Tours that have become prone to self-sabatoge? I have read a recent interview with Fred Couples who stated he wasn't comfortable with being number one and probably the main reason why he didn't stay at the top for long.

Unless Rory has a drastic change in his game, I don't see him relinquishing the top spot for very long and not without a huge battle. Great for the rest of us outside of the ropes. Among the young guns, Keegan Bradley might be the best bet for a U.S. golfer to contend, the rest have been too inconsistent to even approach number one. One other, Rickie Fowler lacks something, not sure what it is, but he lacks something.

I thought Kaymer's decline was down to the swing changes he thought he needed to make. It's an all too common story, Harrington being another who won a major (3, of course) and yet felt they needed to alter their game to get to the next level. Unlike Harrington, Kaymer's still young enough to get back to the kind of game that got him to No. 1, albeit only briefly. Not much sign of it yet, sadly.

smithersjones wrote:I thought Kaymer's decline was down to the swing changes he thought he needed to make. It's an all too common story, Harrington being another who won a major (3, of course) and yet felt they needed to alter their game to get to the next level. Unlike Harrington, Kaymer's still young enough to get back to the kind of game that got him to No. 1, albeit only briefly. Not much sign of it yet, sadly.

Good to hear that Kaymer's issues are physical as opposed to psychological but it is an all too common story. Why do these elite players feel the need to alter their game usually to their detriment? Don't know about the pro's from other era's but I don't recall reading about Jack, Arnie, etc. changing coaches and systems as much as the guys today. Granted the level of play overall has probably never been better but this age of the swing coaches has definitely ruined some seasons and perhaps potential careers.

venice1 wrote:

It seems like MK's developed a fear of success. Within the past decade or so, are there others like him on both Tours that have become prone to self-sabatoge?

*Stereo-type alert*

I don't think this is an issue for Kaymer. He seems to possess that German calmness under pressure. Out of all the golfers on tour I would back him to score every time in a penalty shoot out!

I think it's the swing changes that have messed him up. He got to world no1 with a solid fade as his stock shot, all these guys can move the ball both ways and I'm sure he is no different. Apparently he has been working on a draw, to enable him to hit both a draw or a fade equally well, and it's been a bit of a struggle.

A draw to make him more competitive at Augusta apparently.
I saw him do an interview recently where he said he had abandoned the idea and is now back to his natural fade

I think the Master, might be the tipping point, if Woods wins it, would expect him then to make a charge for the number 1 spot, not sure what he would have to do to secure it by the end of this year, but the others would have to watch out. On the other hand if Rory, wins it it would secure his no 1 spot, but if Westwood Donald or Kraymer win it, then it would be hard to say who would be at no 1 come the end of the season.

OPW - how well Woods does at Augusta will probably be a yard-stick for his season. In terms of form horses, he has the form for Augusta; could easily win it a couple more times. It's down to mental belief and playing in sufficient tourneys now and desire..... should be an absolute belter this year...

Don't necessarily agree with that. Woods played pretty well at Augusta in 2011 and had a pretty miserable year.

He's back on track to a certain degree Super.... I can 't say I like the man at all though to be honest. He's not quite as despicable as the Russian Putin-supporting mafiosa who runs Chelski... but not far behind....

super_realist wrote:Don't necessarily agree with that. Woods played pretty well at Augusta in 2011 and had a pretty miserable year.

Yes very true. Tiger finished 4th in both 2010 and 2011 and in both years people talked about him being back when clearly he wasn't. I think those results were flash in the pan performances at a course where he must feel very comfortable, so not really indicative of where his game was. However, this year he is coming into the Masters having demonstrated some form... Chevron, Abu Dhabi and Honda all indicate he is a contender again.