Lee Westwood claimed his second victory in succession to maintain his position as world number one in style.
Westwood carded a flawless closing round of 67 to win the Ballantine's Championship in Korea ahead of Ryder Cup team-mate Miguel Angel Jimenez.The 38-year-old birdied the 18th to set the clubhouse target on 12 under par, before watching from the locker room as Jimenez failed to match that finish to force a play-off.
Jimenez finished second on 11 under after a closing 71, with Korea's Sang-hyun Park a shot further back in third and American Dustin Johnson fourth on nine under.
Westwood, who needed a top-five finish to remain top of the rankings with Germany's Martin Kaymer in line to overtake him despite not playing, said: "It feels great.
"I must admit it was nerve-racking sitting there watching people play. You never wish ill on anyone but I'm delighted to win.
"I've won two weeks in a row before but it's still very special. It's tough to come down off a win and get yourself refocused, but the more experience you get the easier it is to do it."
Jimenez was quick to congratulate Westwood and the latter revealed the pair had enjoyed dinner together last night.
"We had a nice bottle of red and after dinner I said 'I'll see you in the play-off tomorrow' and it nearly went that way," Westwood added.
Bad weather on Saturday meant the third round had to be completed on Sunday morning and Jimenez shared the lead on 10 under after 54 holes alongside Sweden's Alexander Noren and Welshman Rhys Davies.
Westwood was three behind after completing a 69, but then mastered the tricky conditions in the final round to pile the pressure on the leaders.
He added: "I wanted to try and shoot the best round of the day. I don't know if 67 is, but it feels pretty good.
"Billy (Foster, his caddie) said to me on the sixth or seventh that 11 under will have a chance so that was the figure we were aiming for.
"It's tricky out there. It's a difficult course because it goes around the hills and it's difficult to pick the wind up, it swirls a lot.
"I'm pleased with the way I'm striking it. Billy said you're hitting it straight at every flag, it either comes up a few feet short or a few feet long. I gave myself a lot of chances and now and then a few go in."
Westwood is now setting his sights on winning that elusive Major.
"My next goal is to win a Major Championship. It's the dream of all professional golfers to get to number one in the world rankings and I've done that. I haven't won a Major yet and that's the missing one. So that's what I'm working towards and hopefully that will be the next thing,"
Jimenez needed a birdie over the closing stretch to force a play-off, but instead had to save par from sand on the 15th and 17th before failing to get up and down from another bunker on the par-five 18th for the necessary birdie.
"I played well although it was not as good as the first two rounds, but that's the game," said Jimenez.
"He's (Westwood) a great player. He won two weeks in a roll and he's the number one player in the world. Pity I didn't beat him today, he beat us,"
Meanwhile JKorea's Park Sang-hyun continued to show the emerging strength of the game in the country and credited the success of Asian Tour honorary members, K.J Choi and Y.E Yang for providing them with the self-belief that they can match up against the world's best players.
"Both Choi and Yang really made us believe that we, Koreans can succeed against the world's best players. They've been our role models and have inspired us to follow their footsteps," said Park.
Biography
Lee John Westwood was born on the 24th April 1973 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. He is by no means the only famous person to come from this small town in the Midlands there's Graham Taylor and David Pleasance, the actor. As Lee says, "We're all recluses up here."
Lee played his first round at the tender age of 13, at the Kilton Forest municipal, scoring about 180. He says, "I lost count after a while, though!" By the age of 14 he was Nottinghamshire Junior champion. A year earlier he beat a player 5 years his senior to secure the Notts junior cup for his club.
1991
In 1991 Lee won the Notts Junior Matchplay title a year after he won his first major amateur tournament, the Peter McEvoy Trophy. In the same year Lee wins the Notts Junior medal and captains England Youth. He had already represented England boys in 1989.1992
The following year Lee pulls of an amazing double, clinching both the Notts Strokeplay and Matchplay titles. In '93 Lee wins the British Youth Championship. He turns pro and wins his tour card at his first try.1996
At 24 Lee secures his first pro victory, coming trumps in the Volvo Scandanavian Masters. In the same season his is victor at the Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters in Japan.In 1996 he wins 449,960 on tour and comes 6th in the order of merit.1997
1997 was his most succesful season on tour so far, winning 4 events. His form at the end of the season was sensational. He won the following events;- The Benson & Hedges Malaysian open
- The Volvo Masters in Spain
- He defended his title at the Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters
- The Holden Australian Open, beating world no. 1 Greg Norman in a playoff.
In his first Ryder Cup Lee forms a formiddable partnership with Nick Faldo and wins 2 points from 5 as Europe win the Ryder Cup.
1998
In 1998 Lee wins his first USPGA event the week before the US masters. He won in the New Orleans Freeport Classic and his odds for the Masters drop to 14/1. His performance in the first major of the year, however, was disappointing. He made the cut by 1 stroke but ends up almost last of those who made the weekend ending in 44th at 12+.Generally, though, 1998 has been a huge year for Lee. He keeps to his most simple of all philosophies, "I may make a mistake, but never the same one twice, that's just stupid." Wise words indeed.
Lee continues his unfaltering progress by winning 7 events:
- Freeport McDermott Classic, in New Orleans.
- Deutsche Bank Open - TPC of Europe.
- National Car Rental English Open, to secure a great double.
- Standard Life Loch Lomond World Invitational.
- Belgacom Open, winning his first tournament for a frightening 3 months
- Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters, in Japan
- Dunlop Phoenix Open, his second tournament win in as many weeks
Lee was, however, voted as the European Tour player of the year in 1998, a remarkable record.
Lee has made a credit worthy 1,626,410 in this year alone.
In the meantime Lee was making a charge on the World rankings chart, too. During '98 Lee jumped from 23rd to the dizzy heights of 7th, which he acheived in July after the Loch Lomond win. he regained the 7th spot after his back to back wins in Japan at the end of the year.
On the years other majors, Lee fails to feature despite being heavily fancied prior to all of them. This must be Lee's next big target for 1999, along with the Order of Merit.
PGA Tour wins
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 Apr 1998 | Freeport-McDermott Classic | -15 (69-68-67-69=273) | 3 strokes | Steve Flesch |
| 2 | 13 Jun 2010 | St. Jude Classic | -10 (63-68-71-68=270) | Playoff | Robert Garrigus, Robert Karlsson |
Japan Golf Tour wins
- 1996 Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters
- 1997 Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters
- 1998 Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters, Dunlop Phoenix Tournament
Other wins
- 1997 Malaysian Open, Holden Australian Open
- 1999 Macau Open
- 2000 Dimension Data Pro-Am (South Africa), Cisco World Match Play Championship (England - not an official European Tour event at that time)
- 2003 Nelson Mandela Invitational (with Simon Hobday)
- 2010 Nedbank Golf Challenge (South Africa)
- 2011 Indonesian Masters (Asian Tour)
