Lee Westwood sets the record straight about his world ranking

Last week, Lee Westwood became the number one golfer in the world, replacing Tiger Woods from a stint he had atop the Official World Rankings for more than five years.

While the system isn't perfect, people are up in arms about how a guy with two PGA Tour wins in more than 12 years can be called the top golfer in the game. Butch Harmon was quoted as saying the system "sucks," being just one of many critics about the changing of the guard.

No matter, Westwood is the top golfer in the game, and he had some choice words about all the confusion after his third round 67 at the HSBC Champions that has him in the final group of Sunday, just a shot back of leader Francesco Molinari.

"I think people have their favorites. A lot of people get confused. A lot of people get confused about Major Championships and who is the most consistent player in the world."

I know that I haven't won a Major Championship. I'm very well aware of that. But I do know I've probably played the most consistent golf in the world over the last two years, and that reflects in my World Ranking. I think that's why people get -- it's not a complicated system. It's a good system and it's a fair system, and you don't hear the players complaining about it; so it must be right."

The bottom line is, Westwood is right. The world ranking system is what the golf world has to dance with, and there isn't much you can do about it. For two years it tried to track the best golfer, and for now, that's Westwood.

I will say this; if Lee really wants to slam the door on all this talk about him being a puzzling choice up top, he could win on Sunday in a packed event with Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Martin Kaymer all around in China to witness it.

If he did that, I think the critics would quickly quiet. Sure, he hasn't won a major championship, but I'd be willing to put up a few dollars of my own money to say not a lot of guys have won an event the week they became the number one ranked golfer in the world. 

Related: Martin Kaymer, Francesco Molinari, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods

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Sun Mountain owner speaks about Ryder Cup rain suits

I'm sure Sun Mountain employees everywhere will hate this analogy, but for their rain suits, torrential downpours on Day 1 of the Ryder Cup and complaining from nearly everyone, it was the perfect storm of bad press.

The company that provided rain gear for the American Ryder Cup team in Wales this October was the dog of the opening ceremonies, becoming one of the biggest stories of the first two days of the Ryder Cup because it seemed they failed to repel water. Players complained, captain's complained, and stories were tossed around everywhere badmouthing the company that was picked to keep America dry.

But founder and owner Rick Reimers finally spoke on the phone about the wet, worriment of Wales, stating that he thinks it wasn't really the rain suits' fault to begin with.

Reimers admitted that he was as confused (and depressed) as anyone, and even stuck an employee in a shower for two hours with the team's rain suit on (Ed. Note: That dude needs a raise) and didn't see the suit leaking at all.

Final verdict from Sun Mountain?

"We think nobody got wet with rain coming through the garment," Reimers said. "Did the outside material hold more moisture than you’d like? Probably. When something gets soaked, it feels cold on the skin. People might interpret that as being wet."

OK, while it seems a bit off, that isn't a crazy idea. If you've ever been in a downpour with rain gear on, you still feel wet even if your skin isn't wet, because you are cold and you are miserable, and face it, every other part of your body that isn't covered in rain gear is soaked.

Also, Sun Mountain is still in the hunt for next year's Presidents Cup rain gear, which will luckily not be played in a country known for their October downpours (next year will be in sunny Australia).

So, go out, buy Sun Mountain rain gear, and if you don't believe in the product, you can always stand in a shower for two hours to test it out.

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