Westwood proves as good as his word

Lee Westwood yesterday delivered on his promise to claim the 20th title of his career in the European Grand Prix. Westwood had said at the halfway stage at Slaley Hall that he expected to win the tournament after carving out a three-shot advantage over the field.

And he did exactly that to win the £108,330 first prize, firing a final-round 70 for a 12-under total of 276 to hold off the challenge of Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson.

Jacobson finished alone in second three shots back after matching Westwood's 70, with Darren Clarke and Italian Emanuele Canonica in a tie for third on seven under.

"I've always had that confidence," Westwood said after his second European Tour win of the season. "You have to believe in yourself.

"Everyone else will try and knock you down so there's no point playing if you're not confident that you can hack it out here."

The win lifted Westwood to second in the Order of Merit behind Clarke and completes a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the 27-year-old world number nine.

Just six weeks ago he despaired about the state of his game after struggling in the Benson and Hedges International at the Belfry, but since then he has finished first, second, fourth, fifth and first in his last five events, a remarkable run that included victory over Tiger Woods in the Deutsche Bank event and his best finish in a major in the US Open at Pebble Beach.

"You appreciate playing well more when you have gone through a bad patch," he added. "It's nice to start hitting a few good shots.

"I felt I hadn't played well since last September. Getting it off my chest at the Belfry helped, but that's in the past now and I think the results speak for themselves.

"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 took until late on the back nine for his opponents to apply any real pressure.

The key moment came on the 16th after Jacobson had just closed the gap to one shot on his playing partner, having picked up four birdies on the back nine.

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."

Westwood was always the favourite coming into this event but complained of jet-lag in the first round and needed treatment for a back injury on Saturday.

After Jacobson's bogey on 16 he enjoyed a three-shot cushion playing the last and could afford the bogey that came when his 35-foot par putt amazingly hung on the edge of the hole without dropping.

"I did think about marking it and being the last to putt out but then I thought I might not be able to get it back in the right spot without it falling in!" he joked.

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 money list above £500,000 sterling.