Top two still chase elusive big one

THE final Major of the year begins at the Atlanta Athletic Club on Thursday with Luke Donald and Lee Westwood still clinging to the top two places in the world rankings and Rory McIlroy the bookmaker’s favourite at 10/1.

The US PGA may not the most glamorous of golf’s four biggest championships but it invariably commands the best field with invitations extended to the top 100 players in the world, 98 of whom are set to tee it up in Georgia.

The rankings are coming under increasing focus, especially in the United States, where they are accustomed to the number one player being the proud holder of at least one Major championship. The system was instituted 24 years ago and until the advent of Westwood in late 2010 and Donald earlier this year, were never headed by a non-Major champion. Donald has led for 12 weeks and was preceded by Westwood for 22. It may be argued their respective recent performances justify such exalted positions, with Donald finishing joint runner-up with Ricky Fowler behind Adam Scott in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at the weekend and Westwood closing strongly for a share of ninth.