Golf: For Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, the Time is Now

For Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, the time is now. 

With three major championships and the strongest WGC event of the year taking place over the next three months, now is the time for Donald and Westwood to show the world that they can do more than just stockpile computer generated ranking points.

Now is the time for Donald and Westwood to show the world that they have what it takes, both physically and mentally, to win on golf’s biggest stage.  

Donald has managed just five top-10s in 31 major championship appearances, while Westwood has had numerous chances to capture a his first major over the past three years (five top-3s or better since the 2008 U.S. Open) but was unable to close the door on any of them.

Want to know why many golf purists simply sit back and chuckle at all of this World Golf Ranking talk?

It’s simple. Because the No. 1 and 2 ranked players in the world have yet to win a major championship, and golf purists know that this game is really only about four tournaments each year.

Golf purists will have far more respect for players such as Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington than Donald and Westwood, despite the fact that Cabrera is currently ranked 80th in the world and Harrington is ranked 50th, respectively.

Cabrera and Harrington have won majors; end of story.

No one knows, or cares for that matter, who won the 1986 Honda Classic other than Kenny Knox (time to pull up another browser and Google “Kenny Knox”). The 1986 Masters on the other hand, well, anyone who has ever picked up a golf club will know about Jack Nicklaus’ win at the 1986 Masters.

Quick—how many total tournaments did Nicklaus win in his career?

Sorry, time’s up.

How many majors did Nicklaus win?

That’s easy, 18.

How many worldwide tournaments has Tiger Woods won in his career?

Sorry, time’s up.

How many majors?

Fourteen.

How many worldwide wins do Donald and Westwood have in their careers?

Who knows and who cares?

All that matters is that each player is still winless at the only four golf tournaments that hold any kind of significance—the major championships.  

There’s only one way to truly earn respect in this game and that is by winning major championships.

All of the meaningless discussion about the pros and cons of the World Golf Rankings, whether Donald and Westwood deserve to be ranked No. 1 and 2 in the world, the way the points are distributed across all of the world tours, etc. has little bearing on anything other than to give some board scribes something to write about while Woods is off in his little sabbatical from winning.

For Donald and Westwood the challenge at hand is clear.

Do you finally want to show the golf world that you are deserving of the status bestowed upon you by these World Golf Ranking computers?

THEN WIN!

Win a major and all the talk about the validity of the World Golf Rankings goes out the window.  

Win a major and the stigma of not being able to win the biggest, toughest and most pressure packed golf tournaments in the world will disappear.   

Win a major and earn respect of all those who, in this modern age of multi-million dollar endorsement deals, $6 million purses, private jets, teams of lawyers, managers and swing coaches, still remember what truly matters in this game.

For Donald and Westwood, the time has come to seize history; otherwise 20 years from now, someone will be making their argument about the importance, or lack thereof, of the World Golf Rankings by asking:

 “Do you know who won the 2011 WGC-Accenture match Play Championship?”

“Didn’t think so.”

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