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Luke Donald insists his focus this week is on adding to his World Golf Championships haul rather than fending off Tiger Woods at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking.
The World Number One has Woods as his nearest challenger for the first time since hitting the summit over a year ago after the 14-time Major winner moved ahead of Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood at The Open Championship.
But Donald is more worried about trying to add the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational to his WGC-Accenture Match Play title from 2011 than keeping the former World Number One at bay when he takes to the Firestone course in Akron, Ohio.
Asked whether having Woods – who was outside the game’s top 50 less than a year ago - on his heels was more intimidating than being pursued by his Ryder Cup teammates McIlroy and Westwood, Donald replied: “I don't see any difference. Obviously you have no control what other guys are doing - all I can do is go out there and control what I can do.
“I'm certainly very proud of my Number One ranking and how long I've kept it. That shows how consistent I've been over the last couple years, and I'll continue to try and work on accomplishing a lot more in this game.
“If I keep doing what I know I can do, winning more tournaments and hopefully winning Majors, then hopefully I can stay there. Obviously I've got a lot of great players behind me, including Tiger. He's certainly starting to play a lot better. He's won three times this year, and as a result he's climbed up the World Rankings.
“It's good to have guys like that chomping at your heel because they push you to work harder, to challenge yourself to try and get to that next level.”
With three top-ten finishes from his seven visits to Firestone the Englishman has reason to be confident, especially after an impressive display 12 months ago that saw him finish second to Open runner-up Adam Scott.
“I'm excited – it’s obviously a good run of events coming up, and hopefully build off a very solid Open Championship for me. I felt like I controlled the ball very well, so I'm excited about continuing that form, and I've always enjoyed playing this week.
“It's a golf course you really have to drive it well, do everything really well here. It's a tough test, and it will be a great preparation for next week.
“I've always seemed to play solidly here and be somewhat in the mix. I think it is a course that suits my game - you have to really plot your way around this place, be very consistent tee to green, and obviously be good on the greens.
“It's a place I've been relatively successful but haven't quite got to the point of winning. So hopefully that will change this year.”
