Lee Westwood lurks in obscurity despite a brilliant 63 on the final round of Honda Classic
The Englishman bestowed with the Officer of the British Empire (OBE) last year, Lee Westwood has failed to come out of obscurity in the current year.
Although he has pulled in several strong finishes, he is yet to land a title in the current year.
Poised at number three on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), Westwood played brilliantly on Sunday last week to card a final round of 63 on the Honda Classic, but finished far from the top slot.
The Englishman pulled in his second lowest score of his professional career, a blistering seven-under, 63, carding an overall second lowest round of the day after Tiger Woods’ 62.
Far from being dejected, Westwood insisted that he has improved his game in the recent months.
Westwood said, “Did some good work on the putting green last night and got a bit of confidence up and made three putts outside, well, from about 30 feet, one from about 30 feet and a couple 25-footers”.
Working his way up the leaderboard for the three consecutive days, Westwood fell for a high of 70 on first and third day of the event.
He carded a low of 69 on the second day, leaving him loads of work on the final day. He carded no fewer than five birdies on the 18-hole stretch and did not drop a single shot.
The highlight of his final round came at par-five, 3rd when he landed a glistening eagle to surge into contention earlier in the day.
He finished for an outright fourth, trailing the leader McIlroy by four strokes.
Westwood lauded the young Ulsterman for his victory and ultimate surge to the top of the world.
A former world number one himself, Westwood is well aware of the honour and prestige involved with the world number one title.
He added, “He's a very good player, very young, still learning, got most of the shots. I think he's got a fairly bright future”.
For the moment, the 38-year-old Westwood is currently poised at number three on the OWGR.
He is hoping to land a title as soon as possible before the top-ranked players move to the first major title of the year, The Masters at Augusta National.
The Englishman has been struggling right from the start of the year after suffering a devastating neck and elbow injury in the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last month.
He persisted with his injury and decided to stay on course rather than withdrawing from the tournament.
His performance in Dubai later on, remained fruitless and although he shot into contention on a few occasions, he was never able to land the title on the weekend.
The former world number one is known for his penchant for the Asian turf and is likely to return to the bigger Asian Tour events to consolidate his position on the OWGR.
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