They could be forgiven for
wanting to put some space between themselves and Woods this week at the Dubai
Desert Classic. Instead, they want the third-ranked Woods and winner of 14
majors to be competitive on the Emirates Golf Course.
“When I’m not playing a
tournament and I’m watching, say, somewhere in the States, I’m watching how
Tiger is playing,” the No. 1-ranked Westwood said. “I’m seeing if he’s playing
well. He’s exciting to watch for everybody.”
Woods’ five-tournament
winning streak at Torrey Pines ended last month after a final-round 75 left him
tied for 44th. That was his worst start to the season since turning pro.
It follows a year in which he
failed to win at least one tournament for the first time in his career and his
marriage ended after revelations of extramarital affairs.
His struggles on and off the
course have raised doubts about whether the 35-year-old Woods will regain his
dominance, especially considering the rise of younger players such as Kaymer.
But the 26-year-old Kaymer
insisted such talk was premature.
“He’s the best player in the
game,” Kaymer said. “At the moment, Lee and me, we are No. 1 and 2. But in
every golfer’s mind, he is the best player in the world. And it would be
fantastic if he can get back to where he was and then we challenge him.”
The German said he would
relish the chance to play alongside Woods for the first time. The draw has not
been announced, but organizers are considering playing Woods, Westwood and
Kaymer together for the opening two rounds.
Kaymer said the media
shouldn’t give Woods “such a hard time,” adding that he has a lot of respect
for him and “we are very thankful for what he did for golf.”
“We are not enemies on the
golf course. We don’t like to see people suffering,” Kaymer said. “Of course,
you want to win on Sunday, but we don’t like to win a golf tournament when
somebody screws up.
“The way I won in Abu Dhabi,
winning by eight shots, that’s a great win and that makes me happy. But it
would not make me happy if Tiger finishes with a double bogey and an 89 and I
win by one (stroke).”
Mark O’Meara, a friend of
Woods who also will play in Dubai, predicted Woods will pick up several wins
this year and possibly a major.
“Even last year, he hadn’t
really played much and was not in his best form. But he played well at Augusta,
so I don’t see it as unrealistic for him to win two to three tournaments and
win a major,” he said.
“I’d never underestimate what
Tiger is capable of doing. He may not be swinging the best. He may not be the
most confident player right now. But saying all that, Tiger being Tiger, he has
fought back before and he will fight back from this.”
While much of the attention
will be on Woods, he is not alone in having a dreadful start to the season.
Westwood finished 64th in a European Tour event in Abu Dhabi last month and
missed the cut last week at the Qatar Masters.
Westwood, who replaced Woods
at the top in October, attributed his troubles to a lingering calf injury and
time off during the holidays. He said he’d been on the practice range after
missing the cut and felt he had gotten the kinks out of his swing.
“When you don’t work on your
swing, you go back to your faults, and that’s what’s happened the last couple
of weeks on tour in Abu Dhabi and Qatar,” he said. “I needed to do a little bit
of work on that, and I’m starting to get a bit of it in place. My game feels like
it’s almost ready to go this week.”
Westwood could lose the top
spot this week if Kaymer wins and he finishes lower than second, or if Kaymer
finishes second and Westwood is out of the top 10. If Kaymer is tied for
second, he could still become No. 1 if Westwood finishes out of the top 36.
Woods could leapfrog Kaymer
if he wins and Kaymer finishes outside the top five.
Neither Kaymer nor Westwood
said they were thinking about the rankings, insisting their priority was
winning the tournament.
“Let’s ignore the world
ranking. The clear and present danger is not Martin Kaymer,” Westwood said.
“The issue for me is to play well, get my game in better order than it has been
the last two weeks and try and win the Dubai Desert Classic. End of story.”
