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Sandwich - Tom Watson believes Luke Donald will be the man to beat at the British Open after a stellar start to the season which has propelled him to the top of the world rankings.
Five-time Open champion Watson said Donald's hat-trick of victories in 2011 indicated the 33-year-old world No 1 was primed to score his maiden Major win when the championship tees off at Royal St George's on Thursday.
"Who is going to win? Luke Donald has won three tournaments this year. Who else has won three? It is good to go on those who win - those are the guys who I bet on," said Watson.
Donald arrived at Sandwich brimming with confidence after a victory in last weekend's Scottish Open.
"He is playing great right now and you have to go with the horses who have been running well," Watson said.
"If you are winning golf tournaments, you are doing a lot of things well. When you come into an Open championship, you want to be playing well; you don’t want to be fighting it.
"He is not thinking about his golf swing, so he can strictly concentrate on managing the golf course. And that is an advantage."
Watson, who came within a putt of a sixth Open two years ago at Turnberry before losing a play-off, is also impressed with the way Rory McIlroy bounced back from his US Masters meltdown to win the US Open last month.
But the 61-year-old has not joined the rush to acclaim McIlroy as the natural heir to Tiger Woods.
"He is a young kid. He has won one Major," said Watson. "Whether he is going to be the next great player, we will see. We will check his career 10 years down the road."
