Tiger Woods went a year without a victory. He won the Australian
Masters in November 2009, then disappeared from golf for five months. He
returned to tie for fourth at the Masters and the U.S. Open, but he
also missed a cut, withdrew from the Players and didn't win another top
10 for the rest of the Tour schedule. Somehow, though, he remained No. 1
in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was finally passed on Nov. 1, by
Lee Westwood, who had won a grand total of one tournament since ...
November 2009.Westwood reached the top by accumulating a win (the 2010 St. Jude Classic), three seconds (including the Masters and the British Open) and a string of other high finishes, but his was largely a bloodless coup. If Woods's long domination of the ranking had obscured its weaknesses, his fall made them obvious. Something needed to be done, hence the inaugural SI Golf Ranking. Each week 15 staffers from SI Golf+, Golf Magazine and GOLF.com will vote for their top 10, awarding 10 points to their first choice and proceeding in descending order to the 10th player, who gets one point. The points will then be added and the ranking calculated.
This will produce a more responsive and yet stable picture of the game's top players at any given moment. For example, Westwood hasn't won since last June, yet he remains atop the OWGR. In the SI Golf Ranking, he has already been kicked to the curb. Notice has been served, fellas. No more coasting on past glory.