Westwood Deserves His World No.1 Ranking

Westwood Deserves His World No.1 Ranking

Lee Westwood's return to the world No.1 spot after victory in the Indonesian Open was greeted with a large amount of cynicism in some quarters.The Worksop golfer regained top spot after he won in Jakarta and Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald lost a play-off in The Heritage at Hilton Head in South Carolina.However, winning against a Lee Westood Frustrated By Talk About Lack Of Titles field which included the likes of Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng – big names on the Asian Tour but nowhere near Westwood's class – left many critics, particularly those across the Atlantic, dismissing the achievement.Much of that may be sour grapes, with six Europeans currently in the world's top eight where American representation is restricted to Phil Mickelson (fourth) and Tiger Woods (sixth).Even taking into account Westwood's lack of a Major victory so far, no one can seriously question his quality after the last couple of years.But since Westwood knocked Tiger Woods off the top of the World Rankings last November, the back-biting has been incessant.

Westwood then slammed the US Tour when they gave Ricky Fowler the Rookie of the Year award.He believed it should have gone to Rory McIlroy, as did one of their own, Dustin Johnson, who said: "Maybe it's because he's an American."The US dominated golf for the best part of the last 90-odd years. They won Majors by the score and hammered us in the Ryder Cup. They took great glee in keeping their country cousins in their place.But that is no longer the case. Two Europeans, Irishman Graeme McDowell, Germany's Martin Kaymer and two South Africans, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, hold the four Major championships.Three Europeans including two Englishmen top the World Rankings.