Golf:Lee Westwood ended 2011 on a high with victory in the Thailand Golf Championship in Bangkok. The Worksop golfer, 38, who won the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa earlier this month, carded a final-round 69 for an overall total of 266, 22 under par. He moves above Rory McIlroy from three to two in the world rankings following the win.
World number three Westwood finished seven shots clear of Masters champion Charl Schwartzel with American Michael Thompson third and another Englishman, Simon Dyson, finishing in a tie for fourth at 12 under.
Westwood admitted: “I wasn’t happy until I was on that boat coming back from the island on 17 with a big lead. I’m going to continue to work on my fitness and all aspects of my game. I’m going in the right direction, I can see a lot of improvement and I’m happy with the way I’ve finished the year. I’ve won two out of my last three events.
“I’ll go into the winter with a lot of confidence and I’ll try to come out next year playing the same kind of golf as I played this week, a little bit leaner and well rested.”
Westwood began the day only four clear of South African Schwartzel, having led by 11 at halfway after following up a stunning 12 under par first-round 60 with a 64.
York golfer Dyson shot six birdies against three bogeys for a 69, sharing fourth place with Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol, who shot a 67 which was the equal best round of the day with Germany’s Alex Cejka, who was eighth.
Collated final round scores & totals in the Asian Tour Thailand Golf Championship, Amata Spring CC course, Country Club, Chonburi, Bangkok, Thailand
(Tha unless stated).
266Lee Westwood (Eng) 60 64 73 69
273Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 66 66 72
274Michael Thompson (USA) 69 66 69 70
276Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 73 71 65 67, Simon Dyson (Eng) 69 70 68 69
279Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 73 68 68 70, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 71 69 66 73
280Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 71 71 67
281Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 68 72 70, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 71 72 68 70
282Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 68 71 72 71, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 72 68 69 73
283Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 73 70 65 75
284Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 74 70 69, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72 69 72 71
285John Daly (USA) 65 73 72 75, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 72 71 66 76
286Scott Barr (Aus) 72 71 69 74
