British Open 2012: Pressure Mounting For Luke Donald, Lee Westwood?

Tiger Woods may be the odds-on favorite to win the 2012 British Open at Royal Latham, but he may not enter golf’s third major as the player facing the most pressure.

As Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked players in the world, respectively, prepare for next weekend (Donald is currently competing in the 2012 Scottish Open, while Westwood is taking the weekend off) both golfers know that English golf fans will be paying particular attention to both of their country’s top stars from the moment they arrive in Lancashire.

At some point, both have to win a major, and with each major that either does not win, the pressure builds.

Donald, to his credit, has been candid on the mounting anxiety he’s felt as one of the world’s top golfers yet to win a major. As the top-ranked golfer for 52 weeks now, Donald has yet to finish higher than third in a major championship. Westwood has been agonizing close in a number of majors, finishing second or third in all four of the majors at least once since 2008.

Just like Andy Murray faces mounting pressure to win Wimbledon, both Donald and Westwood know that expectations are high for them heading into next weekend’s Open Championship. With this major being hosted in England, those expectations are heigtened even further, as no Englishman has won the Open on English soil since Tony Jacklin in 1969.

So while we Americans focus and analyze every shot from Tiger and Phil next weekend, just know that the entire United Kingdom will be closely monitoring Luke and Lee.