Casey to pass Woods in rankings
Paul Casey is certain this weekend to become the fifth European player to move ahead of Tiger Woods on the world rankings.
Although neither is playing in the Shell Houston Open, the final warm-up event for the Masters at Augusta starting next Thursday, the two-year rolling points system employed by the rankings will see the Englishman overtake the currently fifth-ranked Woods.
It is even possible for the former world number one to be as low as ninth going into the opening major of the season.
Phil Mickelson requires a top-36 finish in Texas on Sunday to move ahead of his great rival for the first time since the 1997 Masters, while Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker also have a chance.
They need to be first or second and after the first round Stricker was joint fifth and Kuchar tied for 69th, while Mickelson stood 33rd.
Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell occupy the leading four spots in the world, with Westwood requiring a top-two finish in Houston to go back to number one. An opening 68 left him joint ninth with, among others, Padraig Harrington.
