Masters kicks off Ryder Cup race

Westwood was one of the stars of the show in Europe's 2006 victory

The race to qualify for the 2008 European Ryder Cup team gets under way at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland on Thursday.

Five members of Europe's victorious 2006 team - Paul Casey, David Howell, Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson and Darren Clarke - are in the field.

The tournament is the first qualifying event in a year-long process for the 10 automatic places in Nick Faldo's team.

"Like the last two teams, it'll be very hard to make the team," said Westwood.

"There are a lot of very strong players in Europe now and you could put 30 or 40 candidates forward for the Ryder Cup," added Westwood, who was joint top scorer as Europe thrashed the US to win the 2006 Ryder Cup.

The top five Europeans in the world rankings will make the 2008 team.

The next five places will go to the five leading players in the European tour points standings, not including those players who have qualified through the world rankings.

The final two places will go to Faldo's personal picks.

The world points come from points gained in both Europe and America, which means Westwood, like other top European players, could miss European Tour events next season to play in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup tournaments.

"If it is the world points you want, the last couple of weeks in the FedEx Cup have been like majors in terms of world ranking points," said Westwood.