International News Bill Haas overcame five bogeys in the final round to win the Viking Classic by three strokes at Annandale Golf Club. Haas, who never trailed in the tournament, bogeyed the first hole and had four bogeys on the back nine, including one of the par-5 18th. Added to this were the five birdies as he finished at 15-under 273 for his second victory of the year. The win took Haas to World Nº 64 and a  jump of 25 places. That week's other winners were Michio Matsumura at the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic on the Japan Tour, Steven Bowditch at the Soboba Golf Classic on the Nationwide Tour and Pariya Junhasawasdikul at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on the Asian Tour.

Martin Kaymer became the first player to win three times in a row on The European Tour since Tiger Woods won four years ago as he sealed victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with a final round of 66 over the Old Course at St. Andrews in bitterly cold and windy conditions. The 25 year old German added this title to the US PGA Championship he took in a play-off in August and the KLM Open he won comfortably last month. The win took the 25-year-old German up two places to World Nº 4, his career best. A final-round 68 earned Heath Slocum victory at the McGladrey Classic at Sea Island, Georgia. His 14-under-par total was enough to edge out the previous week's winner Bill Haas, who shot a 66, by a single shot. The win took Slocum up 11 places to Nº 52 and Haas continues his rise up the World Ranking with an 8 place jump to World Nº 56. The week's other winners were Shinichi Yokota at the Canon Open on the Japan Golf Tour, Scott Gardiner at the Chattanooga Classic Presented by Black Creek on the Nationwide Tour, Bernd Wiesberger at the ALLIANZ Golf Open du Grand Toulouse on the Challenge Tour and Y.E. Yang at the Kolon Korea Open on the OneAsia Tour. Rocco Mediate holed out for eagle for the fourth straight day, hitting a pitching wedge approach from 116 yards that spun back into the cup on the par-4 17th hole Sunday en route to a one-stroke victory over Bo Van Pelt and rookie Alex Prugh in the Frys.com Open. Mediate had a hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole Thursday, and then holed out from 160 yards Friday on the par-4 fourth, and again holed out from 111 yards Saturday on the par-5 15th hole. Mediate's Sunday playing partners Bo Van Pelt and Alex Prugh both birdied the 72 hole forcing Mediate to hole from just over 4 feet for a par and victory by a single stroke. Mediate leaps 229 places in the Official World Golf Ranking to No 221. South Korean Kim Kyung-tae shot a superb seven-under-par 64 to capture the Japan Open. The 24-year-old enjoyed a bogey-free round which included seven birdies at Aichi Country Club to secure his second victory on the Japan Golf Tour. He collected 32 World Ranking Points from this the Japan Golf Tour's Flagship Event and with that moves into the World Top 50 with a 15 palce jump to Nº 48. On a busy World Ranking week featuring seven tournaments the week's other winners were Jason Gore at the Miccosukee Championship on the Nationwide Tour, Padraig Harrington at the Iskandar Johor Open on the Asian Tour, Andreas Hartoe at the Roma Golf Open 2010 presented by REZZA on the Challenge Tour and Kim Felton at the Midea China Classic on the OneAsia Tour.

Lee Westwood’s rise to the throne of being the Number One golfer in the world is a testament to a combination of skill, mental fortitude, discipline and serious dedication. The 37 year old Englishman’s journey to be ranked number one on the Official World Golf Ranking after being being crowned Europe’s Number One in The Race to Dubai - is a reflection of his consistency that has justly brought the ultimate prize. Westwood’s level of performance over the past 24 months has been simply outstanding and has made him only the fifth European ever to be ranked World Number One.

Of the 46 tournaments Westwood has played in, he has finished in the top ten an astonishing 24 times, including victories at the Dubai World Championship and Portugal Masters in 2009 - when he also tied third in The Open Championship and US PGA Championship - in addition to winning the 2010 St Jude Classic as well as finishing second at this year’s Masters Tournament and Open Championship.

“The World Ranking is about consistency,” said Westwood, who was Ranked 266th during the worst period of his career in 2003. “It is not just about winning the Majors – if that was the case then every time someone won a Major they would automatically be Number One. We all know that isn’t the case. The World Ranking is about consistency over a certain period and that’s why I am up there at the moment. It is a huge boost for my confidence and I hope I can play well enough to stay up there for a while. “To be able to sit down and say that I am the best player on the planet has got to be the most satisfying moment of my career so far.”

If Westwood can finally shake off the calf-muscle injury that has seriously impacted his defence of The Race the Dubai and get back to the form that he has shown over the past two years then he will be a difficult man to catch. Westwood turned professional in 1993 and his prodigious talent was soon channelled into a prolific winner of tournaments around the globe. He won his first professional tournament at the 1996 Scandinavian Masters and has won a further 31 times around the world since that moment. He suffered a frustrating loss of form between 2002 and 2003, slumping to 266th on the Rankings, but Westwood, who could have easily disappeared into the wilderness a rich and happy man, went back to basics and started again working hard on his game.

“I had to go back and rebuild the whole thing,” Westwood reflected of the worst period of his career. “I had to break it all down and go back to the start. It was very tough because you have to get your mind back to a place that you have almost forgotten before you can even start and then you have to do what you believe is right. “When you are down there you always find hundreds of people offering advice and trying to help you, but you have to get away from all of that and get your head down and work it out.”

George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, led the tributes to Westwood’s phenomenal achievement. He said: “Lee Westwood’s ascent to Number One on the Official World Golf Ranking is a landmark achievement in a career that most professional golfers can only dream of emulating. His level of performance over the last two years has set a new benchmark for consistency in world golf. “The fact that Lee reached the World Number One spot playing most of his golf on The European Tour gives everyone involved with our Tour an immense amount of satisfaction, and we congratulate Lee and his team on this tremendous achievement.”