Donald has shot at unique match-play double at Volvo World Match Play

England’s Luke Donald has another chance to grab the world No. 1 spot off compatriot Lee Westwood at the Volvo World Match Play Championship, where he is bidding to complete a unique double in the one-on-one format.

The two in-form stars top a star-studded 24-man field for the tournament at Spain’s Costa del Sol, which returns to the European Tour after a year’s absence.

Donald was in irrepressible form capturing the WGC-Accenture World Match Play title at Arizona in February and is looking to become the first player to win both match-play tournaments.

Given his success in the match-play format at recent Ryder Cups, the No. 2-ranked Donald is the man to beat this week, although Westwood has won his last two tournaments in Indonesia and South Korea.

“My confidence is very high right now,” said Donald, who has finished in the top 10 in 13 of his last 14 events, but has never been No. 1 in the rankings. “I’ve been playing very consistently now for a good six months and I think the win at the Match Play really elevated that confidence level.

“Obviously I enjoy match play, my record is very good. My record in Ryder Cups, Walker Cups, the Match Play event this year, they speak for themselves,” he explained. “I enjoy the challenge of that one-against-one over 18 holes.”

No. 3-ranked Martin Kaymer, who split with his Scottish caddie Craig Connelly on Sunday, joins the Englishmen in the strong field and there are enough points on offer to allow the German to move back to the top of the rankings, too.

Kaymer lost to Donald in the final at Arizona and acknowledges the heights he has to reach to get the better of the world’s top two.

“I think the perfect player at the moment would be the long game from Lee Westwood and the short game from Luke Donald,” Kaymer said.

Fourth-ranked Phil Mickelson of the United States is the only player in the world’s top six not featuring at Finca Cortesin, where there is a total prize purse of $4.8 million. The winner will receive $1.14 million, the highest sum on the European Tour outside of the majors, World Golf Championship events and the Dubai World Golf Championship.

The four current major champions are present: Louis Oosthuizen (British Open), Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open), Kaymer (PGA Championship) and Charl Schwartzwel (the Masters).

The field has been divided into eight groups of three, with the top two after Thursday and Friday in each going through to the knockout stages on Saturday and Sunday. There is expected to be inclement weather in the south of Spain all four days.

The groups are:
--Seve Ballesteros Group: Lee Westwood, Anders Hansen and Aaron Baddeley
--Mark McCormack Group: Luke Donald, Ross Fisher and Ryan Moore
--Arnold Palmer Group: Martin Kaymer, Y.E. Yang and Seung-yul Noh
--Ian Woosnam Group: Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and Jhonattan Vegas
--Gustaf Larson Group: Retief Goosen, Rory McIlroy and Nicolas Colsaerts
--Greg Norman Group: Paul Casey, Alvaro Quiros and Soren  Kjeldsen
--Assar Gabrielsson Group: Charl Schwartzel, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Johan Edfors
--Gary Player Group: Francesco Molinari, Ian Poulter and Paul Lawrie