Luke Donald beats Lee Westwood in playoff to take top spot in the world

Luke Donald secured the world No. 1 ranking by winning the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday, beating Lee Westwood in a playoff in what was a duel for top spot between the two players.

On the first playoff hole, Donald landed his approach onto the No. 18 green to within a few feet, while Westwood sent his shot into the adjacent water hazard to decide the tournament at Wentworth.

It is only the second stroke-play title in the past five years for Donald, who joins Westwood and Nick Faldo as the only Englishmen to hold the top spot since the rankings were introduced in 1986.

Donald will replace Westwood when the new rankings are released on Monday. His second tour victory this year, and fifth overall, also extends his lead in The Race to Dubai standings.

"Sounds pretty good, doesn't it," said Donald, last year's runner-up. "It's an amazing accomplishment. It's something I will be very proud of when I look back. I will savor this moment, it's very special. I think I will stay the same person, I hope I do. I'm looking forward to the challenge of staying No. 1. I know Lee and Martin (Kaymer) will be chasing me very hard."

Having trailed co-leaders Matteo Manassero and Donald by two strokes entering the round, Westwood shot a 3-under 68 and Donald hit a 70 for both to total 6-under 278.

Simon Dyson of England (69) finished third at 280 after hitting a 69. Marcus Fraser of Australia (67), France's Raphael Jacquelin (71), Shane Lowry of Ireland (67) were two strokes further back.

In a group of seven on 283 was three-time champion Colin Montgomerie (68), who claimed his first top-10 finish in almost three years, and Manassero (75).

It was third time lucky for Donald, who had missed out on becoming No. 1 after losing to Ian Poulter in the World Match Play final last week in Spain and going down to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff at The Heritage in April.

But his consistency in finishing in the top 10 for the past nine tournaments -- including winning the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona in February -- ensured his first playoff victory on either the European or PGA TOUR will give him the No. 1 ranking.

Donald said Westwood's water-bound approach in the playoff was more down to poor fortune than execution.

"It wasn't a bad shot, just had a litte bit too much spin on it. It was just unfortunate, you don't like to see that," Donald said. "Lee is a champion and has been a great No. 1 for European golf."

Westwood couldn't believe his ball didn't stay on the green.

"Where did the ball pitch? It's amazing it went in the water," Westwood said. "When Luke's (shot) was in the air, I thought it might have gone in the back bunker."

A tournament of mostly unimpressive scoring -- due to a redesign from Ernie Els that has made the West Course almost unplayable, or to fiendishly difficult pin placements, depending upon whom you believe -- continued at the start of the final round.

Donald began the day by going bogey-bogey, visibly blanching after duffing his chip at the par-3 No. 2 from just off the green.

Manassaero double-bogeyed No. 3 after needing two shots to reach the green from an adjacent bunker. Donald birdied the next hole to draw level with the Italian in front again.

Westwood, however, made four birdies in nine holes after a bogey on No. 3 to sit on top of the leaderboard.

Another birdie on the difficult No. 15 green was made possible by one of the shots of the tournament. Having missed the fairway with his driver and receiving a free drop, Westwood carved a 7-iron with draw that rolled within 4 feet of the hole, the putt taking him two strokes ahead of Donald.

That lead evaporated at No. 16.

Westwood three-putted after having dropped his club in his follow-through from the tee. Donald, in the next group, landed his approach within a foot of the hole -- and the top two players in the world were level again.

Down the home straight, Donald and Westwood mixed the sub-standard with the sublime.

Donald's birdie putt lipped out on No. 17 after a brilliant rescue shot following an approach that hit a tree. He landed his tee shot into the bunker at No. 18, not long after Westwood had sent his 5-wood into the gallery at the last.

"If you're going to miss your chances, you'll go into a playoff -- and they are volatile, aren't they?" Westwood said later.

Amateur Jordan Spieth struggles to final round 77

Jordan Spieth may have shown his age in the last four holes, but overall, the 17-year-old amateur still had an impressive week in his second start at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Spieth went bogey-double bogey-bogey-double bogey in the final four holes in Sunday’s final round. He wasn’t alone in his struggles at TPC Four Season Resort’s closing stretch, but it was a tough day for the high school graduate.

“I was humbled by the this back nine.” said Spieth, who will be a University of Texas freshman this fall. “ … It’s hard. It stings right now, it really does.”

Spieth shot a 7-over 77 in the final round to leave him at 6 over for the tournament. He was still 1 over through 14 holes, which still gave him hope to make a move. Instead, he just moved backwards.

“I’m proud of the way I hung in there until the last four holes,” Spieth said.

Spieth started the final round just four shots off the lead. But a bogey at the opening hole was a foreshadow of struggles to come. Spieth eventually posted three double bogeys on the day, along with five bogeys.

But he also had four birdies, and 20 overall for the week. Defending champion Jason Day led the field this week in birdies with 22.

Another big crowd followed Spieth, who had big troubles off the tee Sunday. He hit just four of 14 fairways.

“I was everywhere today,” Spieth said. “I probably played a shot left-handed. I hit probably 30 trees. … It just wasn’t there with the driver today. Had I hit some fairways today, I think I could’ve shot a couple under and had a good shot.”

Last year in this event as a 16-year-old, Spieth became the sixth-youngest player to make a cut at a PGA TOUR event and eventually finished tied for 16th.

Amanda recaps Keegan Bradley's first win @ the HP Byron Nelson

Personal or professional, business isn't good for Tiger Woods

article by: Steve Elling

During his 16 seasons on tour, Tiger Woods has been featured in a slew of TV commercials, including some that required actual acting, timing and theatrical chops. He has a Screen Actors Guild card.

OK, sure, he hasn't filmed any acting lately for all the obvious reasons, because as a marketable commodity, even Nike can't much use him at the moment. But that underscores the notion that's about to be presented -- he's far too rusty to have pulled off what would have represented his greatest thespian effort ever.

At a press session Tuesday outside of Philadelphia, Woods was asked about the state of his relationship with longtime agent Mark Steinberg and management agency IMG. The fading former world No. 1 looked his inquisitor in the eye and seemed sincere.

For those who say that you can tell when Woods is bull-shooting us whenever his lips are moving, this would have been Oscar-worthy.

"I'm committed to both, with IMG, and Mark's my agent," he said, not batting an eye and seeming rather surprised the issue was broached.

So given the unblinking delivery, it's hard to believe he knew what was coming later in the day, when Steinberg was put on waivers by IMG after his contract-renewal talks with the company abruptly broke down, according to reports.

Agents come and go, in all sports. It's inside-baseball stuff, generally. Players sue agents. Agents sue players. Agents leave companies. Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus left IMG. This development is different because of the timing, circumstances and protagonists. The Shark and Bear were at the top of their sports at the time.

It presents Woods with more nagging, niggling details to sort out as he tries to re-assemble a reputation and career that have corroded from the bottom up starting with his 2009 sex scandal. Now he is facing yet another big-money divorce -- either from his agent and friend, Steinberg, or the management firm that helped put him on the marketing map and secured endorsement deals that made him the first billionaire earner in sports history.

"I'm very happy with both," Woods said Tuesday.

Pick one.

It adds another layer to the upchucking upheaval in Woods' personal and private lives, and in this instance, there's crossover. Steinberg stuck by Woods at his lowest ebb as the stomach-turning scandal played out -- sure, he had a financial stake in it -- and is one of Woods' few personal confidants. A divorce from IMG or Steinberg is going to potentially cut across all boundaries.

What's next, Steve Williams quitting? Come to think of it, plenty of folks have noticed that the longtime caddie hasn't been doing much whistling while he works for Woods lately, either, and was none too crazy when he was painted by a broad, bad brush when the scandal broke.

For the past 18 months, Woods hasn't so much lived a life as endured a ginormous, endless distraction. Cops, lawyers, judges, disgraced Canadian doctors, waitresses, porn stars, swing coaches, tour disciplinary action and a career-long victory drought. The lines blur and they've become almost impossible to separate.

In his last start, Woods quit after shooting 42 over nine holes, citing aggravated knee, Achilles and calf injuries. Now he'll need even more ibuprofen for the massive headache his management issue will certainly cause.

The latest falling domino adds another level of stress in an area where Woods is particularly vulnerable -- his wallet. The nuances of the agent game are interesting, because while agencies often solicit and land endorsement deals for clients, companies often take the initiative, too. They make the first call, and big firms like IMG then match up the particulars of the prospective corporate endorsement deal with the best sports figure in its client closet.

Woods won't be benefiting from any of those handout deals anymore. In fact, IMG negotiated his appearance fees, often at tournaments run overseas by one of IMG's subsidiaries (incest layer duly noted). Woods' last victory, 18 months ago at the Aussie Masters, came while he was receiving $3 million from a tournament run by IMG. His appearance-fee deal with Dubai has also reportedly expired, another revenue source that has dried up like spit in a desert.

Add them to the list. Despite assurances from Steinberg that deals were in the offing, Woods hasn't signed an endorsement deal since the scandal broke, his course-design business hasn't produced a single viable venue and the doorbell long ago stopped ringing. According to a source involved with several PGA Tour events, Steinberg has been actively shopping around the rights to Woods' bag for $5 million, with the guarantee that Woods would play in the company's tour event. The price was $8 million originally, the source said.

As the ash continues to fall around him, it's worth reminding that as far as celebrities and athletes go, Woods is fairly loyal to the crew around him, which means if Steinberg wants to continue as his management mouthpiece, he'll darned likely get the chance. Steinberg presumably knows where many of Tiger's silicone-enhanced bodies are buried, after all.

But hanging his shingle as a solo act, or even as part of another firm, might have its pitfalls. Whether Steinberg can reel in the clients without the institutional might of IMG behind him will bear watching. He wasn't selling Woods even with IMG's muscle, and in golf circles, Steinberg isn't exactly a universally beloved character given the heavy-handed manner in which he has handled Woods' affairs over the years. That could cost them endorsement opportunities, too, assuming Woods ever gets his game sorted out.

When will the latter happen? That's a million-dollar question of another kind, but given Tuesday's latest shock to the system, later seems like a safer bet than sooner. Yes, those are contract terms I just gave you in writing.

It's become head-spinning, and the spiral seems to have a distinctly downward arc. When the agents-of-misfortune development is added to the laundry list of personal, professional and physical issues he already faces, the guy who was once the best ever by a wide margin is now, in fact, more marginalized than ever.

Amanda recaps round 1 from the HP Byron Nelson

John Daly pulls out of the BMW PGA Championship with hip injury

John Daly has become the fourth player to withdraw from the BMW PGA Championship, pulling out after 14 holes of the second round because of a hip injury.

The two-time major winner was 12 over and set to miss the cut at Wentworth on Friday.

Jose Maria Olazabal (back), Paul Waring (hand) and Robert-Jan Derksen (rib) dropped out of the tournament in Thursday's opening round.

Daly's withdrawal leaves one American in the field -- 489th-ranked Anthony Kang, who shot a 6-over 77 on Thursday and is battling to qualify for the weekend.

Daly is scheduled to play in the Wales Open next week at Celtic Manor, but it is unclear if the injury will rule him out.

Tiger out of top 10 in world since 1997

For the first time since before he won the 1997 Masters with an historic 12-shot victory, Tiger Woods dropped out of the top 10 in the world rankings Sunday night. And his plunge won't stop there.

How far might he fall? The numbers stack up against him.

Not to get too engrossed in the minutiae of the world rankings formula, but the main ingredient is a rolling schedule that pulls results from the past two years of a player's record, with the most recent 13 weeks weighing the most heavily.

Over the next four months Woods' world rankings résumé will lose points from five victories from June, 2009 to Sept. 2009 -- unless he can win in the interim. That stretch includes W's at the Memorial, AT&T National, Buick Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and BMW Championship. That last win was, coincidentally, his last victory on the PGA Tour.

To put this into perspective, over his first six events of 2009 -- which have already come off Woods' world ranking record -- Tiger's average finish was 7.6 through that year's Players Championship and included one victory at Bay Hill. During that span, he dropped from No. 2 in the world to No. 12.

Over the next four months, though, his world ranking points from 2009 will be nearly impossible to replace. From the 2009 Memorial in early June through the Tour Championship at the end of September, Woods claimed five victories in 10 events and nine top-10s overall for a staggering average finish of 2.8.

That stretch of golf might have been one of his best ever in a career that saw him win back-to-back majors on four separate occasions including the Tiger Slam of 2000-01.

No one can say for sure just how far Tiger will fall in the rankings in the coming months due to the complexity of the system. Outside the top 20? Top 30? A free fall is all within the realm of possibility now.

Part of the problem is, Woods just doesn't play that much. The world rankings use a minimum divisor of 40 tournaments whether you've played that many times or not. That's averaging 20 tournaments a year, which Woods barely does, once you add in the handful of tournaments he plays away from the PGA Tour. As of this week, Woods has teed it up in just 35 tournaments that award world ranking points in the last 24 months.

So, the theory goes, if Tiger played in more tournaments, he would earn more world ranking points since he almost always makes the cut. Since Tiger doesn't play as often as most other top-tier players, he has fewer chances to earn those precious points.

After the Players Championship, no player in the world had lost more world ranking points (156.979) than Woods in 2011. No one in the top 16 had gained as few as Woods (42.801) this season. That doesn't bode well for Woods if he wants to return to his place atop the game of golf.

Could he get on a hot streak and win a bunch of tournaments to replace all those wins? Of course. We're talking about a 14-time major winner here.

But with that balky knee injury that has resulted in him playing just nine competitive holes since the Masters in early April, the possibility of a return to the top 10, much less No. 1 in the world, seems unlikely any time soon.