While the PGA Tour plays host to the Crowne Plaza Invitational, the world’s top three ranked golfers will be competing in the European Tour’s Volvo World Matchplay Championship at Finca Cortesin in Spain starting Thursday. Lee Westwood and Luke Donald are the joint favorites with Martin Kaymer following shortly behind.

There is plenty of worth competitors in this golf tournament with five of the world’s top six players appearing. It’s a matchplay tournament with 24 players in eight groups of three and a knockout stage over the weekend. Look for those who shine at other matchplay tournaments like the Ryder Cup and WGC-Accenture Matchplay.

World No. 1 Westwood is grouped with Anders Hansen and Aaron Baddeley. Westwood won here in 2000 and was a runner-up in 2004. The Ryder Cup star is getting back on track, winning the Ballantine’s Championship his last time out after starting 2011 with one top 15 finish in six appearances.

World No. 2 Kaymer has also been struggling lately after missing the cut again at the Masters and finishing 62nd and 19th in his last two events. His best finish was ninth at the Malaysian Open.

World No. 3 Donald is the stand-out player and top money earner of 2011. He has six top 10 finishes in six events, including a win over Kaymer in the WGC-Accenture Matchplay. He is grouped with Ryan Moore and defending champion Ross Fisher.

Beyond the top three, Rory McIlory is next in the odds. He choked at the Masters but responded with a third-place finish in Malaysia. He followed that up with a disappointing missed cut at the Wells Fargo Championship so he is too inconsistent to back. Masters champion Charl Schwartzel has six top 15 finishes in 10 events. Graeme McDowell did well in The Players Championship until the last day, citing fatigue so he isn’t the man to back with four days of matchplay coming up. Ross Fisher has just two top 15 finishes and two missed cuts in eight tournaments. Ian Poulter is a better bet as the Ryder Cup star usually saves his best for matchplay.

Volvo World Matchplay Championship Outright Odds (provided by Titan Bet)

Lee Westwood: 6/1

Luke Donald: 6/1

Martin Kaymer: 8/1

Rory McIlroy: 9/1

Charl Schwartzel: 14/1

Graeme McDowell: 16/1

Aaron Baddeley: 18/1

Alvaro Quiros: 18/1

Ian Poulter: 18/1

Paul Casey: 18/1

Louis Oosthuizen: 20/1

Miguel Angel Jimenez: 20/1

Ryan Moore: 22/1

Y.E. Yang: 22/1

Retief Goosen: 25/1

Ross Fisher: 25/1

Francesco Molinari: 28/1

Anders Hansen: 40/1

Nicolas Colsaerts: 50/1

Paul Lawrie: 50/1

Seung Yul Noh: 50/1