Westwood keeps top spot as Kaymer`s challenge falls away

Lee Westwood kept his position as world number one when nearest rival Martin Kaymer finished well off the pace in the Qatar Masters golf on Sunday.

German Kaymer, ranked second in the world, needed to finish first or second in the Qatari capital to unseat Briton Westwood who had missed the halfway cut.

Kaymer walked from the Doha Golf Club course with a final-round 71 for a share of a place in the 20s at two under par as the leaders headed into their closing nine holes.

"I was in a position to finish in the top 10 I thought but the greens are not my friends here in Qatar," Kaymer told Reuters.

"So what can you do because today I played my best golf all week even with a double bogey at the 12th hole?

"The good thing is I was lying 80th after my first round but the next two days I was hanging around the 20s and it looks as though I will finish in the 20s so I am pleased to be able to say that.

"It's just that the putts didn't drop and while it's a disappointing thing on one hand, I am looking forward to going to Dubai and leaving this tournament behind me."

In three previous appearances in Doha, Kaymer had finished no higher than 31st.

"I have just struggled so much on this Doha golf course and it's just so hard to get a feel of the ball on the greens," he said. "I would like to see the greens a lot quicker and just as they were in Abu Dhabi.

"But I hope to come back to this event next year. It's such a challenging golf course and I just want to play well on it."

In Dubai's Desert Classic, which starts on Thursday, Kaymer will join Westwood and former number one Tiger Woods, now ranked third.

It will be the first time since October, when Westwood went to number one, that the top three players in the world have contested the same event.

"I'm not worried about being number one or Tiger going past me and pushing me back to number three as long as I am in the top five on the rankings," Kaymer said.