Round 6: World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play
February 27 2011
7:44 pm
Europeans claim top 4 spots in world
MARANA, Ariz. – For the first time since 1992, the top four players in the Official World Golf Ranking are all from Europe.
Martin Kaymer officially took over No. 1 when the rankings were released on Sunday night. Luke Donald, who beat Kaymer to win the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, rose from ninth to third, the highest ranking of his career.
Lee Westwood, who was eliminated in the second round at Dove Mountain, fell to second. He had held the top spot for 17 weeks, after ending Tiger Woods’ reign at 281 straight weeks.
Graeme McDowell, who lost in the Accenture quarterfinals, remained at No. 4 but he is now ahead of Woods, who has dropped two spots to fifth. The last time Woods was ranked lower than third in the world was April 6, 1997 prior to his first Masters victory. A week later, Woods had climbed 10 spots to No. 3 behind Greg Norman and Tom Lehman.
The last time four Europeans led the way was on March 15, 1992 when Ian Woosnam of Wales was No. 1, England’s Nick Faldo was No. 2 and Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal was No. 3 and Seve Ballesteros was No. 4.
Here is the new top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking:
| Rank | Player | Country |
| 1. | Martin Kaymer | Germany |
| 2. | Lee Westwood | England |
| 3. | Luke Donald | England |
| 4. | Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland |
| 5. | Tiger Woods | United States |
| 6. | Phil Mickelson | United States |
| 7. | Paul Casey | England |
| 8. | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| 9. | Steve Stricker | United States |
| 10. | Matt Kuchar | United States |
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 
The Americans thoroughly deserve this fall from grace. They hounded the only American who can hold the Europeans at bay for more than a year for indiscretion in his personal life. So much so that this guy who has done nothing more than most “bad” boys has done is now psychologically affected adversedly so much that he may never recover.
Enjoy the views from the bottom up; we all know you love it.
congrats to luke. he played superb all week. welcome to the new era of golf where by year end (i think) NO americans will be in the top 10 in the OWGR. race to dubai is the MAIN tour now.
Hey Christopher, seriously, since when does Tiger represent “Americans”. Once upon a time he was the “world’s greatest golfer”, how about some slack, your Euros wouldn’t have any paycheck if it weren’t for Tiger and that thing called “golf”?
Sorry Christopher, mis-interpreted comments at first, appologies, now see that you’re definitely not a Tiger fan and instead a Tiger appologist. No American can obviously fill Tiger’s shoes.
Yes, the Euros have the top 4 spot’s, but only 1 has a major. No player should ever be ranked #1 without winning a major. The Americans will win 2 or 3 of the major’s this year.
Congrats to Luke Donald. He’s a great player with tons of class.
Jim The Americans to win 2 or 3 Majors this year Big Call. Phil won Masters. Euro wins US OPEN AND EURO WINS PGA and EURO TOUR players wins THE OPEN (British for you?)all in 2010 and Euro’s are moving up tables not down, PAY ATTENTION JIM!
OK. Phil or Tiger wins the masters. Kaymer wins the US open. Buba wins the British. PGA, no pick, doesn’t really seem like a major anyway.
Tiger’s problem is his swing, will never understand why golfers change their natural swing, Faldo the only one that ever came out good on the other side, Again it is an American thing, another industry, Ledbetter has destroyed more golfers then any body else, including Ernie Els, problem with American Golf, they have become obsessed with long drives, distance. look at the players who is winning? the ball strikers not the 350 yrd drivers. Jim, bad news, dont thing Tiger or Phil will win a major soon. Phil is a great man but like Ernie Els, they have to many other issues on their minds
From the mid 80s thru the mid 90s the Euros were the best players. We’re in one of those cycles again, unless Tiger turns his game around. Phil is probably past his peak, as are Furyk and Stricker. Best American prospects are probably Mahan, D.Johnson, Fowler, maybe Bubba…..I don’t think they’re quite as solid as McDowell, Kaymer, McIlroy.
If you take away Tiger, the whole world has been pretty evenly matched in golf for the last 25 years!
Luke has 3 wins in the past five years and he moves up. how many wins does Tiger have in that time frame as well as Phil. the OWGR is becoming a joke as there has been a lot of movement lately. if anything 1 should be Kaymer and 2 should be Mcdowell as they have proven themselves this past season as well as into this season. Westwood and Donald get one or two wins and they receive kudos for that. Your reaching if that is the case. Tiger could sit out three years with all his wins and still should be number one becuase no one else will win as consistently as he has. exception wold be Kaymer, Mcdowell and Stricker.
I agree with christopher on the tiger thing. Its too bad that the american media have nothing better to do than to make peoples private lives public.
Yes the Euros right now are dominating the world golf rankings but lets see if one european can hold the number 1 spot for as long as Tiger did! I dont see it happening anytime soon.
I can see kaymer at number one for significant time. I think by the end of 2011. Woods will be back, and for the next 5 years Woods and Kaymer will be swapping top spot.
Lets forget the talk about Majors. 3 of 4 majors are played in the same country. Naturally players from that country is going to have en advantage in those 4 tournaments. But there are lots of other big tournament all over the world, and they count just as much.
The US Open and The (US)PGA Championship means nothing to non-americans. But that hasn’t dawned on the american public yet.
Finally : Congratulations to the Top 4. You deserve it.
Jacob, no “none” American cares about the US Open? What do they have you smoking across the pond? Tell that to Graeme McDowell. I think most people can agree the PGA is the most lackluster of the 4. And most people think either the Austrailan Masters or another tourney outside US should be the 4th. But don’t diss the US Open, it’s just as prestigious as The (British) Open. Yes, Euro’s are on a nice run. And Louis O doesn’t count as a Euro, he’s from South Africa.
What?? The US Open and PGA mean nothing to non-Americans? That’s like saying the British Open means nothing to Americans, and is ridiculous. I don’t see the US players having an advantage in 3 majors just because they’re held in the US, as top players play all over the world and in very different conditions. I agree with Jim’s post above. The 6 Euros in the top 10 have 2 majors between them, and the top 3 have but 1. Without a major, you can’t be considered the best player on the planet, case closed….
@Paul
The US open is as big as The Open???
You’ve got to be kidding, right? The Open is by far the most prestigious tournament in the world. Some US-golfers rank The Masters at the same level, but that’s just a few nutters. The Masters is 2nd, ahead of the US Open on that list.
But we can agree that The US Open is above The USPGA Championship.
And Louis Oosthuizen counts as a European since he’s played in Europe for the last 8-10 years. The same way that Luke Donald and Martin Laird counts as half-americans and not true europeans.
No one will top TW’s record holding #1.
Hey! what all anti Tiger writing about. Leave that man alone. He will bounce back.
Euro players got three Major Trophies plus Ryder Cup last year 2010.Some of them sould be ranked higher than US players.
Hey what all anti Tiger’s writing about. Leave that man alone. He will bounce back.
Fact is, Woods is history and there isn’t any promising US player on the horizon. OK, maybe Ricky Fowler but compared to the European players which are now hitting the scene that’s nothing. By the end of 2011 you’ll probably have max. 2 US players in the top 10.
Everyone settle down and let it shake out. Luke will slide down the rankings. Tiger is done mentally and untill he admits that he will not dominate but will win and may get jack’s record. Kaymer is the man and has been for over a year. The Euro’s should just close up shop and move across the pond. The Puerto Rican Open pays more that most of their tournament and about 100 people show up every week. And look at the the top 50 euro’s against the top 50 americans and you will realize that the euro’s are top heavy. As a whole group they are not strong and as a tour they are weak. I love Kaymer, he is the second coming of Faldo and cross between Berhard Langer and Michael Schumacher. that is a lethal combination.
The British Open and The Masters are the two most important majors. Even though the British Open is the home of golf, The Masters is by far the classiest, and most prestigious tournament for one to win. All you guys saying that the British Open is the most prestigious are ridiculous. The green jacket and Amen Corner are loads above the Claret Jug. Obviously most Americans will say The Masters is the major they would choose to win but even the Europeans have been quoted as saying that The Masters is the major they would like to win. The two are great and I’m sure any golfer on tour would take either in a heartbeat, however, I just think that The Masters edges out The Open.
Kayner is very deserving of his number 1 ranking but why is that the last two number ones, Westwood and Kaymer with Kaymer the exception not having to accumulate wins in order to be number 1 but rather be consistent in coming second, third and so forth. Is that all it takes anymore to be number 1, consistently finish anywhere in the money except first. At least when Vijah replaced Tiger he was winning tournaments and winning a lot of them at the time. Now all we here today is if this guy or that guy places this or that and thsi players doesnt make the cut then this player will become number 1 and so on. What about winning tournaments, apparently that doesnt matter anymore. Have 3 wins in five years and be a runner up in the majors consistently and you will become number one. Even Steve Stricker has a better record than Donald over five years. TIGER WILL BE THE MAN AGAIN! i dont think anyone beat him to take his number one ranking but they at least finished somewhere in the mix but did not win many tournaments, beside Kaymer. COngrats to Kaymer because the guy is playing some golf for the past year or so.
fact is us open is a much better field than the open….and why did the the open stop being called the british open?…..i will tell you why ….the british are stuck on themselves period…..yes europe does hold the top 4 spots….but….donald and mcdowell play on the us pga tour why?….its a better tour….plain and simple….
These World Gold Ranking are kind of a joke. What has Lee Westwood and Roy MacIlroy done to deserve to be ranked that high ? Neither has won on the PGA tour and how mant majors have they won ? Kaymer is proving himself as has Graeme Mcdowell, but Luke Donald just won his 2nd golf tournament in his whole career, Tiger has 80 some wins, Phil has 38, sorry I don’t buy it.
There needs to be qualifiers in any “world rankings,” regardless of the sport. In golf, to be considered, there should be a minimum amount of wins and a minimum amount of majors. The difference between winning and being in the top five is huge, and some of these guys in the top 10 haven’t showm the ability to close the deal with the top players. Winning around the world doesn’t necessarily mean greatness, as the field in places like Japan are a joke. A decent amateur can qualify to play there. Let the Euros play and win the biggest events, and I’ll be a believer. Until then, keep pretending they’re the best, and it’ll be perceived as a joke…..
To everyone who thinks the PGA Championship doesn’t mean anything. Ask Arnie or Tom Watson.Neither man won it.
Tiger who? Sorry media, you didn’t get what you wanted.
The rankings formula is what it is, fun with numbers. The best golfer in the world IS the guy holding the trophy on Sunday, that week. That same guy might be holding a number of trophies as his season plays out, he’s the best those weeks too. At the end of the year, tally up the results, the guy with the most trophies WAS the best. IS and WAS are different. Kaymer IS posting good results, and WAS the best in recent past performance. Do this IS and WAS on any player, it’s scary when you apply it to the big names we are used to seeing. What IS in 2011 so far? Things sure ain’t turnin’ out like they WAS, are they? Of course, we’re only 20% done, anything IS possible.
@ gail
the PGA Tour is all about money. So any mediocre player making the cut still cashes in a good cheque and makes a living. If you think winning outside the US is easy I’d like to see some US players trying to survive on the Euro tour. If your not top 20 you ain’t makin any money. Besides, the Euros have to travel around the world whilst the US guys play almost entirely on their home turf meaning virtually same conditions most of the time. Why do you think that some of our top players are preferring to play on the Euro Tour? It keeps them sharp.
Tiger Woods aged 35
Woods has won 71 official PGA Tour events, third all time behind Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus.
Woods has won 14 majors, second all time, behind Jack Nicklaus.
Woods owns the lowest career scoring average in PGA Tour history.
Woods is the only player to have won all four professional major championships in a row
Woods 623 weeks ranked number one
case closed Euros!
Michael…I can tell you’re a Brit, based on the “whilst”, and I can understand why you’d be defensive. You claim that only the top 20 make any money…would that be tough for a quality US Tour player? Who exactly would they need to beat? Bottom line, the Euros have some solid players, but the tour isn’t deep. The #25 player in the US is a proven winner “whilst” the same #25 on the Euro Tour is a nobody that can’t win on US soil. When you speak to the conditions in the US being consistent, that’s only because the course coditions are more controllable…trust me, if the Euro Tour could have the courses in the best conditions possible, they would. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible. Michael, I totally get the pretentious aspects of the Brits, and I can understand trying to parlay their recent success in golf as a reason to think they’re the ones to beat, but reality will tell you that the best players and the deepest tour in terms of talent is in the US. That’s why all the decent players come over to play full time, and not the reverse. How many US players are full time on the European Tour???
Good points Gail. . the proof is out there just because the top ten Euros are great right now doesn’t mean Europe or the their tour is better. If Kaymer was born and raised in Scottsdale you think he would have left for Europe to play the challenge tour? Louie, Charl, Ernie, Retief anyone talking about SA having the best golfers and thinking the sunshine tour is where it’s at? No way. And one last tidbit, Monty order of merit 7 times in a row? Couldn’t sniff it with the big boys in big tourneys
GNIX…totally agree, which is why the World Golf Ratings are a joke. The top 3 in the world have 1 major between them, and that should be a qualifier before even being considered. How can you be called the best player on the planet if you can’t get it done in the biggest events, yet we have Westwood and Donald in the top 3, and they’ve had plenty of events to get it done. I’m not sure either one of those two would even consider themselves to be deserving, as they both know the importance of winning major events. How many athletes in other sports have been considered the best with zero championships? Jordan knew the value, which is why he continued to pay the price to make sure he got it done. The world is full of non-winners…the tour doesn’t need to recognize those from Europe that can’t win…..
oh yeah tiger wins euro event at a pace of about 38% career and most of those are actually majors and WGC events. If sorted on regular Euro events it’s close to 70% oh he finished out of the top 6 once!!!! the guys at the top in Europe are really really good but it’s a list of about 10 players and have are actually PGA tour members not Euro members.
@Gail
You all seemed to be quite happy with the OWGR when most of the top spots were taken up by Americans. Now that the tide has turned you all cry wolf. Woods kept occupying that #1 spot even though he wasn’t playing, let alone winning any tournaments. Does this mean he was the best player in the world for the last 2 years? And why don’t we have Americans playing the Euro tour? It’s like I said: it’s easier for your boys playing in their own backyard. They fly domestic or get to the tournaments by car. No flying around the world to strange places, where you have strange people who speak strange languages and eat strange food. Any average player can make a good living on the US Tour even if he doesn’t win anything. And as you’ve probably noticed not every decent player wants to play the PGA Tour full-time.