Westwood and Donald do battle side by side in Europe

First comes the Volvo World Match Play Championship starting today at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s Costa del Sol, which has been more wet than sunny so far this week.

Westwood, who kicks off against Dane Anders Hansen, is going for a third successive title after wins in Indonesia and Korea.

Donald, whose opening group game is against American Ryan Moore, is trying for a Match Play double after lifting the World Golf Championships version in Arizona in February – the first of seven successive top 10 finishes he has had in the States.

Next week they will be at Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship and Westwood said: “Hopefully we’ll have a typically balmy British spring-summer, everybody will be in T-shirts and there will be 100,000 people there.

“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 time I think a country has had one and two in the world other than America and it just shows you the state of English and British golf right now.

“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 fortnight and with third-ranked Martin Kaymer playing as well the Match Play has five of the world’s top six and all four current major champions in its 24-man field.

They are competing for a first prize of £703,000 that is second only to the Open in Europe this year – and any one of Westwood, Donald or Kaymer could be No 1 on Sunday night.