Lee Westwood set his sights on knocking Colin Montgomerie off his perch as European number one after winning the TNT Dutch Open in Hilversum yesterday. The 26-year-old from Worksop came from five shots behind to equal his own course record with a closing 63, eight under par, and snatch the £133,000 first prize.
His 15 under total of 269 saw him finish one shot ahead of overnight leader Gary Orr of Scotland, with Argentinian Eduardo Romero and Australian Jarrod Moseley a shot further behind.
It was Westwood's first victory in Europe this season after an injury-plagued year but he has far from given up hope of preventing Montgomerie from taking a record seventh consecutive Order of Merit title.
"I'd love to win it," said Westwood who was involved in a season-long duel with Montgomerie and stable-mate Darren Clarke in 1998.
Victory had looked a faint possibility after an opening round of one over par 72 left him five shots off the pace and complaining of "putting like a chump."
But after abandoning his experiment with a new set of clubs he also discovered some rhythm on the greens and followed up with rounds of 68, 66, and 63 to snatch victory and move up to second in the Ryder Cup table and fourth in the Order of Merit.
"I wasn't sure how far the new clubs were going to go so after the first round I got TNT to bring my old set out - which is a good mention for the sponsor! - and they arrived 45 minutes before my second round.
"For the next three rounds I was 16 under and today I holed three putts over 15 feet which is the first time I've done that for a long time.
"I'm still not entirely happy with my putting but it's a lot better and obviously I'm delighted with the win."
Orr looked capable of taking the tournament into extra holes when he birdied the 16th to be just one stroke behind with the par five 18th still to come.
But he three putted for a bogey on the 17th and his 18 foot birdie on the last was only good enough for second place on his own and a cheque for £88,878.
"It's no big deal, it's only a game of golf," Orr insisted afterwards. "I played pretty well but just made a couple of silly mistakes and I can't really complain.
"I took the wrong club on the eighth and 13th and made bogey each time.
"I wasn't looking at the leaderboards but I knew someone would come out of the bunch. I'm not disappointed because if you don't play well you don't do yourself justice.
"If someone beats you fair and square then good luck to them."
Darren Clarke had to settle for a share of fifth place after a closing 70 while Bernhard Langer's tie for 15th, and Andrew Coltart's joint 20th were enough to move them into ninth and 10th respectively in the Ryder Cup points standings.
