WINNING ONE MAJOR IS A GREAT YEAR, SAYS SPIETH

the upper hand no matter how he fares this week, the year’s final Grand Slam event starting in New York on Aug 28 will have a major role to play in the fight with Federer for No. 1.

“Roger and I are having great seasons,” Nadal said. “One of us will have the chance to have that position for more weeks. I’m going to try and do my best this week and see what happens.”

Federer, a seven-time champion on the Cincinnati hardcourts, apologised but said he needed to rest with the US Open so near.

“I am very sorry to pull out of the Western and Southern Open as I always enjoy playing,” Federer said. “Cincinnati has some of the best fans in the world and I am sorry I will miss them.

“Unfortunately, I tweaked my back in Montreal and I need to rest this week.”

Federer was replaced in the draw by Italian 85th-ranked lucky loser Thomas Fabbiano, who will enjoy a first-round bye.

Nadal said he was sorry to see Federer join the list of players absent this week, which includes Murray, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

“It’s bad news for Roger he’s not playing,” Nadal said. “I’m sorry for all of them. I hope they have good recovery. We need to see them back for the sport.”

Nadal has been forced to alter training and event schedules more as he has gotten older.

“Of course we’re not 20 years old any more. We’re not playing all the weeks. That’s part of the sport. I skip many more events than the rest of my competitors.” – AFP A MAJOR season that began with the Masters favourite falling down stairs ended with one of the game’s best young players capturing the PGA Championship, a reminder of the ephemeral nature of the most unpredictable of sports. Dustin Johnson was the focus of the golf world on the eve of the Masters, coming off three successive victories, having ascended to the world No. 1ranking and for a few months an unstoppable juggernaut. Four months later, Johnson is almost a peripheral figure and Justin Thomas is the talk of the town, though the latter barely figured in discussions on the eve of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow which finished on Sunday. Instead, the media was obsessed with Jordan Spieth’s quest to surpass Tiger Woods as the youngest man to complete the career grand slam, while Rory McIlroy was the pretournament favourite, at least in the eyes of those who like to place money on the outcome. But Spieth (caricature) was never a factor at Quail Hollow, while McIlroy ended the week saying he might take an extended break in an effort to deal with pain in his back and left arm. How do you make sense of it all? It’s golf, a sport where almost every major offers a different cast of lead characters, and nobody takes the starring role more than occasionally. We won one of the majors, said British Open champion Spieth, the ‘we’ referring to himself and his caddie. “I understand that’s a great year in the majors. If I did this every year, I would go down as the greatest player ever to have played the game. “Winning them is so difficult you can have a fantastic year without winning a major. Look at what Tiger (Woods) did in 2013. He won five events, including a Players Championship (but did not win a major).“