Lee Westwood wins the European Tour co-sanctioned Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa
World number three Englishman Lee Westwood has also decided to take on the offensive when he surged to the top of the leaderboard at the co-sanctioned European Tour event, the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. While his nemesis Rory McIlroy was busy
carving a victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open, Westwood pulled a less impressive one-over, 73 on the final day, still managing to run away with the title. His course-record 62 on the third day helped him clinch the title despite of a disappointing final round.
"I love playing this course and yesterday was probably the best round I've ever played. It set me up to play conservatively today. It's very satisfying.” said Westwood.
Westwood is currently poised at number three on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and fifth on the Race to Dubai Money list, is one of the few English players who have the ability to play and win all over the world. After his fall from the OWGR earlier
in the year when Martin Kaymer toppled him in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, Westwood went over on a spree of victories on the Asian turf to win back his top rank.
Westwood won the title by two shots over his European compatriot Sweden's Robert Karlsson. While 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell finished further down the leaderboard, finishing for a joint third alongside American Jason Dufner. Both players finished
for an 11-under on the aggregate at scenic Sun City Resort.
Heading into the final round with a seven shot lead, Westwood had little to do than to just meddle the putts around, lurking his way through the lush green fairways. He was threatened by the rampaging McDowell who played well on the front nine but fell for
disastrous double-bogey and bogey on the back nine. He was never able to recover from the loss.
The 32-year-old McDowell said, "Today kind of summed up the week - I made some mistakes at the wrong time. I might have been in the mix but maybe pushed a bit hard last night and there was the double on the 17th - but all in all I'm happy with my game."
The European Tour will now move to one its biggest and the last event of the calendar, the Dubai World Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estate where the money leader for the year will be decided after the culmination of the event. World number one Luke Donald
and number two McIlroy will be heading into a thrilling showdown to clinch the money leader title for the European Tour. McIlroy has done well in last week’s UBS Hong Kong Open and has shortened Donald’s lead with a stunning victory on his favourite hunting
ground.
Meanwhile, Donald is hoping to retain the money leader title till the end of the season, in order to pull in a double-dip, leading both money lists of the sport, an accolade which has never been won by any player.
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