“To become No. 1 you have to win and win a lot to maintain it. That’s the way it goes.”

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That's Tiger sounding the least beat concerned about losing the No. 1 world ranking. It helps when you've won 14 majors.

“As far as the world ranking is concerned, yes, I’m not ranked No. 1 in the world,” Woods said Monday. “In order to do that you have to win and I didn’t win this year.”

Though I'm not sure this has proven to be accurate, but we'll chalk it up to Tiger sticking to diplomacy:

“As far as the emotions go, it is what it is,” Woods said. “To become No. 1 you have to win and win a lot to maintain it. That’s the way it goes.”

Lee Westwood won once this year at Memphis. Martin Kaymer has won four times, including a major.

Golfweek Debuts Top 40 Best New Courses List

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Who knew there were enough courses for a list? Actually, forty may be the entire list of new courses which looks hefty considering next year's will be a much shorter list.

What struck me more than a couple of startling slights was the sheer comedic value of some of the course names. And I'm not referring to the ones named after their developers. In the interest of kindness, I won't name names.

"does #1 really mean anything in golf?"

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Because I'm under doctor's orders to only watch 15 minutes from every hour of televised golf at courses with bunkers surrounded by rough and/or back-and-forth tree-lined routings featuring indecipherable holes, my exposure to this weekend's No. 1 world ranking talk was limited. However, I noticed quite a bit of tweeting about Phil Mickelson "choking" at the chance to pass Tiger Woods in the world rankings.

I'd sum up my feelings on this vital chase for No. 1 in the world, but reader Mr. BoJangles did the heavy typing for me:

a little off topic, but does #1 really mean anything in golf? Seriously. Why is it even discussed? It doesn't help you win majors. The only thing I can think of is the Match Play pairings, you get a one-seed. Being Ranked #1 is meaningless in every sport except college football. What was Shrek ranked? Or Graham?

Someone told me Greg Norman was ranked No. 1 for a lot weeks back in his prime. And I was like, who cares? He won 2 majors.

If Phil takes No. 1 over Tiger, what does that mean, really? Tiger's won 14 majors, Phil's won [four]. Who's going to have the better golf career when they're both retired? Anyway, that's just my rant on the golf rankings and every other ranking for that matter. I think rankings are retarded and while I'm at it, college football needs a playoff system. That will never happen.