VIRGINIA WATER, England, May 24 (Reuters) - German Martin Kaymer is one of three players aiming to finish the week at the top of the world rankings but the U.S. PGA champion believes Briton Luke Donald deserves to be recognised as number one.
Second-ranked Donald and number three Kaymer will be battling to knock Briton Lee Westwood off top spot on Sunday following the final round of the European Tour's flagship PGA Championship at Wentworth.
"I think the way he is playing Luke deserves to be the number one," Kaymer told reporters on Tuesday.
Kaymer, 26, said Englishman Donald played "unbelievable" golf to beat him 5 & 3 in the semi-finals of last week's World Match Play in Spain.
"I just had no chance," he explained. "I won only one hole and that was after virtually the only golf shot he missed all day.
"Of course he missed a few here and there but a miss with him is still okay. It was very impressive to see."
Donald has been in imperious form this year, beating Ryder Cup team mate Kaymer 3 & 2 in the WGC-Accenture Match Play final in Arizona in February and stringing together a series of top-10 finishes on the U.S. and European tours.
"There was one hole last week, the par-five 11th, where Luke was about 120-130 yards away and I was maybe 40-50 yards away but I knew I had to make my up and down," said Kaymer.
"I eventually hit the longer putt, it lipped out, and his went straight in the middle of the hole again. I felt like saying, 'Give me a chance'."
Kaymer spent a short spell at the top of the world rankings earlier this year and learned a lot from the experience.
"The expectations were very high after I became number one ... because everybody expects you to win every week," he said. "It's tough to satisfy people.
"To handle that pressure that you don't put on yourself but that other people put on you, that's a little bit tough. If I become number one again then I will know how to handle that."
Second-ranked Donald and number three Kaymer will be battling to knock Briton Lee Westwood off top spot on Sunday following the final round of the European Tour's flagship PGA Championship at Wentworth.
"I think the way he is playing Luke deserves to be the number one," Kaymer told reporters on Tuesday.
Kaymer, 26, said Englishman Donald played "unbelievable" golf to beat him 5 & 3 in the semi-finals of last week's World Match Play in Spain.
"I just had no chance," he explained. "I won only one hole and that was after virtually the only golf shot he missed all day.
"Of course he missed a few here and there but a miss with him is still okay. It was very impressive to see."
Donald has been in imperious form this year, beating Ryder Cup team mate Kaymer 3 & 2 in the WGC-Accenture Match Play final in Arizona in February and stringing together a series of top-10 finishes on the U.S. and European tours.
"There was one hole last week, the par-five 11th, where Luke was about 120-130 yards away and I was maybe 40-50 yards away but I knew I had to make my up and down," said Kaymer.
"I eventually hit the longer putt, it lipped out, and his went straight in the middle of the hole again. I felt like saying, 'Give me a chance'."
Kaymer spent a short spell at the top of the world rankings earlier this year and learned a lot from the experience.
"The expectations were very high after I became number one ... because everybody expects you to win every week," he said. "It's tough to satisfy people.
"To handle that pressure that you don't put on yourself but that other people put on you, that's a little bit tough. If I become number one again then I will know how to handle that."
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