Lee Westwood birdied the 38th hole against Colin Montgomerie at Wentworth Club to become the new Cisco World Match Play champion – and only the fourth golfer in European Tour history to capture six titles in one season. The 27-year-old from Worksop joins an elite group comprising Montgomerie (1999), Seve Ballesteros (1986) and Nick Faldo (1992).
Westwood, the No.3 seed, defeated defending champion and No.1 seed Montrgomerie after a tremendous scrap on the famous West Course which spilled over onto Monday morning for only the fifth time in 37 years due to inclement weekend weather.
He has now won the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe, the Compaq European Grand Prix, the Smurfit European Open, Volvo Scandinavian Masters, the Belgacom Open and the Cisco World Match Play title.
Even after 36 holes, the pair could not be prised apart. Montgomerie, seeking a fourth win from his last four starts at Wentworth Club following wins in the 1999 and 2000 Volvo PGA Championships and the 1999 Cisco World Match Play Championship, began the morning two down having holed a long eagle putt the previous night to stay in touch with Westwood.
Montgomerie edged in front after 26 holes as he continued his progress towards setting a new tournament record of 37 under par for his three matches against Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh and Westwood. However his younger rival was level by the 33rd then made the key putt of the final, rolling in a 20 footer to stay level on the 35th.
At the 38th, Westwood was just outside Montgomerie and again found the centre of the cup from 18 feet for a birdie two, while the Scot’s attempt to prolong the final drifted wide.
Westwood commented: “It’s nice to win a title as prestigious at this. I’ve been looking at the trophy and there are some great names on it. I didn’t have an easy ride. I had to play well to beat Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and Colin. Three good scalps.”
With his close friend Darren Clarke the reigning WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play champion, Westwood could not resist a gentle dig at the Irishman by adding: “It’s nice to win THE Match Play title. Now, as in boxing, we want to unify the titles in our next practice round!”
Montgomerie was gracious in defeat, saying: “I must give credit to Lee. He has had a great year and is favourite to take another of my titles (Volvo Order of Merit). He holed a monster putt at the 35th and that was crucial to the outcome of the match and all credit to him for holing it and getting up and down from a more difficult position than mine at the last.”
Despite the torrential rain which caused a six and a half hour delay on Saturday, the tournament was a huge success from the moment Darren Clarke required 40 holes to defeat the determined Nick Faldo. Meanwhile Harrington beat Bob May 6 and 5, Garcia accounted for Adam Scott 3 and 1 and Retief Goosen beat Thomas Björn 5 and 4.
In the second round, the seedings worked according to plan with Montgomerie, Singh, Westwood and Els all progessing to the semi-finals, which started on Saturday but finished on Sunday with Montgomerie beating Singh 5 and 4 and Westwood birdieing the last three holes to knock out Els on the 36th green.
That set the stage for a dramatic final which twisted and turned back and forth before Westwood summoned up one last effort at in sudden-death to inflict a seventh play-off defeat on Montgomerie.
