The world number one had to be content with number two position at the WGC HSBC tournament in Shanghai.

Lee Westwood wanted to celebrate his succession to the pinnacle of the game with a win in China only to be denied by Ryder Cup colleague Francesco Molinari in a very high quality field. It was a two-horse race for the entire final afternoon and the two battled it out all the way to the finishing post, Molinari getting the verdict by a single shot with third place Luke Donald no fewer than 10 strokes behind in third.

Not that Lee was allowed to forget what happened because when he went to the Manchester derby on Wednesday, he was seated next to England’s Italian manager Fabio Capello.

We had two other players inside the top 10 as Rory McIlroy came home fifth, one shot clear of Ernie Els.

It was a great week in China and one of the highlights was the annual caddies night and six of the world’s top 10 players were there to support their men, but that’s what the European Tour is all about.

Lee has also been making headlines for other things apart from his rise to the top of the rankings.  He and Rory have decided not to take up their cards on the US PGA Tour.

This is not a dig at America because their Tour has been very good to both Lee and Rory, but just an example of the year-round global schedule our boys are undertaking.   Something had to give and to commit to extra tournaments in America was not feasible especially when the FedEx Cup was centred in late August and September.

I can see several other top Europeans not taking up the US option, but that’s up to them.   What I will say is that there is no vendetta against the Tour.  They are doing what they are because they can and for no other reason.

Early success for our latest signing, Romain Wattel, the French Eisenhower Trophy star, who completed a four-stroke win in the Condado de Alhama Open in Murcia, his first start as a professional.