To the very end, golf's 2010 season keeps throwing curve balls.
The four top ranked players in the world -- England's newly anointed No. 1 Lee Westwood and closest challengers Tiger Woods, Martin Kaymer and Phil Mickelson -- all came to the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China, only to see Italy's Francesco Molinari steal the show.
Leading wire-to- wire, Molinari finished with a 5-under 67 at Sheshan International for his first win this season, and only the second of his career. He became the first Italian to claim a World Golf Championships title, posting 19 under and one shot in front of Westwood.
"It wasn't easy," Molinari, who turns 28 on Monday, said. "I'm just really proud of the way I played and the way I handled myself. Lee is No. 1 in the world, and he was playing some fantastic golf. It was a great finish at the end."
Molinari had not won since the Italian Open four years ago. He becomes the third Italian to win on the European Tour this year, joining older brother Edoardo Molinari and countryman and Matteo Manassero.
"It makes me work a little harder," Molinari said. "Because I wanted to contribute to this golden moment of Italian golf."
And while the victory earned $1.2 million and moved Molinari to No. 14 in the world ranking -- three spots in front of his brother -- the week served most as a reflection of Westwood's climb this season to the No. 1 ranking.
Westwood, 37, has yet to win a career-first major, although since 2008 has recorded five top-three finishes, including runners-up at this year's Masters and British Open. His only victory of the year (U.S. and Europe) came in Memphis, and because of injuries he has competed in only two stroke-play events in the last three months.
Yet, on the strength of another non-winning performance, his grip on No. 1 is stronger now than it was last week when he ended Woods' streak of 281 consecutive weeks on top.
It's not like he didn't play well. Westwood made only two bogeys for the week, none over the weekend. His 18-under finish was nine shots clear of the third-place tie between Luke Donald and Richie Ramsay.
But the bottom line is the world's No. 1 ranked player has yet to win a major and has raised only one trophy in over a year.
"It wasn't really about the rankings," Westwood said. "It was about trying to win this week. The rankings come as a consequence of playing well, and I'm playing well. I know I am. Today is just very typical of how I've played for the last two years."
It was also typical of the year when golf's best never got around to playing like it.
Woods closed with a 68 and tied for sixth, 13 shots behind. It was only his third top 10 of the year, and his best finish since a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open. For the first time in his career, Woods failed to win on the PGA Tour, ending a streak of 14 years.
"That's just the way it goes," Woods said. "It's not like I didn't try. It just didn't happen this year. But I'm pleased with the progress I've made of late. Things are building and heading in the right direction, which is good."
Kaymer, the German with five worldwide wins including the PGA, played the year better than anyone in the world and could have made it official with a victory, but shot 71 and tied for 30th. Mickelson, with a chance to be No. 1 since his early season Masters win, shot 73 and tied for 41st.
So the season inches toward a finish.
With no logic in sight.
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