Six Players Could be World No.1on Sunday

Martin Kaymer heads into the season’s first Major championship as World Number One but faces a five-pronged attack for the coveted top spot at Augusta National.

Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods can all displace the German this week.

Should Westwood go one better than last year and win the Masters, he will go to World Number One. Indeed a finish anywhere in the top four could potentially see the Englishman return to the top, depending on the performances of Kaymer and the other challengers to the summit.

Mickelson can become World Number One for the first time with a top two finish, and should he successfully defend his Masters title on Sunday night, he will go top if Kaymer finishes worse than second alone.

Luke Donald, winner of the Par 3 contest on the eve of the Masters yesterday, needs to win with Westwood finishing worse than second alone and Kaymer outside the top three if he is to be crowned World Number One.

US Open Champion Graeme McDowell can also reach the world’s golfing summit with victory at Augusta National if Mickelson is not second alone, Westwood is outside the top four and Kaymer finishes lower than 55th.

And Tiger Woods, now seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking, can return to the top this week if he wins a fifth Green Jacket and Mickelson is not second alone, Westwood is outside the top three and Kaymer outside the top 18.

Tiger Starts No 1 Chase at Torrey Pines

Tiger Woods plays the Farmers Insurance Open this week in what has become the traditional start of his season since 2006 and where he has won the last five times at Torrey Pines, including the 2008 U.S. Open in a playoff over Rocco Mediate.

He has not played the PGA Tour stop at Torrey Pines the last two years, missing in 2009 while recovering from knee surgery and last year while dealing with personal problems related to his extramarital affairs. Woods has not won since the Australian Masters in November 2009. 

Woods arrives at the La Jolla venue ranked third in the world, though, as he dropped out of the No. 2 spot Sunday when Martin Kaymer won in Abu Dhabi and overtook him. 

Lee Westwood, who took over the No. 1 spot in late October, remains there.

“We’ll see how long it takes him to overtake me again,” Kaymer said Sunday.

Master champion Phil Mickelson dropped to a No. 5 ranking after he had been sharing fourth place with U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who tied for third in Abu Dhabi. Mickelson finished 37th last Sunday. 

Westwood, meanwhile, is planning to skip golf's richest event this year because of PGA Tour restrictions put on him as the world No. 1 is not a member of the circuit in America, preferring to devote more time to his family. Therefore leaving the Players Championship in Florida in May off his schedule.

As a non-member, Westwood is allowed only three regular tournament appearances outside the majors and World Championship events, and has decided Sawgrass simply doesn’t fit in with his plans. 

Rory McIlroy has also said he will miss the Players after deciding to end his PGA Tour membership this season.

"There is a five-week gap between the Masters and the Volvo World Match Play in Spain (on May 19th -22nd, one week after the Players) and I want to play a couple of events in there," said Westwood. 

"I've said I will support the European Tour, so I am going to Asia."

The English golfer's other starts in America will be the Honda Classic in Florida in March, because it is the week between two World Championships there, the Shell Houston Open to warm up for the following week's Masters, and his defense of the title in Memphis the week before the U.S. Open in June.

"It's something I can't control," Westwood added.