Lee Westwood told journalists he is happy to go along with the notion of a rivalry with Rory McIlroy if that's what they want to write about.

The somewhat sarcastic comments came on the eve of this week's Honda Classic, where Westwood will tee off alongside the likes of McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell at the PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Much was made of the supposed rivalry between the two former stablemates ahead of their semi-final clash in last week's Accenture Match Play Championship, a contest that ended up being won by McIlroy - though he was not able to go and win the final and take over at the top of the world rankings, just as Westwood would have had the opportunity to do had he won.

With Luke Donald not playing, McIlroy will have another opportunity to take the World No 1 ranking this week, while Westwood's semi-final loss in Tucson means even a victory on Sunday would not be enough to retake the top spot.

As for how much substance there really is to the supposed rivalry, it was clear Westwood didn't think too much of it, judging by the comments he made to reporters in Florida.

"If I am going to have a rivalry I would like it to be with Rory because he's arguably the hottest player on the planet at the moment," Westwood said.

"I am willing to go along with that if you want to write about it. I've been around a long time now - this is my 19th year out here - and there's been various rivalries thrown at me during my career.

"I really don't pay much attention to them. You learn through playing golf for a long time that the only thing you can control is your own game.

"That's all I try to do. I figure that if I'm going to keep playing well and getting in contention for tournaments Rory's pretty much going to be in a similar position, so we're going to be playing together a lot.

"It's going to go backwards and forwards. One of us will get the better of the other, as I did in Dubai two weeks ago (Westwood came second, McIlroy fifth), and then Rory got the better of me last week.

"That's just the way it is."

Source: Golf 365