It was only a matter of time before Lorena Ochoa replaced Annika Sorenstam at the top of the Women’s World Golf Ranking. While Annika is nursing disk injuries in her back and neck, this week rising star Ochoa forged ahead of the dominant female golfer of this (or any) generation. Sorenstam hopes to return for the U.S. Women’s Open in June.
This got me thinking, when will Tiger Woods be dethroned? Except for an interruption in 2004-05 courtesy of Vijay Singh, Tiger has held the top spot in the World Golf Ranking for a golf eternity, more than 440 weeks.
But nothing lasts forever.
So what year will Tiger be toppled? (And not just an interruption, but for good.) Will it be 2010? 2013? 2020? And who will knock him off his golf pedestal? Will it be someone we already know of or a complete newcomer?
Until Tiger finishes chasing down Jack Nicklaus’s majors record, I don’t see him giving ground to anyone. I expect Woods to be at the top for at least another six years. I have no clue who might replace him.
The Armchair Golfer
(Photo: PGA.com)
Great question. I’m biased because I’m a huge Tiger fan. I do think he’s going to topple Jack’s major record. Tough call trying to figure out when he’ll lose the top spot. Eventually age or injury will take it’s toll but he takes such good care of himself, so who knows when that’ll happen. As for maybe an unexpected bad streak (like most players have at some point): he didn’t have his “A” game at the Masters and still finished top five.
I got the sense that Tiger didn’t win the Masters this year because he wasn’t prepared, not because he just didn’t have his A game. I’ve seen him come back from one bad round and kick butt the next three rounds and win. This time, it just didn’t seem to me that he was in the right competitive mind-set to win. I think he’s got other interests with his new tournament, his charities, the upcoming birth of his child. I think he’s losing interest in playing golf.
Of course even if he didn’t play for 6 months, he would still be ranked #1 because the ranking system is flawed.
Top 5 at the masters with out being on great form? Tiger will be number 1 for a long time to come… partly due to the crazy ranking system.
Forget the world golf rankings and any of it’s flaws for a moment and just consider the PGA Tour money list. He’s at the top just ahead of Vijay Singh with less than half the number of events.
Tiger is in an important personal transition as anyone who has children would certainly understand. The experience leading to the birth of your first child captures your complete and total attention. The fact that he remains on top is a testament to his ultra-dominance in a sport filled with brilliant players bent on dethroning him.