Lee Westwood's 3 stroke victory in the Indonesian Masters has set up a showdown for the world number one ranking, with Luke Donald poised to move in to the top spot with a win in the Heritage classic today. Westwood will vault to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking if Donald fails to hold his lead in today's final round.
Twenty-two players will start the final round within 6 shots of Donald's 11 under par total, with defending champion Jim Furyk one stroke back and playing in the final group with Donald. Other top contenders include Brendon De Jonge and Scott Verplank at -9, and Jason Day, Ricky Barnes and Tommy Gainey at eight under.
Westwood's win guarantees the number one ranking to a non-major winner for the first time since David Duval took over the top ranking for exactly one week in August of 1999 (Duval's only major championship to date came at the 2001 Open Championship). This turn of events has generated some controversy, with CBS commentators Jim Nance and Sir Nick Faldo discussing the ramifications during yesterdays' telecast. Faldo made some telling points, the chief being that if major championships were afforded just 10% more ranking points in relation to other wins, the issue would basically be solved. Faldo reiterated his feelings with some clarification on his twitter feed after the telecast.
The twitterverse also highlighted the stranger side on Saturday night, with Ian Poulter's feed describing his supposed "visitor from beyond" in his rented Hilton Head home. Over several posts, Poulter described his haunting experience and sought shelter for the night with friends. The previous day, Poulter engaged in an unprovoked twitter joust with golf writer Stephanie Wei stemming from Wei's attempts to interview Ernie Els after that day's round. Poulter described Wei as "clueless" and, in the ironic comment of the week, "intrusive." If you would like to judge Wei's work for yourself, her excellent blog is a great place to start. Fan's of Poulter's can follow his spats, intrusions in to other people's business and hauntings as well as his sartorial thoughts, shopping excursions and eating habits by following the link above. Personally, I think the "Poultergeist" (sorry, I just couldn't) was the ghost of any chance he had to win this week after a sloppy third round 75 dropped him from contention. Poulter may be the only PGA Tour professional who's twitter feed is more relevant than his game. #badtrend
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