Lee Westwood got his hands on European Tour silverware for a 25th time after posting a cool five under par 67 final round which handed him a two-stroke triumph over Victor Perez, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick in the first Rolex Series event of the season, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Englishman, who now has two Rolex Series titles to his name following his victory at the 2018 Nedbank Golf Challenge, started the final round with a one-shot lead over Bernd Wiesberger and Francesco Laporta but the pair were unable to keep pace with the 46 year old in the capital. The victory never looked in doubt with Westwood making the turn in 32 before adding two more birdies on the back nine to sign for a total of 19 under par to lift the Falcon trophy for the first time and move to the summit of the Race to Dubai in his inaugural outing with new caddie James Baker on the bag.
An emotional Westwood reacts to his win 😢#ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/kQWCc42qEQ
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 19, 2020
“I feel fantastic, ecstatic, elated, and a bit emotional,” said Westwood, who now joins Mark McNulty and Des Smyth as the only players to claim European Tour titles in four different decades with his first win coming at the 1996 Volvo Scandinavian Masters. “It’s just great to keep playing well and know that I’m still good enough. “I was trying not to look at the leaderboard. I peaked at a few on the way around the back nine and I could see that Victor shot nine under and Tommy had also gone nine under and finished on 17 under par. I just tried to make par when I was 19 under. I bogeyed 16, but came back with a nice solid birdie at the last and I hit two good shots on 17 as well. I played some quality golf today. I was happy with the whole week. I’ve been working hard in the gym. I’ve had some good time off. I’ve relaxed, settled my mind and rested that space between the ears. “I was driving the ball well today. PING set me up with a new G410 Plus driver in Dubai the end of last year and I’ve got used to that and I’ve driven the ball fantastically well. Everything was good – my iron shots were good and the putting was very good this week, so long may this continue, because I think when I start rolling a few putts in, I’m competitive most weeks.” Fleetwood and Perez both carded impressive closing rounds nine under par to put themselves in contention but fell just short while Fitzpatrick’s final round five under par 67 saw him join the pair in second spot.
“I putted well over the weekend so the game is progressing,” said Fleetwood, who turned 29 today. “My short game was good this week. I didn’t make many bogeys; that’s something to be happy with. It’s always the first week of the year, and you never quite know what’s going to turn up, so I’m happy that I performed well, and happy with how I feel. It was nice getting the juices flowing and knowing that I could post a score.” Louis Oosthuizen followed up his runner-up finish at last week’s South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg with a fifth place at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Fellow countryman Shaun Norris finished a shot further back in a tie for sixth with England’s Ross Fisher while three-time champion Martin Kaymer shared seventh with Sergio Garcia and Scott Jamieson. All eyes now turn to Dubai as the Desert Swing continues at Emirates Golf Club this week.
