This is turning out to be another exciting week in golf. In two extreme ends of the world, two players are fighting to become the new world number ones, and personally I am in with a chance to win the Volvo China Open on the European Tour.

Reigning world number one Martin Kaymer is taking it easy this week, but he could well lose his crown when the new rankings are released tomorrow.

That's because numbers two and three, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, can both upstage him if they win. That's very much possible as Westwood is ahead in the Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour at the halfway stage, while Donald tops the leaderboard going into the business end of the week at The Heritage on the PGA Tour.

The two Englishmen have excellent opportunities. Westwood is the best player in the field by far in Jakarta, and even though nothing can be said with certainty in a game as fickle as golf, his class should help him win the tournament.

It will be a lot more difficult for Donald at Hilton Head, even though he is leading by one shot after the first two rounds. The Harbour Town Golf Links is a shot-makers course and that should suit Donald. But his problem will definitely be the quality of the chasing field.

It is difficult to answer who is more deserving of the number one crown. Westwood has been the most consistent performer in the world over the past couple of years. Donald, who won the Matchplay earlier this year, has been outstanding in the last six months, and there is no denying that Kaymer has been the best player in the world over the past year.

Good feeling

Moving on, the European Tour is in Chengdu this week for the Volvo China Open, the tournament I won in 2006 and which kind of kickstarted my comeback from almost four years of injury misery.

I have always done well at Volvo-sponsored event (I also won the Volvo Masters at Valderrama) and I have a good feeling whenever I head for their events.

It was no different at Luxehills International Country Club this week. Although I must admit I was a little concerned at my inconsistency in Malaysia last week, where I mixed two very good rounds with two very average efforts.

Luxehills is a course set up for making birdies — it has fairways which seem as wide as they are long, and the greens are true and very receptive. And given that the weather has been fine too, the spate of low scoring should not come as a surprise.

I started with two successive rounds of six-under par 66 and was one behind leader Jamie Donaldson going into the weekend. Hopefully, I will continue to play consistently and have some fantastic things to talk about next week.

 

Jeev Milkha Singh is a three-time champion on the European Tour