Tiger Woods goes into this week's USPGA championship - his final chance to win
a major this season - having equalled a world rankings record.
By keeping his number one position this week Woods has matched Greg Norman's
331 weeks at the top between 1986, the year the ranking system started, and
1998.
Woods first headed the list in June 1997 during his first full season as a
professional and has had seven spells there - the last of them for 261 weeks
unbroken since August 1999.
But, as at the last two majors, the American is in danger of being knocked off
his perch.
If Ernie Els wins at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on Sunday, Woods needs to
be in a two-way tie for second to retain top spot and if Els is second then
Woods cannot afford to finish any lower than 16th.
Fiji's Vijay Singh also has another opportunity to claim the number one
position for the first time, but for that to happen he has to win and Woods has
to miss the cut - something he has not done, amazingly, in his last 128 US Tour
events - and Els must not be second on his own.
The South African is trying to regain the number one spot he has held for only
nine weeks in his career - for seven days after his US Open victory in 1997 and
for eight weeks in 1998.
It is now 10 months since Woods won a stroke-play title and 26 months since he
landed the last of his eight majors, but he was a year's best 21 under par in
finishing third behind Singh and John Daly in the Buick Open eight days ago and
has had six top-10 finishes in his last seven starts.
For the first time in seven years he went into a tournament not as the
favourite at last month's Open and Els almost justified taking over the tag,
losing to little-known American Todd Hamilton only after a four-hole play-off.
Germany's Alex Cejka, meanwhile, has climbed into the world's top 50 after
finishing second in the International tournament in Colorado on Sunday.
The importance of that is that it qualifies him for next week's NEC world
championship in Ohio, the final qualifying event for five of the 10 automatic
spots in the European Ryder Cup team.
Cejka was leading at Castle Pines entering the final hole, but behind him
Australian Rod Pampling sank an eagle putt of over 30 feet at the long 17th and
under the points system went from three behind to two ahead.
USPGA NEWS
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