The BMW PGA Championship has become a World Ranking shoot-out as Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer battle for the Number One position.
Donald’s runner-up finish on Sunday moved him to within 0.050 points of Westwood at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking heading into The European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth Club.
There is barely anything separating the top two but Kaymer is also in the hunt. The German lies in third place and needs to win or claim second place with just one other player to have any chance of regaining the World Number One position he held for eight weeks earlier this year. If Kaymer wins, Westwood or Donald would need to finish second to deny him top spot.
If Kaymer finishes outside the top two though, the contest to be the best player on the planet becomes a fight between the two Englishmen and, provided they finish in the top 56 and therefore pick up points, whoever finishes the highest will be World Number One.
In the event of a tie within the top 45, Westwood retains top spot, but should they tie in a position from 45th to 56th Donald takes over. And should they both have a poor week and finish outside the top 56 and therefore earn no points, Donald also goes top with a better points average.
The upper echelons of the current world ranking is packed with European Tour Members, making the 2011 BMW PGA Championship the strongest in its illustrious history with six of the world’s top seven, seven of the top nine, eight of the top 15 and 14 of the top 30 due to line up over the famous West Course.
There are also 20 players from the world’s top 50, 33 from the top 100 and 70 from the top 200, stats are reflected in the World Rating of 470 for the Championship, the highest ever recorded.
Ian Poulter’s victory over Donald at in the Volvo World Match Play Championship at Finca Cortesin in Spain lifted him from 22nd to 14th, and should he make it back-to-back wins on Sunday he could climb into the world’s top five. Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel also had reason to celebrate after moving into the world’s top ten for the first time when he advanced from 12th to seventh after reaching the quarter finals of the match play.
The winner of this week’s BMW PGA Championship will pick up 64 points and with points awarded all the way down to 56th, it is all to play for.
