TOUR NEWS:LEE WESTWOOD celebrated his 38th birthday with a comfortable three-stroke victory at the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta yesterday to stay in the hunt for regaining the world number one spot.
Westwood, who led by five strokes after the third round, started with a birdie on the first hole but dropped a shot on the second to make the turn at even-par 36 at the Royal Jakarta.
Westwood, who was world number one for 17 weeks until Martin Kaymer replaced him in February, birdied the 11th and 12th holes after eight straight pars to take control of the leaderboard to end at 19-under 269.
He admitted the birdie on the 11th saw him gain some forward momentum.
“Yeah, that was probably the hardest putt I had all day,” he said.
“It was 15 feet and had a three feet break on it. I birdied the next with two good shots and played solidly. I managed to pick up a few shots and birdied the 16th from four feet. I was quite comfortable after that.”
“It was quite some day. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy with a five-shot lead. Park (Hyun-bin) played well on the front nine and Thongchai was making many birdies,” he said.
“But I was experienced enough to know that patience was the key. When you are coming down those last few holes, the only person who knows what to do better is yourself.
“This is my 18th or 19th year playing on Tour and I still love it. I’ve always said that when I stop loving the game, I’ll quit but I still love getting on the aeroplane and playing with some of the best players in the world on some of the greatest golf courses.”
He returned to play his last hole after an hour’s delay due to lightning and parred it before the crowd sang Happy Birthday.
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee finished second with a bogey-free 65. The Thai has been plagued by a back injury but feels his final round shows he is nearing his best.
“It was a good round from me and I’m happy with how I played. I played my own game and focused hole by hole and shot by shot. I played very solidly,” he said.
Park Hyun-bin of South Korea and Thailand’s Thitiphun Chuayprakong were joint third along with Siddikur Rahman and Marcus Both at 13-under 275.
