Tiger Woods could reclaim No.1 spot this week

Tiger Woods, who spent a record 334 straight weeks as the world's top-ranked golfer, would regain the No. 1 spot from Vijay Singh by finishing fourth or better at this week's Nissan Open.

Woods needs 19 ranking points from the Nissan Open to move ahead of Singh. Players accumulate points over a rolling two-year period, with the scores weighted toward the most recent 13 weeks. Each player is then rated according to his average points per tournament.

Singh, the U.S. PGA champion, ended Woods' record five-year run atop the world rankings on Sept. 6, when he captured the Deutsche Bank Championship, one of nine victories on the PGA Tour last year.

Woods will be chasing his second win of 2005 and first at the Nissan Open, which will be played in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Singh isn't playing. Woods won the Buick Invitational on Jan. 23 for his first stroke-play victory on the PGA Tour in more than 15 months.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson is also hot. He closed the gap on third-ranked Ernie Els after winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday for his second straight victory.

Mickelson, who began the year in fifth place behind Retief Goosen, now lags Els by 2.4 points and leads Goosen by 1.57 points.

This years news archive | Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page