Westwood set to reunite with caddie Foster

Lee Westwood is putting the team back together in hopes of returning to the form that saw him rise to world No. 1.

At next week’s Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, Westwood will reportedly have a familiar man on the bag – Billy Foster, the looper whom Westwood let go 18 months ago. 

In 2012, Foster suffered a knee injury and didn’t recover as quickly as he had hoped, forcing Westwood to cut ties with his longtime bagman and hire Mike Kerr as a replacement. Foster, meanwhile, eventually found work with South African Branden Grace. 

But according to a report Tuesday in the Daily Telegraph, Westwood has hired Foster back “permanently,” beginning with next week’s World Challenge.

“Everyone knows that Lee and Billy were a great partnership and it made sense that now Billy is fully fit again that the partnership reforms,” Chubby Chandler, Westwood’s manager, told the Daily Telegraph. “… They’ve had their heart-to-heart, sorted out whatever needed sorting out, and Billy will be back on Lee’s bag permanently, starting at Tiger’s event next week. Mike is a top lad, a class act, and took Lee’s decision as we knew he would.”

In the past year, Westwood has gone through myriad changes: swing coaches, short-game gurus and home bases, settling down with his family in West Palm Beach, Fla. This year of transition hasn’t translated to success on the golf course, however, as the 40-year-old is still winless and has just two top-10s in his last 13 worldwide starts.

“We saw glimpses of the real Lee Westwood at Dubai (where he tied for fifth),” Chandler said, via the Daily Telegraph, “and I’m sure that, with Billy back on the bag, it’ll all come right again.”

Watson cards an 81 with just one club

Never one to turn down an opportunity to get creative on the golf course, Bubba Watsonrecently showed up to Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach, Calif., with a 20-degree hybrid in hand. The other 13 clubs, it seems, proved to be too much a burden.

Playing with just a single club and starting the round with only three balls in his pocket, the 2012 Masters champion made his way around the par-72, Tom Fazio layout in 81 shots,according to PGA teaching professional Tim Mitchell. 

According to Mitchell, Watson told a course staffer that he enjoys the shot-making challenge provided by playing 18 holes with just a single club, perhaps evoking memories of the physics-defying wedge approach he used to claim his green jacket last spring.

Watson's 2012 campaign led to a 69.64 scoring average, good for ninth on the PGA Tour, although he slipped to 32nd for the 2013 season. The southpaw's 2013-14 effort got off to a slow start, though, as he carded a 78 while presumably using all 14 clubs in the first round of the CIMB Classic in Malaysia. Since then, though, the 35-year-old has broken 70 in six of his seven competitive rounds on Tour, tying for eighth at the WGC-HSBC Champions earlier this month in his most recent start.

Feng climbs to No. 4, Park remains No. 1 in rankings

NAPLES, Fla. – Shanshan Feng climbed three spots to No. 4 Monday in the release of the newest Rolex Women’s World Rankings.

Feng has been on a hot late-season run with two victories in her last four LPGA starts. She won the Reignwood Classic in her native China on Oct. 6, finished second in her next start at the Sime Darby Malaysia, tied for eighth at the Mizuno Classic and won the season-ending CME Group Titleholders on Sunday.

Inbee Park extended her reign at No. 1 to 33 weeks.

Lexi Thompson moved up one spot to No. 9, her highest position in the world rankings.

With her second-place finish at CME, Gerina Piller made the biggest move of any player among the top 400 in the world, vaulting 17 spots to No. 36, making her the seventh highest ranked American behind Stacy Lewis (No. 3), Thompson (No. 9), Cristie Kerr (No. 12), Paula Creamer (No. 13), Angela Stanford (No. 16) and Lizette Salas (No. 20).

Lewis, Park, Jutanugarn secure remaining LPGA awards

NAPLES, Fla. – Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park and Moriya Jutanugarn came away with the 2013 LPGA awards that still hung in the balance going into Sunday’s final round of the CME Group Titleholders.

Stacy Lewis won the Vare Trophy for the LPGA’s low scoring average this season. She’s the first American to win the award since Beth Daniel in 1994. Lewis finished with a 69.484 scoring average. That’s the eighth lowest in LPGA history. Lewis shot 71 on Sunday at Tiburon, tying for sixth.

Inbee Park won the LPGA money title with $2,456,619 in earnings. It’s the second consecutive year Park has won the money title. She also won the Rolex Player of the Year award this year, clinching that last week at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational to become the first South Korean to win the honor.

Park shot 68 Sunday and finished fifth.

Moriya Jutanugarn won the Rolex Rookie of the Year award by the slimmest margin possible, edging Caroline Masson 480-479. Jutanugarn started the week 11 points behind Masson. She needed a finish of T-33 or better on Sunday to pass Masson and she finished T-33. Jutanugarn missed a 5-foot putt at the last hole and had to sweat out the finish to see where she ended up. Masson played the final two events with a fractured right thumb in a splint.

Jutanugarn shot 72 on Sunday.

Day rises to No. 11 in OWGR after World Cup win

Jason Day is finally back in the winner’s circle, and he’s nearing the top 10 in the world again, too. 

Day, who won the World Cup of Golf for his first title since the 2010 Byron NelsonChampionship, rose from No. 18 to No. 11 in the latest rankings, released Monday. It is his highest position in the Official World Golf Ranking since he was ranked 10th in March 2012. His career-best ranking is No. 7.

Since that victory at the Nelson, Day has racked up 25 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour and six top-10s at majors, including three runners-up.

Thomas Bjorn also made a sizable move in the rankings, rising from No. 44 to No. 34 after his runner-up finish at Royal Melbourne. 

Much like Day, Luke Donald ended his own drought last week, defending his title at the Japan Tour’s Dunlop Phoenix. The former world No. 1, who had slipped all the way to 17th in the world, jumped up two spots, to No. 15, after his first win in 12 months. Meanwhile, the runner-up in Japan, Hyung-sung Kim, jumped from No. 82 to No. 65 in the world.

Here’s the top 10 in the world, which remains unchanged from a week ago: No. 1 Tiger Woods,Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar,Steve Stricker, Brandt Snedeker and Jason Dufner.

Day to donate money to typhoon victims

World Cup champion Jason Day said Sunday that he will donate a portion of his $1.5 million prize money to the victims of the devastating typhoon in the Philippines.

The Nov. 9 tragedy claimed the life of more than 5,000 people, including eight of Day’s relatives. He won the World Cup less than two weeks after learning of their deaths. 

“We will most likely set something up (for the victims) and I will definitely be giving some money and trying to raise awareness to what has really happened over there,” Day said, via the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Day’s mother and sister were at Royal Melbourne over the weekend as he captured his first title since May 2010. Team Australia – Day and Adam Scott – also won the team portion by 10 shots.

Stock Watch: Day, Donald rising; Gulbis falling

Each week on GolfChannel.com, we’ll examine which players’ stocks and trends are rising and falling in the world of golf.

RISING
J-Day (+10%): It’s incomprehensible, really, that a player this immensely talented has only two wins. Here’s hoping this emotional home victory leads to a breakout campaign in 2014.

Luke (+8%): The tidy Englishman already has his own wine label, and now he will receive another 200-pound shipment of Miyazaki beef after defending his title at the Dunlop Phoenix. Wonder what’s for dinner at the Donalds’?

Adam Scott (+6%): He will rue the opening 75 at the World Cup, but it’s a testament to his form that he still had a chance to win come Sunday. With his sights on the Scotty Slam, don’t bet against him.

Royal Melbourne (+4%): The Alister Mackenzie design showed its major chops by hosting back-to-back world-class events on the Aussie Swing. Regardless of what Ted Bishop might say, this gem deserves the first international PGA.

Rory (+2%): Hey, a weekend of good news for the beleaguered former world No. 1! He met Will Ferrell and saw the “Anchorman” premiere in Australia, then “amicably” settled his lawsuit with Oakley. Maybe a better-late-than-never win at Royal Sydney is next.