Updated: April 24, 2011, 10:44 AM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Lee Westwood won the Indonesian Masters on Sunday to put himself in position to move back to No. 1 in the world if Luke Donald fails to win the PGA Tour event in South Carolina.
Donald had a one-stroke lead entering the final round of The Heritage and would jump from No. 3 to No. 1 with a victory. Top-ranked Martin Kaymer took the week off.
Westwood, who celebrated his 38th birthday Sunday, opened the final round birdie-bogey and then made eight straight pars.
A birdie on No. 11 was the turning point in Westwood's round.
"It was probably the hardest putt I had all day -- it was 15 feet with 3 feet of break," he said.
After waiting out a lightning delay on the final hole, he finished off a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.
The Englishman totaled 19-under 269 in the Asian Tour event at Royale Jakarta.
As he stepped off the 18th green a portion of the gallery erupted singing "Happy Birthday" -- and Westwood had plenty to smile about.
Asked what he wanted for his birthday, Lee replied with a grin, "Something silver and shiny."
"It was quite a day, really," he said. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy with a five-shot lead. I'm experienced enough to know that patience is the key. I hit the ball great, but didn't hit the putts when it mattered."
Park Hyun-bin of South Korea briefly shared the lead with Westwood before a bogey on No. 11. Jaidee made a charge but missed a few key putts on his way to shooting a 65.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
No comments:
Post a Comment