Wednesday Morning Golf News

Don't miss the HSBC Champions this weekend it is going to be action packed

Els and G-mac paired with Woods at HSBC - US Open champion Graeme McDowell has been paired with deposed world No 1 Tiger Woods for the opening round of the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai.

McDowell — fresh from his brilliant win at Valderama last Sunday, which closed the gap on Martin Kaymer in the Race To Dubai money list — will also play with another former Major champion, Ernie Els.

Mickelson, Woods and US PGA champion Kaymer all have a chance to take Westwood’s No 1 spot this week, and the latter is clearly hungry to make Westwood’s stay at the top a short one.

“As in every event I play, I’m here trying to win,” said Woods. “If ever there was an event that deserved to be the first Asian tournament to impact the top of the world rankings, this is the one. I’ve referred to it before as the crowning jewel of Asian golf.” [Independent.ie]

Westwood paired with Mickelson in Shanghai – In his first tournament as the world’s No 1 player, Lee Westwood will be paired at the HSBC Champions with the player who missed out on a dozen chances to top the world rankings.

Westwood will play with the Masters champion Phil Mickelson, plus former PGA champion YE Yang, when the World Golf Championship starts Thursday at Sheshan International.

Mickelson, the defending champion, played 12 tournaments this year with a chance to replace Tiger Woods at No 1 in the world. Instead it was Westwood who went to No 1 this week despite playing once in three months while recovering from injury. [Thenational]

Westwood deserves No. 1 spot – Woods - Tiger Woods has admitted that he did not deserve to keep a hold of the world No. 1 ranking due to his struggles on the course in 2010.

Lee Westwood has finally ended Woods’ five-year run at the top of the standings after taking advantage of the American’s failure to win a tournament this year.

Having returned to the course in April following a five-month hiatus, Woods has failed to find any consistency in his game. The most striking illustration of this comes in his stroke average, which is 2.2 shots per round higher than it was in 2009.

Although his performances at the majors have been commendable, much of his other play has been dismal – particularly at the Bridgestone Invitational, where he finished at 18-over.

His difficulties on the course have prompted him to change his swing coach in a desperate attempt to spark an upturn in fortunes. But, with that tweak yet to reap any dividends, Woods concedes that he was always going to lose his fragile grip on the world No. 1 spot.

“As far as the world ranking is concerned, yes, I’m not ranked No. 1 in the world,” Woods said. “In order to do that you have to win and I didn’t win this year. [Espn]

HSBC Champions – Six to watch

A healthy prize fund has tempted a host of big names to contend this week’s HSBC Champions event in China.

So who will be in the frame come Thursday?

Paul Casey: Usually plays well in China where he has twice tasted victory in European Tour events. His five starts at Sheshan reads: 7th-6th-9th-11th-Ret.

Luke Donald: The consistent Englishman has performed to an extremely high standard for most of the year and enjoyed a top-three finish in Thailand on Sunday.

Ernie Els: Despite being without a win since March, Els continues to turn in top-notch displays and did so again at the weekend in Kuala Lumpur. He was also second at Sheshan 12 months ago.

Rickie Fowler: The young American has been knocking on the door all season and, at last week’s event in Thailand, posted another top-six finish after compiling four sub-70 rounds.

Martin Kaymer: Following a disappointing performance at Valderrama last week, Kaymer will be keen to re-establish his position as the front-runner in this year’s Race to Dubai standings. After failing to finish in the top-10 in Spain, the German saw his lead considerably reduced in the overall money standings. However, he remains the clear favourite to end the year as Europe’s No 1 golfer.

Phil Mickelson: A two-time winner at Sheshan where he is the defending champion. However, Leftie has mis-fired quite a lot since claiming his third Green Jacket at Augusta in early spring.