Westwood claims 25th European Tour win to open Ryder Cup door again
Lee Westwood. Picture: Getty Images
Lee Westwood claimed his 25th European Tour win in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to surge into contention for an 11th Ryder Cup cap.
One ahead overnight, the veteran (46) closed with a five-under 67 to win by two strokes on 19-under par from Matthew Fitzpatrick, who also shot 67, and Tommy Fleetwood and France's Victor Perez, who both shot 63.
"Ecstatic, elated, a bit emotional," Westwood said after joining Mark McNulty and Drogheda’s Des Smyth as just the third man to win in four decades on the European Tour.
"I put in a lot of hard work with Phil Kenyon and I've been working with Ben Davis on the psychological part of it, but I really felt quite calm on the greens this week and rolled a lot of good putts."
The Workshop man's first win since the 2018 Nedbank Golf Challenge catapults him into an automatic Ryder Cup berth — he holds the last of five spots in the World Ponts List — and from 63rd to 29th in the world.
"I'm not sure I can take any more Ryder Cups," Westwood joked moments after claiming a 44th career win that gets him into all this year's Majors and World Golf Championships.
"It's was good watching the lads last time but then if it a chance of making the team I might as well go for it.
"It's just nice to come out and prove you've still got it."
Later he admitted that he'd love to play under Pádraig Harrington at Whistling Straits, but only if he qualifies automatically.
"I thought I was done in the Ryder Cup, to be honest, as a player," he confessed.
He was an assistant captain for Thomas Bjorn in Paris two years ago having lost his three matches on his most recent playing appearance under Darren Clarke in Europe's 17-11 defeat at Hazeltine in 2016.
"I didn't really feel that jarred by Hazeltine," he said. "I would love to play another Ryder Cup as long as I'm good enough. I wouldn't want a pick, but if I qualified, I would definitely play.”
At the Sunshine Tour’s Eye of Africa PGA Championship, Darren Fichardt beat fellow South African Matias Calderon with a birdie at the third playoff hole after they tied on 20-under-par.
The Island's Gavin Moynihan closed with a three-over 75 to finish tied for 34th on five-under-par.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy's Holywood protege Tom McKibbin (17) put up a fight but lost 5&3 to local hero Jed Morgan (20) in the final of the Australian Amateur Championship in Brisbane.
The Newtownabbey prodigy (17) was six down after 12 holes in the 36-hole final at Royal Queensland and four down after the first 18 holes.
But after falling six down early in the afternoon, he fought back to three down with seven to play before finally waving the white flag.
"I felt I played okay, but I had a couple of loose holes in the first 18, and it just didn't go my way today," said McKibbin, who was bidding to make it back-to-back Irish wins following Conor Purcell's success last year.
"Other than that, I played well. Jed just got the better of me on his home course."
On the PGA Tour, Andrew Landry (32) recovered from a final round wobble to win his second tour title by two shots in The American Express at La Quinta in California. Scores
The man who played with Shane Lowry in the final group of the 2016 US Open at Oakmont held a six-stroke lead at one point during the final round.
But after being caught by Abraham Ancer following three successive bogeys from the 13th, he birdied the last two holes to win by two shots from the Mexican on 26-under par with a closing 67.
