Westwood, who in October
replaced Tiger Woods at the top, needs to finish second if the No. 2-ranked
Kaymer wins the tournament.
Kaymer, who won last month’s
Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, could still claim No. 1 for the first time with a
second-place finish as long as Westwood finishes no higher than 22nd.
It will be the first time
since 1993 that the world’s top two golfers go head-to-head in a European Tour
event, a fact that Westwood said was the latest sign of just how good European
golf was at the moment.
“It’s obviously nice for us
and for European golf that, you know, that 1 and 2 in the world are here at
this tournament and both European,” Westwood said. “That just shows the
strength of the European Tour now, the kind of fields that we have attracted in
the first few weeks of the year.”
After his 64th in Abu Dhabi,
Westwood said he wants a better showing, along with an improvement on third
place in Qatar last year.
“The rough is up, and the
greens certainly are very firm this year. So I think they have set it up well
and it looks like a tough test ahead,” he said. “Obviously, I played well last
year. I have to contend with a few different things. Smashed my driver on
Saturday when I was just in the lead. Hopefully it will all go to plan this
week and I’ll do better than third.”
Kaymer downplayed the tussle
for No. 1, insisting he was looking only to play well in Doha and continue the
good form that saw him win Abu Dhabi by eight shots. That win propelled the
German to No. 2, replacing Tiger Woods, who dropped to third.
“You know to be honest, it
doesn’t really change anything,” he said. “My goal is not to become the No. 1
in the world right now.
For me it’s just important to
play tournaments, to play as good as I can in those tournaments, winning those
tournaments, and then you know, if I take care of that, then yes, I will become
No. 1, one day.”
Still, the understated Kaymer
admitted it would feel great to become the world’s top-ranked golfer.
“It would make me proud to be
No. 1, because yes, you can say what Lee can say nowadays, no one in the world,
no one is better than you,” he said. “And not a lot of people can say that
about themselves. Of course it would be a proud moment, but that is not … the
biggest goal that I have in my career. … At the moment, I just play and enjoy.”
Westwood and Kaymer will also
be keeping an eye on American Steve Stricker who is making his Middle East
debut, along with defending champion Robert Karlsson, who has played some of
his best golf of late in the Gulf.
The Swede won the European
Tour’s season-ending Dubai World Championship and was fifth in Abu Dhabi.
“If you have a look at
previous winners on most of the desert courses it is definitely set up for the
longer hitters in general,” Karlsson said. “If you look at Abu Dhabi, a lot of
long hitters won there. I don’t know if it’s the special setup of the golf
courses or what it is, but the greens usually play pretty firm; so it’s good to
be closer to the greens.”
