The final showdown for Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie starts at Valderrama in Spain today.

At stake in the £3.5m American Express world championship is the European No 1 spot held by Montgomerie for the last seven years.

But what all three will treasure most is beating Tiger Woods to a title that the American needs to take his earnings for the season to ten million dollars - almost twice the figure Jack Nicklaus won in 37 years on the US Tour.

Clarke and Westwood, separated by just over £60,000 at the top, could still capture the Order of Merit even if Woods wins for the tenth time this year on Sunday.

Yet it will taste so much better for Clarke if he can repeat the million-dollar victory he had over the world No 1 at the Andersen Consulting World Matchplay in California in February.

Westwood, who came from behind to beat Woods in Hamburg in May, places more importance on doing that again than he does on ending Montgomerie's long reign.

As for the Scot, he has to win even to have a chance of coming from sixth to first in the money list race. But, unlike the other two, he has never won an event in which Woods was playing.

Andrew Chandler manages both Clarke and Westwood and in one sentence summed up the way they are approaching the task ahead, and indeed how they have approached their careers.

''All Lee wants to do is win. All Darren wants to do is spend money,'' said Chandler.

Clarke's second place in last weekend's Volvo Masters took his European earnings through the £5m barrier, even though he has only won seven times.

Westwood is poised to join him this week, yet has already captured 24 titles in his career.

Six have come on the European Tour this season and another would be a record.

''I'd be delighted to be No 1 but I've never really thought about it too much to be honest,'' said the Worksop 27-year-old.

''It really doesn't sit that highly in my priorities. But I'd like to set a record and I'd like to beat Tiger again. That would give me more satisfaction.

''Like any tournament I've turned up to win and I'm not thinking about anything else at all.''

Ulsterman Clarke, who played a practice round with Woods yesterday in under three hours, commented: ''It would be great to win the Order of Merit, but in terms of world rankings to win the tournament would be bigger.

''The long-term goal is to get as high in the rankings as I can.''

Last week he entered the top ten for the first time; now he is ninth and by Sunday he could be seventh.

Westwood is fifth and Montgomerie sixth, but none of the trio is even remotely close to Woods.

If he repeats last year's win it will not only end Montgomerie's reign, but also end the hopes of Ernie Els, Michael Campbell and Thomas Bjorn of winning the Order of Merit.

In that event, Clarke and Westwood fight it out. Westwood cannot catch his stablemate if he is outside the top nine.