Construction of the newest course at Ocean Ridge Plantation, Leopard's Case, in Sunset Beach, N.C., is progressing ahead with a scheduled opening in 2006.

The Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va., is offering "Sweater Weather" packages, which incredible lodging and golf from Dec. 1, 2004 - March 17, 2005.

The Oklahoman, the state¹s largest newspaper, will be the title sponsor of the inaugural Oklahoman Heartland Golf Expo to be held Feb. 11-13 at the Cox Business Services Center in Oklahoma City.

Last month's 35th Ryder Cup, won decisively by a decidedly inferior group of European players, brought fresh scrutiny to the business of the Official World Golf Rankings.

"I want to address how (the media) went about marketing them (the Europeans) as the underdogs, and that is, the World Ranking system," U.S. Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton said after the record nine-point defeat handed his American squad at Oakland Hills Golf Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "If there is an adjustment that might need to be made, it might need to be the World Ranking system."

On paper the American team, playing at home, looked to be an overwhelming favorite. It had five major championship winners on its team. Europe had none. Four Americans were ranked in the top 10 in the world compared to one for Europe. Ten U.S. men were ranked among the top 25 in the world rankings compared to four for Europe.

Obviously, based on the results at Oakland Hills, the rankings are askew.

But why pass any judgment on the OWGR based on results of the Ryder Cup, which is contested at match play, in varying formats, with more than half the points decided by two-man contests? An underdog, real or perceived, has a better chance in a short series, no matter the sport. In golf, match play tends to further level the playing field.

The Official World Golf Rankings are determined - with few exceptions - by the results of individual players competing at stroke play with the current rankings of those individuals figuring into the dissemination of OWGR points at week's end.

Sutton implied in Michigan that the rankings of the Ryder Cup players weren't accurate. He's right, but that's not the fault of the system. And there's really no one to blame. It's simply a reflection of the power of the PGA Tour, which is the richest and best-run tour on the planet.

All of the best American players compete on the PGA TOUR. Many of the best European players compete in Europe but play a significant number of events on the PGA TOUR. The best players from the rest of the world, including Fiji's Vijay Singh and South Africa's Ernie Els, who are No. 1 and No. 2 in the OWGR, respectively, are members of the PGA TOUR.

This means the preponderance of PGA TOUR events have the strongest fields week in and week out. Which means American players who consistently confront this level of competition and prosper amidst it collect more points than their counterparts in Europe.

If there are any errors being made, perhaps it's in how we interpret the rankings.

By and large, the Official World Golf Ranking seems to be a relatively accurate reflection of what is going on in the game. The fact that Tiger Woods, with just one victory in the last 12 months and without a major championship triumph since 2002, has fallen to No. 3 this week is the best endorsement for the current OWGR formula.

Of course, the system could always be improved, and constant attention to the details of the mathematical formula that determines the rankings would be healthy, and wise. How the OWGR can be improved is a subject for another day, but we're sure there is no shortage of suggestions.

For the time being - Ryder Cup results aside - the OWGR looks OK, on paper anyway.