General / Ralph Ellis / 27 April 2011 /

Ralph Ellis explains why the likes of Lee Westwood will have to put up with questions about his world ranking until he wins at least one Major.

For the last decade it's been dead easy to answer the question: "Who is the world's best golfer?" Tiger Woods. Next question.

All of a sudden it's a lot more complicated. Lee Westwood is back on top of the official rankings, just, because Luke Donald didn't quite close out the Heritage tournament last week and Martin Kaymer's taken some time off. Then again Charl Schwartzel won the Masters. On the other hand Phil Mickelson who is fourth on the list has been so consistent for so many years. But Graeme McDowell is reigning US Open champion. And of course the moment Woods rediscovers his touch then he'll be contending again.
Confused? Me too. And it seems like the debate is getting to Westwood, who has given an unusually tetchy response to questions about his status a few days after his victory in the Indonesian Open restored him to top spot.

It's richly ironic that Nick Faldo, once himself so sensitive to criticism, has given ammunition to those who question Westwood's status because he still hasn't won a major. "The system should give extra points for a major win," he tweeted during Sunday's final round at The Heritage.

I can't help feeling he's right. The point about the big tournaments is that, because of their status, it isn't enough just to be the best golfer to win them. Just ask Colin Montgomerie, who closed out minor tournaments for fun all over Europe for years but always blew it when the pressure was on at a major. The longer he searched for that first big title, the more his nerves went to frazzles when it mattered. I laughed my socks off when I heard that he'd been in touch with Rory McIlroy to give him advice after it all went so badly wrong for the young Irishman at the Masters.

In fact, there were people who said that McIlroy proved his mental strength by leading the Malaysian Open a few days after that spectacular meltdown. They were wrong. He won't prove that until he takes the lead in another major, and then has the bottle to hold it, when the ghosts of that ghastly last day at Augusta will be dancing in his mind.

We all recognise it is not easy to take that first big title. That's why Westwood, statistically the best player on the planet, is [5.0] to land one of the year's three remaining Majors while Tiger Woods, consistently playing like a drain at any of the minor occasions, is [2.5] in the same market to put his game together when it matters.

Sadly, Westwood is going to have to get used to dealing with these questions. The sooner he rediscovers his normal smile to cope with them, then the quicker he'll take some pressure away from himself. Who knows, it might just get him relaxed enough to close out the US Open in June (he's second favourite at [17.0]), and then he won't have to be asked about it any more.

Five things you might not know about Charl Schwartzel
1. Born August 1984 on the family farm near Johannesburg, his full name is Charl Adriaan James Lindsay Schwartzel
2. Dad George was a keen amateur golfer who spent a few years as a pro. His brother Adrian also had a brief time on the Sunshine Tour, and has caddied for Charl
3. He was 18 years and 81 days when he gained his European Tour card through qualifying school - at the time the fourth youngest ever to do so but now the fifth since Oliver Fisher achieved it at 18 and 64 days. Youngest ever remains Magnus Persson at 17 and 116 days in 1982.
4. He and wife Rosalind are big safari fans - and holidayed last year at the exclusive Leopard Hills reserve on the Kruger National Park
5. He says his hero is Angus Buchan, a South African farmer and preacher. Check out his book "Faith Like Potatoes" to know more

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