Lee Westwood secured his second European Tour title of the year when he shot a final round 70 for a 12 under par total to take the Compaq European Grand Prix at De Vere Slaley Hall, three strokes clear of his nearest challenger, Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson. Westwood's win moves him into second place in the Volvo Order of Merit, and reduces the gap on stablemate Darren Clarke
Jacobson finished alone in second three shots back after matching Westwood's 70 with the current leader of the Volvo Order of Merit Clarke and Italian Emanuele Canonica in a tie for third on seven under.
Six weeks ago Westwood despaired about the state of his game after struggling in the Benson and Hedges International Open at the De Vere Belfry but since then has finished first, second, fourth, fifth and first in his last five events, an outstanding run that included victory in the Deutsche Bank – SAP Open TPC of Europe and his best-ever finish in a major in the 100th US Open at Pebble Beach.
"You appreciate playing well more when you have gone through a bad patch," he said. "It's nice to start hitting a few good shots. I felt I hadn't played well since last September. I knew I had a good chance to win this week, I was playing well and my short game and putting were sharp after Pebble Beach."
Westwood began the day three shots clear and immediately extended the gap to four with a birdie at the first and it was not until the back nine that the chasing pack began to apply any real pressure.
Jacobson closed the gap to one shot after the 15th having picked up four birdies on the back nine but on the 16th the Swede's drive found a fairway bunker and in trying to reach the green with his second, caught the lip of the bunker and could only advance the ball 50 yards down the fairway. That resulted in a bogey five and Westwood made it a two-shot swing with a birdie from eight feet to ensure a comfortable finish. It was the second time Westwood had pipped Jacobson to victory, having previously beaten him in a play-off for the Belgacom Open in 1998.
"I expected it to be tough," Westwood added. "I was actually quite relieved no-one really came at me on the front nine because I only holed two putts on the first and second and the rest was just pretty solid stuff. Freddy came at me a little bit but I made the most of his mistake on the 16th. That was the key, not panicking, when someone comes at you it's very easy to lose your composure. But I kept on playing my own game."
Jacobson's second prize of £72,220 was the biggest pay-day of his career while Clarke's share of third helped him keep the gap between himself and Westwood at the top of the Volvo Order of Merit above a quarter of a million pounds.
