Lee Westwood again displayed his new-found fondness for coming from behind when he converted a seven-stroke overnight deficit into a thrilling three shot victory in the Smurfit European Open at the K Club.
A week which saw Darren Clarke shoot a round of 60 then a hole in one during a 66 ultimately turned sour for the popular Irishman, who saw his healthy 54-hole lead evaporate in the face of a typical Westwood charge.
After three rounds, Clarke was six clear of the field and seven in front of Westwood. One person who never believed that the tournament was a formality was Clarke himself – and so it proved.
On the day, Clarke failed to register one birdie in a round of 75, while Westwood, after a tremendous outward half of 31, carded a seven under par 65 to win his first title in Ireland with a 17 under par aggregate of 271.
To complete Clarke’s misery, he three putted the last to share second place with Australian Peter O’Malley, who shot a 69 for 274, but was betrayed by a double bogey six at the 16th when he had the chance to overhaul Westwood.
Westwood had also doubled that hole after visiting the water just moment earlier, but he re-grouped to finish with a par three and a two-putt birdie four to clinch his second title in seven days.
Last Sunday, Westwood was five strokes behind going into the final round of the TNT Dutch Open and shot a superb 63 to claim his first title of the season. A week later, only that double bogey on the 16th prevented him from repeating that winning Sunday score.
He said: “I don’t know what’s happened. I normally lead from the front but the last two weeks I’ve come from five behind and seven behind, so maybe I’m getting a taste for it.”
Clarke, with bogeys at the sixth, seventh and ninth, seemed to lose momentum as Westwood gathered his. Typically, the Englishman was generous to his close friend afterwards and admitted: “There is not a lot you can say in these situations. I know he will feel he should have won it.”
Clarke could only agree, but recovered his composure to say: “I had 38 putts and you can’t afford that. Lee played fantastic and won the tournament but I can’t help feeling I lost it.
“To lose a six shot lead – it’s going to take me a long time to get over it. It’s one of my most disappointing days ever – a 60, a hole in one and all that stuff and I still don’t win the championship. This would have meant an awful lot to me.”
Victory for Westwood hoisted him into second place in the Volvo Order of Merit behind Colin Montgomerie, who faded into a tie for 15th alongside new Open champion Paul Lawrie.
However the Ryder Cup position now sees Montgomerie leading the qualifying list from Westwood and Clarke while Andrew Coltart (tied 10th) is up to ninth place with Swede Robert Karlsson suddenly moving into contention for Brookline in 10th spot ahead of Bernhard Langer and Sergio Garcia.
But as Westwood admitted, he could “hear the Fat Lady tuning her vocal chords” as Clarke prepared to set out on the final day of a magnificently attended tournament at the venue for the 2005 Ryder Cup. In the end, though, it was Westwood who sang the loudest and truly called the tune.
