• WGC HSBC Champions

Westwood clinging onto No. 1 spot

ESPN staff
November 3, 2010
Tiger Woods relinquished his No. 1 ranking to Lee Westwood on Monday © Getty Images
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Newly-crowned world No. 1 Lee Westwood admits he does not know how long he can retain his place at the top of the world rankings.

Westwood dethroned Tiger Woods at the top of the pile by virtue of Martin Kaymer's failure to finish in the top two at the Valderrama Masters.

The world's top four golfers; Westwood, Woods, Kaymer and Phil Mickelson are in action at the WGC HSBC Champions event in Shanghai this week, and Westwood, who has been recovering from a calf injury, admits he will be under a whole new kind of pressure.

"It's one thing getting there; it's another thing staying there," Westwood said. "It's going to be tough this week. I have to play well, which may not be easy. I'm bound to be a bit rusty because I've not played a lot recently."

Westwood's agent Andrew Chandler revealed on Tuesday that his client would play a reduced schedule next season, and Westwood admitted the remainder of this year would be geared towards being fully fit for 2011.

"It's not ideal because I would like to play a run of tournaments to get a bit of form together," he said. "But the end of this year … I'm not going to say is a write-off, but I'm not too worried about the way I play. This part of the year is really just a gauge toward being right for the start of next season."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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