Lee Westwood captured his fifth European title of the season to move back to the top of the Volvo Order of Merit with an emphatic four-stroke victory in the Belgacom Open at Royal Zoute.
A final round of 65, six under par, earned him his second Belgacom Open title in the space of three years with an 18-under-par total of 266, four clear of Eduardo Romero with third round leader Padraig Harrington and Tom Gillis a further shot adrift.
Victory earned Westwood 166,660 euro (£102,006) and takes him past Darren Clarke at the top of Volvo Order of Merit with 2,288,228 (£1,400,547). It also takes him within one win of equalling the record of six European Tour victories in a season set by Seve Ballesteros in 1986.
Westwood started the final round a shot off the pace but was immediately level when Harrington bogeyed the first. Another dropped shot on the third by the Irishman left Westwood out on his own and he never looked back. Two birdies in an outward half of 32 were followed by four more coming home as he put on a flawless display.
“This year is going well,” he said. “There are still some very big tournaments to go but I can go home tonight and enjoy this one. I felt like I won it well - as well as I have won any tournament, if not better. It couldn’t have been any more than a 65 and probably could have been a couple lower.
“Very encouraging. I have not hit the ball that well since the Volvo Scandinavian Masters. There I hit okay there for a couple of days then it went off at the weekend. I got it back this week. This course seems to bring out the good ball striking in me. You need to because it is such as good test.”
Romero continued his great run of form which brought him the Canon European Masters title a fortnight ago by finishing with a 66, five under par, to claim second place and moves up to 14th in the Volvo Order of Merit.
“I thought I could catch Lee but he is a good player,” said Romero. “It’s difficult to see him make a mistake once he is in the lead. But second is fantastic. I’m very happy to play well and the confidence is very high.”
Harrington closed with a level par 71 to finish on 13 under par 271 and can also take encouragement from the week after coming to Belgium searching for some form.
“I made a bad start. You are on the back foot from there on. But I certainly would have needed to pull out all the stops to have beaten Lee. It’s nice to finish where I did playing as I was. I was not on form or anything like it but I can take some confidence from the week.
American Tom Gillis, who secured his Tour card here two years ago with a birdie on the final green, again put on a fine performance, the 56,500 euro (£34,449) third prize lifting him from 106th in the Volvo Order of Merit to 74th.
Final results and prize money
Final round video highlights
