Editor's Weekly Word

After the world number one, Vijay Singh, withdrew from the WGC American Express Championship to clean up hurricane damage to his Florida home, the path was open for Tiger Woods to regain some ground in the rankings at an event where he historically performs well. As it turned out, he wasn't up to the challenge. Okay, so he made it into the top ten yet again but he never looked like winning at any time throughout the tournament. There is clearly nothing much wrong with his game as he is rarely out of the top ten finishers but something is definitely missing. Personally, I think it's all in his head. Not that long ago he looked like he believed he could not be beaten. Now he looks like he has no belief in his ability to win anything, which is frustrating to those of us who believe he could once again be the world-beater he was.

On the other hand we have Vijay Singh, who is understandably full of confidence in his winning abilities and Ernie Els, who, unlike Woods, saw an opportunity and capitalized on it to make himself the new world number two, pushing Woods down into third place. Now he is chasing Vijay and, if Tiger is not careful, he could soon find himself with a lot of ground to make up when he wants to challenge again for the top spot. Or maybe he has lost interest. He certainly doesn't need the money. What will it take to light up his enthusiasm once again? Only time will tell, but have no doubt, we haven't seen the last of Tiger Woods.

Have a good week.

Regards

Andy Smith
Founder/Editor
www.golfing-weekly.com

WGC - American Express championship - Tournament Report

After a summer of frustration, with near misses in all four majors, South Africa's Ernie Els showed at the weekend that he has put it all behind him by winning his first individual World Golf Championships event, the American Express Championship. This was his third PGA Tour victory of the year, fourth worldwide, and moves him up into second position in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Although he was able to pull clear of the rest of the field, one player managed to keep pace with him right to the end. Thomas Björn of Denmark, who has really struggled with his game for most of the year, produced a surprisingly brilliant performance to keep the pressure on Els and hold the winning margin down to just one stroke. European Ryder Cup players continued their good form, taking the remainder of the top five places, with David Howell in third place and fourth place being shared by Darren Clarke and Sergio Garcia. Padraig Harrington tied for sixth place with major winners Retief Goosen and Todd Hamilton.

Els' dominance of the event began on Friday when he took the lead at the half way stage with an eight under par round of 64, despite only hitting five fairways. A 68 on Saturday took him into the final day with a two shot lead over Björn and their final rounds of 69 and 68 respectively in the cold rainy conditions made them the only two in the field to complete the week with four rounds under 70. Björn attributed his renewed enthusiasm for the game to his experience as assistant to Bernard Langer in the recent Ryder Cup matches.

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WGC- American Express Championship - Results

Par 72 - 7,112 yards

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Southern Farm Bureau Classic - Tournament Report

While the top ranked players were away in Ireland for the WGC event, Fred Funk stayed in Mississippi and captured his first PGA Tour title since he won the same event in 1998 when it was known as the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic.

Seven birdies in the final round, including one at the final hole, secured Funk a one stroke victory over PGA Tour rookie, Ryan Palmer, whose second place here was his first top ten finish on Tour.

This victory moves Funk, who leads the Tour in Driving Accuracy (77.9% of fairways hit), into the World Top 50 and into 24th place on this year's money list, giving him a good chance of qualifying for The TOUR Championship in November which is only open to the top 30 money earners on Tour.

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Southern Farm Bureau Classic - Results

Par 72 - 7,199 yards

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PGA Tour Money List

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Volvo Order Of Merit

Earnings on the European Tour are paid in Euros. The equivalent value in US$ is for information purposes only and was calculated at the rate which was current at time of publishing. Earnings from the majors are included in both the European & PGA Tour Money Lists.

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Constellation Energy Classic - Tournament Report

With Craig Stadler absent from this event, Hale Irwin took advantage of the opportunity to try to regain some ground in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup, picking up 141 points and close the gap to 140 points with just three events left on the calendar. But his points came from finishing second to wire-to-wire winner, Wayne Levi, despite a final round 64 including five birdies on the back nine.

Levi had taken the lead with a first round 64 and held on resolutely, despite final round challenges from Irwin, Rodger Davis and Jim Thorpe, to finish with a 68 to secure a two shot victory. This was 52 year old Levi's first win of the season and his second since joining the Champions Tour, having won the 3M Championship last year.

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Constellation Energy Classic - Results

Par 72 - 6,983 yards

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Champions Tour Money List

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"Off the Cart Path" - weekly cartoon strip by Roy Doty

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Official World Golf Rankings

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