Westwood and Donald must get their acts together

The PGA Tour is about to get serious and it’s time for some of our British stars to do the same.

There have already been 14 counting events in the Fed-Ex Cup, but there’s a noticeable step-up in quality for the Florida Swing.

Suddenly, The Masters starts to loom on the horizon. Players’ schedules over the next few weeks are all geared to arriving at Augusta in the best possible shape.

But you won’t play well there without finding some form in Florida, and that’s certainly the goal for Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.

The two former World No1s are desperate to land that first Major, but they’ve made quiet starts to the year.

That included early exits from this weekend’s Matchplay, so they need to recover quickly as they head to Florida.

Lee has made another change by dispensing with the services of Sean Foley, Tiger Woods’ current coach.

He’s made so many over the last 18 months, having moved his family to America, that he just needs to get back to the golf that has taken him so close before in the big ones.

It’s too early to panic for Luke, but he’s become a slow starter in the last couple of years. He needs a good run of three or four tournaments to get his competitive edge back.

Florida is the place to be in March. There are four events in four weeks, with the same scenario of big purses, large crowds and great conditions.

In those circumstances, it’s easy to see why so many European players take up their cards in America.

But you’d be foolish to use the next month as just a warm-up for Augusta. Unless you have your A-game, you’ll be quickly overtaken because there is an incredible conveyor belt of players in America.

This week’s Honda Classic has become one of the best ‘regular’ events of the season, and eight of the world’s Top 10 are in action. Last year, the PGA National was the toughest course on tour and it has the famous ‘Bear Trap’, three holes from 15 to 17.

With two par-3s over a vast expanse of water and plenty of wind about, there’s always the potential for disaster.

If you can stay dry over the four days on that stretch, you’ve done well! It claimed a big victim last year when Rory McIlroy walked off the course in his second round.

I played in my final Ryder Cup there in 1983 and I lost to Tom Watson in the singles.

Previously, we had gone to America and lost heavily.

That time, we lost by just a single point.

It marked the beginning of the end of American dominance and the start of the modern era of classic matches.