While it cannot be questioned that both men are two of the very best the sport of golf currently has to offer, the fact remains that they remain the only two players in the 24-year history of the Official World Golf Rankings to have reached the summit having never won a major before, during or after! A statistic they will both be hoping to alter over the next 12 months.

We take a look at each player’s credentials and if they have what it takes to break free of the shackles and finally fulfil their major dreams.

Lee Westwood, 39, Ranked 7th

Out of the two players, Westwood has experienced the most heartbreak, with the 39-year-old coming agonisingly close to winning that elusive maiden major on a number of occasions, none more so than the 2010 US Open when he finished runner-up to Phil Michelson, having led for the first three rounds.

In total, Westwood has 14 top 10 finishes to his name at major tournaments, including two runners-up spots and a further five top three finishes. His putting has, more often than not, let him down, much to the player’s frustration.

Westwood did to not enjoy the best year in 2012. He slipped down to seventh in the rankings, parted ways with his caddie, Pete Cowen, and won just two tournaments. He fared better in the first two majors, with another tied third place finish at the Masters, followed by a creditable top 10 finish at the US Open. However, he could only manage to finish 45th at the Open and didn’t even make the cut at the PGA Championship.

There is no doubt that Westwood will continue to be under immense pressure to escape the shackles and win a major championship in the next few years. He turns 40 this year, which will no doubt fuel the “time running out” warnings, but he will remain as cool, calm and collected as ever as he bids to swat away the doubters for good.

Westwood can currently be backed at 9/2 with Boyle Sports to win a major in 2013, while he is priced at 25/1 to win the Masters, which could prove to be his best chance of ending the drought for victory on the biggest stage.

Luke Donald, 35, Ranked 3rd

Donald is frequently praised for his all-round game, consistency and accuracy, alongside his perfect swing and putters ability, which have all combined to great effect to lead him to five PGA Tour victories and seven European Tour wins. 2011 was a particularly good year for Donald with the Englishmen storming to both money titles on the PGA and European Tours.

During his career, the Chicago-based player has finished in the top 10 seven times at major tournaments, with just the three top-five finishes to his name since 2007, which is nothing to write home about. His best results have been tied third, which he achieved at the 2005 US Masters and 2006 PGA Championship, but his fans will be hoping the best is still to come.

The main reason put forward for Donald’s lack of major success is that he is not known for his ability to drive the ball particularly long distances. Nearly all major courses favour the big hitters, however, if Donald does end his elusive search for a major in 2013 than many predict it will come at the US Open at the Merion Golf, where he is priced at 16/1 to do so.

Rory McIlroy sits well clear at the top of the standings on 4,799 points after winning last week and he is the favourite to continue his great form and win again this week. Should he do so, then it is almost inevitable that he will be the FedEx Cup Champion of 2012.

His closest rival is Nick Watney on 3,468 points with Tiger Woods third on 3,417. Inevitably, the Americans dominate the Standings Board, with only McIlroy and Louis Oosthuizen (5th) being the only two non-Americans making the top ten.

The field gets whittled down again this week with only the top 30 in the Standings going forward to contest the final Play-Off, the Tour Championship at EastLake in Atlanta, starting 20th September.

The defending champion this week is Britain’s Justin Rose, but his win 12 months ago came at the Cog Hill Golf course which has been changed this year due to its close proximity to the Ryder Cup venue. Rose is well down the list in the FedEx Cup standings in 21^st place but knows that a repeat win this year will catapult him into the top ten and who knows where by the end of the Play-Offs.

Clearly, McIlroy, Oosthuizen, Tiger Woods all come into this week’s tournament in great form. They finished 1-2-3 last week and looked to be the best three players over the four day period. Phil Mickelson also played well in the Deutsche Bank at TCP Boston but he will need to stamp out his tendency to throw in the odd wild one if he is to get anywhere close to winning.

Lee Westwood, who had lost his form considerably since the Open Championship showed signs that his tee to green play was back where it belonged and he will be close this week should this aspect of his game continue to improve. He also putted well in the final round in the ‘Deutsche’ which makes him very backable to win this week with odds of 25/1.

Luke Donald is also not out of things despite losing his world number 1 spot. He remains deadly accurate with his approaches and if his putter becomes hot, he will be in serious contention. He too is a 25/1 shot.

Dustin Johnson would be another to consider if making a bet on this week’s tournament. Johnson won this event two years ago and was in good form last week. His length off the tee this week should work to his advantage and at 14/1 it is clear that the Bookmakers are concerned about his ability on a course like Crooked Stick.

Punters are also advised to look out for those American players who fail to get a ‘pick’ for the Ryder Cup from captain, Davis Love lll. The seven potential picks are all playing this week and those that are left out by Love will be seriously anxious to teach him a lesson by winning this week. After all, it is one of those situations that happen often in sport and it would be no surprise to see it happening again.

However, Rory McIlroy set the standard and is clearly the form pick and he is the selection to win at Crooked Stick this week. He can be backed at odds of 6/1.

The 12 players, which includes the ten who qualified for the team automatically and two which were Captain’s picks, are, with the exception of Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, the 12 highest placed players in the current world rankings. In fact, with Pettersson playing almost exclusively on the PGA Tour, the 12 players are the top 12 players in Europe and there is no other player on tour who should be aggrieved at the make-up of the team. The 12 Players with world rankings are:

#1 Rory McIlroy,
#2 Luke Donald,
#4 Lee Westwood
#8 Justin Rose
#13 Graeme McDowell,
#14 Sergio Garcia
#25 Francesco Molinari
#26 Ian Poulter (Captain’s Pick)
#27 Martin Kaymer
#30 Paul Lawrie
#34 Peter Hanson
#35 Nicolas Colsaerts (Captain’s Pick)

Olazabal had been under pressure to consider the apparently resurgent three time “Major” winner, Padraig Harrington, but the Spanish captain of the European team would not be persuaded, believing that Harrington, who has been an ever present Ryder Cup member since 1999, had not “resurged” enough.

Particularly pleasing for Olazabal is the form of world number one, Rory McIlroy, who appears to have the ‘Midas Touch’ currently after winning his second “Major” when taking the PGA Championship last month by an incredible 8 shots. Before that McIlroy has finished tied 5th in the WGC Bridgestone, he was tied 24th in the Barclays and was in contention at the Deutsche Bank at the time of writing.

If Olazabal has any concerns, they will almost centre on Germany number one, Marin Kaymer, who has had one of his worst years as a pro, failing to win a tournament. He has tumbled down the rankings from a career high of number one after he took the 2010 PGA Championship to a current position of number 27. Clearly being a “major winner” and a former world number one, Kaymer could return to top form at any time, but there is no doubt that he will need some protection at Medinah which could tempt Olazabal to leave him out of the fourballs/foursomes and keep him only for the final day singles.

As the rookie of the European team, Nicolas Colsaerts will also need some protection but it is clear by naming him as one of his two picks that Olazabal has great faith in the Belgian. Olazabal was particularly impressed with him when he won the Volvo World Matchplay where he confirmed that he relished the head to head nature of Match-play golf.

Whilst Kaymer and Colsaerts maybe slight worries for the team, Sergio Garcia’s return to fold has been warmly welcomed by his compatriot captain. Garcia missed out at Celtic Manor 2 years ago and had his worse Ryder Cup performance in Louisville in the 2008 defeat. Before that however, Garcia’s record has been outstanding and his presence alone will be a huge fillip for the team.
The Bookmakers have the American team, whose full compliment of 12 players will be known later this week, as the favourites to regain the Ryder Cup with odds of 8/11. Europe are 11/8 with the tie an 11/1 shot. Needless to say, McIlroy has been made the favourite to be top European while Tiger Woods has the same burden bestowed on him to be top American. Both are around the 11/2 mark!

Simpson finished second in the Money List last year behind Luke Donald and has always had the quality to win a ‘Major’. His one stroke victory came after a number of top players faltered in the final round whilst he held his nerve to record a second successive 68 and a third win inside two years on the US PGA Tour. As such, the golf World must sit up and take note of Webb Simpson as serious player and one capable of adding to this success. The signs were there but few acknowledged his credentials but that will now surely change.

It is true that Simpson started the final round unconvincingly before a run of four birdies in five holes around the turn, and a magnificent par at the 18th proved enough to pip 2010 winner, Graeme McDowell and the unheralded Michael Thompson, to the title.

McDowell paid the price for an inadequate tee to green display, where his consistency on the previous three days went missing at the most crucial time. He shot a disappointing three over par with a score of 73, while fellow overnight leader and former champion, Jim Furyk, failed to find a single birdie and finished one shot worse off with a score of 74.

Strong challenges from the likes of three time “Major” winners, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els came and went whilst David Toms, winner of the PGA Championship of 2001, also came up short after shooting a 68. Harrington and Toms both finished level with Furyk, Jason Dufner and John Peterson in a tie for fourth place on three over, with Els one shot further behind on his own in 9th place.

Many people’s favourite to win, including this very site’s was Lee Westwood who had a good four days overall but never recovered after firing his drive on the fifth hole into the trees on the final round. The ball never re-appeared, costing the Englishman two shots while Tiger Woods made far too many mistakes over the dreaded first six holes to give him any real chance of recovery. In the event, Westwood managed 10th place, yet another top ten finish in a “Major Championship” but not quite good enough and Woods, who shared the lead at the end of Day 2, ended up tied for 21st place.

Simpson, playing in only his fifth major, recovered sublimely after bogeying two of the first five holes to slip to five over par. His birdie run around the turn put him well into the picture but it was his very consistent and stable finish of eight pars over the last eight holes that won him the crown. He finished on 281, one over par for the four rounds and has shot up from 14th to number 5th in the World Golf rankings.

The win has returned the US Open crown toAmericaafter being held for the Last two years inNorthern Irelandafter McDowell’s win in 201o and Rory McIlroy’s magnificent record breaking victory last year. McIlroy sadly for him and the tournament failed to make the cut. Neither did world number one, Luke Donald, whose disappointing form at the US Open continues to haunt him. His recent record at the US Open makes for poor reading, three Missed Cuts, One withdrawal and two finishes well down the field.

Westwood however, despite his disappointment can at least hold his head up high. This was his third top ten finishes in the last three “Majors” and his 14th overall and he will go to Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club next month for the Open Championship once again confident of ending his wait for his first “Major”.

All trends are exist to be broken at some time but it will not be easy for any player to win on this hugely difficult course with a score of around even par likely to be enough by the end of the four rounds on Sunday.

The world’s top three players, all European, will play together for the first two rounds and two of those players, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, come to the tournament with recent wins under their belts. Donald won the PGA Championship at Wentworth a couple of weeks ago, while Westwood won last week at the Nordea Masters in Sweden. Neither has ever won a “Major” before however, although Westwood has been close to winning on many occasions. The third player is defending champion, Rory McIlroy, who, having missed three cuts on the bounce, managed to finish tied 7th place last week in the St Jude Classic.

Westwood in fact played back in 1998 when the tournament was last held at the Olympic Club, finishing in a tie for 7th place behind surprise winner, Lee Janzen, who had come from seven shots behind to defeat the late, great Payne Stewart. That performance gives Westwood a distinct advantage this week and given that he has enjoyed three further top ten finishes at this event, including third places in 2008 and 2011, he looks a very decent pick to take the honours. He is a best price 14/1 chance with British bookmaker William Hill to end his “Major” drought.

Donald has an appalling record at the US Open, with a best place finish of tied 12th back in 2006. Since then he has missed two cuts in 2007 & 2009, withdrew with injury from the 2008 event, finished tied 45th last year and tied 47th in 2010. Hardly a record that would usually win a “Major” tournament.

Steve Stricker was also in the field in the 1998 edition and finished a shot better than Westwood in a tie for fifth place. Stricker has been one of the most consistent players on the US Tour over the last five years and is still ranked number 11 in the world. Stricker is another of the world’ s top players yet to win a “Major” and knows that his chance are diminishing by the tournament but he’s worth backing here at a price of 50/1.

Stricker’s form this season has been good without being spectacular but he did win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January and has enjoyed top ten finishes on three other occasions.

2012 US Open Picks
Lee Westwood (each way) @ 14/1
Steve Stricker (each way) @ 50/1

The first five players will be the top five in the European Lists, while the next five will be taken from the World Points List, that have not made the European List.
As it stands currently the team will include:

1. Rory McIlroy – European Points List
2. Paul Lawrie – European Points :List
3. Justin Rose – European Points List
4. Martin Kaymer – European Points List
5. Peter Hanson – European Points List
6. Luke Donald – World Points List
7. Lee Westwood – World Points List
8. Graeme McDowell – World Points List
9. Sergio Garcia – World Points List
10. Nicolas Colsaerts – World Points List

The two wild cards will be selected on the day that the team is announced, which should come at the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Classic at Gleneagles at the end of August. Should there be a tie for places then the member with the highest ranking in the Race to Dubai will get the nod in the European Lists while the highest ranked player in the World Golf Rankings as of 20th August will get the vote from the World List.

The team as it stands will include only one Ryder Cup debutant, Nicolas Colsaerts, who will also be a first time representative for his country, Belgium. However, he must maintain a very high level of form throughout the coming summer if he is to fend off the likes of Spaniards, Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Alvaro Quiros. Colsaerts will also face a string of challenges from members of the 2010 Ryder Cup winning team, including, Ian Poulter as well as Francesco Molinari, Robert Rock and Simon Dyson.

The bottom line however is that until the Johnnie Walker tournament is concluded there remains a whole host of players who can still make the team via either list.

Europe of course are the defending Ryder Cup champions, having won at the Celtic Manor Course in South Wales two years ago under the stewardship of captain, Colin Montgomerie. However, they lost to the American team last time they went Stateside in 2008 when Sir Nick Faldo captained the Europeans at Valhalla, Louisville. Olazabal will therefore know that he has a lot to do to successfully defend the cup and to that end he has already confirmed that he will appoint four vice-captains to accompany the team, and assist him throughout the three day event.

Speculation as always will be rife as to who his ‘wild card’ picks will be, but he is sure to have Ian Poulter very much in his mind after his performances at Valhalla in 2010 if of course he does not qualify automatically.

His rise up the rankings is due to his third European Tour victory of the year at the Volvo China Open last week at the Binhai Golf Club in Tianjin. Grace won the tournament by three strokes from 2011 winner, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium and four strokes from third placed Richard Finch of England.

Grace, who is back on the tour after successfully completing qualifying school last year, has become only the second player to win three times in a European season in his first year after qualifying. His previous two wins came back to back on the ‘Sunshine Tour’ in his native South Africa where he took the Joburg Open and the Volvo Golf Champions Tournament. His only previous year on tour in 2009 ended up fruitless. The 23 year old’s feat equals that of Swede Johan Edfors in 2006 and has helped him rise to number 66 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Only Seve Ballesteros (1977 & 1980) of Spain and Sandy Lyle (1979) of Scotland have recorded three wins in a single season at a younger age and only two South Africans, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have achieved the feat and they both went on to win ‘Major’ titles.

The win has put Grace on € 1,053,850 making him only one of four players to break-through the million Euros barrier this year, joining Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen and Justin Rose, who are the only three players above him in this year’s “race”.

His scoring in China was simply fantastic with four rounds all under 70 including a memorable 64 in the third round. This gave him a 21 under par score of 267 his best four round aggregate of the year.

Grace will now take a week out of tournament golf, missing out of the Ballentines Tournament in South Korea this week but he will be back for the Spanish Open which starts on 3rd May in Seville.

Top of the rankings Rory McIlroy has not played since his disappointing US Masters performance and will miss out again this week, preferring to ready himself for a tilt at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow a tournament he won in 2010 in a fortnight’s time. Second placed Louis Oosthuizen will also be missing from the golf course this week but third placed Justin Rose will be playing on the US Tour in the Zurich Classic which of course does not qualify in the ‘Race toDubai’.

The favourite to win in South Korea this week is Australian Adam Scott withEngland’s Ian Poulter being his principal rival in the betting market. Disappointingly, last year’s winner, Lee Westwood, will not be there to defend his crown despite winning the Indonesian Masters last week. He too will travel over the USA to take on McIlroy and Co in the Wells Fargo Championship.

Race to Dubai Top Six: Full Standings here

1. Rory McIlroy – € 1,348, 517
2. Louis Oosthuizen – € 1, 293,705
3. Justin Rose – € 1,257,331
4. Brandon Grace – € 1, 053,850
5. Peter Hanson – € 986,471
6. Lee Westwood – € 928, 787

We all fell for it this year, believing that with a win under his belt on tour, that the four time Green Jacket winner was primed to claim to a fifth. How wrong we were and how poorly did he play, tying for 40^th place failing to break par in any of the four rounds. It was almost he had taken two steps backwards from the giant strides he had taken forwards in the lead up to the event.

We should also learn, as should Rory McIlroy, that the ability to forget bad performances or experiences are a vital aspect of being able to win the World’s top tournaments. We all thought, as probably did McIlroy, that he had put last year’s final round nightmare well and truly to bed by winning the US Open a few weeks later. Indeed at halfway this year, he was well in contention on 4 under, just a shot behind the leaders and was installed as the favourite to go and win the Green Jacket. Alas, the negative thoughts got to him and he went through more Augustaheartache over the final 36 holes completing the final two rounds in a desperately poor 9 over which put him in a tie for 40^th place with Woods – a poor show from the two pre-tournament favourites!

Another harsh lesson learned is not to write off those considered to be the “one hit wonders” of the golfing “Majors”. Louis Oosthuizen was considered to be one of these rare players who come from apparently nowhere to win a “Major” then seemingly drop back into nowhere afterwards. Players fitting that bill in recent times are Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, Paul Lawrie, Lucas Glover, Michael Campbell and Shaun Micheel to name but a few and the thinking of many was that Oosthuizen would be joining them. However, the talented South African, who won the Open Championship at St Andrews two years ago,  all but won this tournament too this year finding only Bubba Watson too good for him in the Play-Off. Oosthuizen was good enough to travel toMalaysiathe following day and win the Malaysian Open this week. He will be the one to watch in the three remaining “Majors” this year.

Until Lee Westwood learns to putt again, he is not worth backing to win his first career “Major”. Once again his Achilles heel cost him a “Major” title, which is such a great pity as there is no-one in the world today who can match his tee to green expertise. The world number three should not be entirely ruled out of breaking his “Major” duck but it really is hard to keep the faith in him and one wonders whether the putting frustrations will eventually get the better of his normally totally consistent long game.

Another lesson learned was never leave out a left-hander when making a few selective bets as potential ‘Masters’ winners as it would appear that the course definitely has a bias towards them. Admittedly there are only three real options at present, overall winner, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson – already a winner three times and Mike Weir of Canada, winner in 2003; between them they have won 5 of the last 10 US Masters. Even the fourth ranked left hander, Steve Flesch, a winner of four PGA tournaments, was close to winning in both 2008 and 2009 when he finished fifth and sixth respectively.

McIlroy’s remarkable consistency so far this year is the reason why he is being touted as potentially a better player than Tiger Woods ever was. Four top five finishes in Race toDubaievents and just for good measure a win in the Honda Classic on the US PGA Tour is an outstanding return from just five tournaments played in 2012.

He currently sits on top of the “Race” with €1,324, 366, while Englishman, Justin Rose, remains his nearest rival courtesy of his win in the WGC Cadillac Championship a fortnight ago. Rose leapt into Race toDubaicontention with his million dollars plus prize from the Cadillac win. However to remain there he will have to produce similar results in those bigger tournaments that count in both on either side of the Atlantic as he is a committed US Tour player and we will see very little of him in Europe.

Runners up spot in theQatarMasters, fifth place in the WGC Matchplay and fourth position in the “Cadillac” has earned Swedish Ryder Cup star Peter Hanson third place in the “Race”. He sits just €33,000 ahead of Lee Westwood who has also made a very consistent start to the year without winning. Runner up in the Dubai Desert Classic and a semi final place in the “Matchplay” has the world ranked number three right there in the Race To Dubai.

South African, Brandon Grace, is still in contention in fifth place although he has not shown the same sparkle lately that earned back to back wins on the Sunshine Tour at the start of the year inSouth Africa. However he has yet to miss a cut on this his first full tour after graduating from the previous year’s qualifying school. Grace has €630, 039 so far in winnings.

Abu Dhabiwinner, Robert Rock, has also played consistently well and has added considerably to the €347, 000 he claimed with his Abu Dhabiwin. He reached the third round of the WGC Matchplay, finished 24^th in the WGC Cadillac and was a creditable 17th in the Andalucia Open last week.

Former Open Champion, Paul Lawrie, is the leading Scot in this year’s “Race” currently in seventh place with €552,447. Much of that was earned of course with his great win inQatarand a good performance in the WGC Matchplay where he reached the fourth round.

In eighth place is theUSMasters Champion, Charl Schwartzel, who finished fourth in the WGC Cadillac. He too will be playing inAmericafor much of the year but with his outstanding big tournament temperament the world number six is capable of climbing the Race toDubaitable with some ease.

Dubai Desert Classic winner, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and S African Joe Kruger make up the top ten in the “Race”.

However look out for the rising of still more cream with the likes of last year’s winner and world number one Luke Donald, and those immediately behind him. Donald got back to winning ways when taking the “Transitions” last week on the PGA Tour, regaining the world number one spot from McIlroy in the process. He sits in 19th place in the ‘Race’ one place ahead of former winner and 2010 USPGA Champion, Martin Kaymer and two places clear of Graeme McDowell winner of the 2010 US Open.

Drawn in the Bobby Jones Bracket at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, Az, Donald has been made the 7/2 favourite to win the bracket and is a 16/1 shot to successfully defend his title. However, it will not be easy and he will be well aware that the only man to have ever defended the title before was Tiger Woods back in 2003. Donald also knows that his form so far shown in the two events he has played so far this year anywhere near as sharp as last year.

The Bobby Jones bracket contains players of the calibre of not just Donald and Els, but current top ten players Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott as well as KJ Choi who is ranked at number 17.

The favourite to win the Ben Hogan bracket is Martin Kaymer who finished runner up 12 months ago to Donald. Ranked at number 4 in the world Kaymer has been drawn against Greg Chalmers ofAustraliawho is ranked 59 places below him and who will making his debut at the event.

Kaymer will know that he should have the beating of Chalmers, but he will recognise that the ‘Bracket’ is wide open with plenty of players who would fancy their chances of making the top four. They include the 2001 Champion and world number 5, Steve Stricker of theUSAwho is already a tournament winner this year. Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler, Ben Crane and Hunter Mahon all top ranked Americans will put up strong challenges while Ulster’s former US Open winner, Graeme McDowell has shown some good form this year.

The 12/1 tournament favourite, Rory McIlroy is drawn in the Gary Player Bracket and will play South African George Coetzee in his opening round. McIlroy has shown some sparkling form this year with two top five finishes in the two events played so far. These performances have taken him once again past Lee Westwood to the number two spot in the rankings.

McIlroy’s main challenges are likely to come from a couple of his likely Ryder Cup team mates, Sergio Garcia, now getting back to his best and Ian Poulter winner of this tournament in 2010.

Other player’s likely to feature prominently is Australian Jason Day andUSMasters Champion, Charl Schwartzel. Both are in the top echelons of the world rankings and have shown excellent form in Matchplay in the past.

Top speed in the Sam Snead Bracket is Lee Westwood, who finished in a tie for second place in the Dubai Desert Classic a couple of weeks ago. This tournament has never been a favourite for Westwood who has never done better than a tie for 9^th place and faces the prospect of meeting Bracket favourite, Tiger Woods in the third round.

Others who are likely to play well in this Bracket include the in form Webb Simpson, Bill Haas winner last week of the Northern Trust Open and Westwood’s great friend, Open Champion and 2000 winner Darren Clarke.

2012 WGC-Accenture World Match Play Picks

Hogan Bracket : Graeme McDowell @ 14/1

Jones Bracket: Dustin Johnson @ 7/1

Player Bracket: Ian Poulter @ 9/1

Snead Bracket: Tiger Woods @ 9/2

Winner Overall: Graeme McDowell @ 50/1

Woods, who has suffered from widely reported domestic and injury problems, dropped out of the world’s top fifty for a brief spell last year, but is now up to 25 following a couple of good performances late last year, finishing third in the Australia Open, before winning the Chevron World Challenge and should he continue that good form in Abu Dhabi, Woods could find himself back in the top fifteen.

Like Tiger, the top Europeans also ended 2011 in winning form, Lee Westwood won the Nedbank Golf Challenge inSouth Africain early December in the same week that McIlroy won the Hong Kong Open. The season ended with Luke Donald being crowned winner of the Race toDubai, becoming the first man to top both the European and US Money lists, after an incredibly consistent year. Kaymer’s last win meanwhile came in the WGC HSBA World Championship in Shanghai in November which consolidated his position as number four in the world and ensures that the market leaders for this event all tee off with good recent form to their names.

Due to his record in this event, Kaymer has been installed as the 13/2 favourite to win which puts him marginally ahead of McIlroy on 7/1, whilst Woods is a 9/1 chance and Donald and Westwood both 14/1. Bookmakers also rate the chances of Sergio Garcia who is next best in the betting at25/1, ahead of Charl Schwartzel at 28/1 and Australian Jason Day at 30/1. Winner of the last two Race toDubaievents, South African, Branden Grace, is quoted at 50/1 to make it a hat-trick of wins on the tour.

Clearly Kaymer enjoys the Abu Dhabi Gold course, not only has he won three times in the last four years, he was second in 2009 and as such, has to be fancied to go well again.

Both McIlroy, who was runner up last year, and Westwood, who was tied second in 2008 play this course very well too. As further testament to Kaymer’s grip on this tournament it is worth noting that he won 12 months ago by an impressive eight strokes on 264 (-24), bettering his previous record of 267 (-21) which he held jointly with Casey.

None of the leading fancies have played in a competitive tournament yet this season, which should give those who have played on the “Sunshine Tour” in South Africa throughout January a slight advantage. Obviously Grace is one candidate but it is pointed hat he only qualified for the tour last month via qualifying school and although he could not have begun his life on tour any better, he is somewhat inexperienced at this level. His compatriots, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, both “Major” winners in the last couple of years both played in South Africa and Oosthuizen in fact won the Africa Open three weeks ago before finishing tied seventh last week in the Volvo Champions. Schwartzel, the reigning US Masters Champion fifth in that event after finishing runner up behind Grace in the Joburg Open and it would be no surprise to see either make the frame this week but it is Martin Kaymer who has the course form that cannot be ignored and is the selection to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Weekly Golf Pick – Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship 
Martin Kaymer @ 13/2 (+650)