Brilliant Westwood a runaway winner

Brilliant Briton Lee Westwood kept his calm to outperform South African Charl Schwartzel by seven strokes and capture the inaugural US$1 million Thailand Golf Championship at the Amata Spring Country Club yesterday.

The world No 3 was briefly intimidated by Schwartzel, who managed to bring down the deficit to three shots after 12 holes, before raising his game to hit a final round 69 and finish with a 22-under 266 for his fourth title of the season.

“It’s special this week because of the difficulty of the golf course and who I was up against at the weekend. Charl is the Masters champion and he’s had a great year,” Westwood said. 

“The fact that I led wire to wire, 60 in the first round and 64 in the second round – 20 under after two rounds, it’s yours to lose really with an 11-shot lead,” said the Brit, whose victories this year came at the Indonesian Masters, Ballantines Championships in South Korea and Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.

“There was pressure involved. I was pleased with the way I played today. Yesterday I didn’t know how to approach it or handle it. I never had an 11-shot lead and it was difficult to come out and refocus and reset goals. I did that today. I thought 69 was a good score, went from four in-front to seven in-front. I’m obviously delighted.’’

The Englishman’s 37th professional trophy will help him climb to No 2 in the world.

“I’m in a tricky position because I’ve been so successful but not won a major [tournament]. Anytime I’ve gone through a year without a major and people are going to say it’s been a disappointing year for Lee Westwood. 

“I’ve dropped from one to two in the space of a year in the world rankings and with four wins. I’ve played consistently. If I was evaluating the way I’m playing now a year ago, I’m a better player. Anytime you improve you can’t be disappointed,’’ said Westwood, who earned a cheque of US$158,500 as the winner.

Schwartzel, who was four shots behind at the start of the day, came closest to catching Westwood after he eagled the 11th hole before shooting a 30-yard-putt for a birdie on the 12th to trail by only two shots. But on that same hole, the world No 3 fought back immediately with a birdie to maintain his three-shot advantage. He went on to sink further birdies on the 13th and 15th holes to exert pressure on the South African, which worked – as the latter was overwhelmed and bogeyed the 14th, 17th and 18th holes.

“It was a tough day, Schwarztel said. “The wind probably blew the hardest today, compared to the last three rounds. I pulled him [Westwood] back within three shots after 11 holes. [But] all credit to Lee. He made two great birdies on 12 and 13. I had a very bad lie on 14 and made a bogey. That was a big swing there. I played great. If it wasn’t for Lee, I would have probably won the tournament,’’ said the South African, who completed his year with two titles including the Jo’burg Open.

Unfancied Chawalit Plaphol, who finished with a 67, emerged the best local performer in the tournament, sharing fourth place along with Briton Simon Dyson with a 12-under 276.

“I was driving and hitting the irons well the whole tournament, which was the key. It was unexpected because I didn’t like the course, which is long and windy. Maybe I was playing well because I was quite relaxed not being among the favourites did work in my favour,’’ said Chawalit, whose season best was winning the Queen’s Cup in Samui.

Three strokes away at sixth were the Japanese Daisuke Maruyama and Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk, each with 279. German Alex Cejka was eighth with 280, while India’s Jeev Milkha Singh and Japan’s Tetsuji Hiratsuka each fired 281 to share ninth spot.

Sergio Garcia, despite an eagle on the 11th hole two days in a row, shot an even par to tie for 24th position.

Ryo Ishikawa, the darling of Japanese fans, failed to live up to his standard, firing a final round 73 to finish at 297 for equal 59th along with British Open champion Darren Clarke.

“I didn’t think about the score and just went out there to have a good time. So many Thais are interested in golf and maybe more than Japanese people,’’ said the Japanese star, who has 16 sports awards waiting for him at home today.