Westwood and Donald locking horns in two straight big European events

England's Lee Westwood and Luke Donald fill the top two places in the world ranking right now because of what they have done in Asia and America recently. But for the next two weeks, they are in Europe and locking horns with each other.

First comes the Volvo World Match Play Championship starting on Thursday at Finca Cortesin on Spain's Costa del Sol, which has been more wet than sunny so far this week. Next week they will be in London for the prestigious BMW PGA Championship.

"Hopefully we'll have a typically balmy British spring-summer, everybody will be in T-shirts and there will be 100,000 people there,” said Westwood about the BMW PGA. "Next week's going to be one of the strongest and best fields that I think the PGA Championship has ever had, so if that doesn't get them out nothing will.

"It's the first thing I think a country has had 1 and 2 in the world other than America, and it just shows you the state of English and British golf right now,” he added. "We have two Northern Irishmen in the top six, Paul (Casey) at ninth and people like Ian (Poulter) right up there as well."

Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy -- the two Ulstermen in question -- Casey and Poulter are also back in Europe for this two-week stretch and with third-ranked Martin Kaymer playing as well, the Volvo Match Play has five of the world's top six and all four current major champions in its 24-man field. That means that any one of Westwood, Donald or Kaymer could be No. 1 on Sunday night.

First they have to negotiate the group stages. Not held last year, the 24-man championship returns with a new format in which there are eight groups of three, with the top two in each on Friday night progressing to the knockout stages on Saturday and Sunday.

In theory, all 24 players could be involved in sudden death playoffs to decide who goes through if, for instance, they all win one group game and lose the other.