Charl fades as Lee prevails in Thailand

Former world No 1 Lee Westwood surged to a seven shot victory at the Thailand Golf Championship on the back of the "best golf" of his stellar career on Sunday.

The Briton capped off another sparkling performance with his third win in Asia this season and is now set to move up one place to second in the rankings behind English compatriot Luke Donald.

Westwood maintained the chunky lead he held from day one and put paid to South African Charl Schwartzel's brief resurgence, carding a final day three-under-par 69 to finish 22-under on a notoriously tricky course.

As US Masters champion Schwartzel faded to a level-par 72 to finish second, Westwood extended his four-stroke lead to seven to win with ease at the Asian Tour's $1 million season-ending inaugural tournament and notch his 37th career title.

Aside from his erratic 73 on the third day, the former world No 1 was in superb form, flirting with golf's exclusive 59 club with a 60 on day one followed by 64 to match the Asian Tour's lowest-ever 36-hole total.

"I've amazed myself really," Westwood said after sinking his final putt on the 18th. "It's been staggering, it all came together well. It's probably the best I've ever played."

The win follows victories in Indonesia, the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea and the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa and will see him second behind compatriot Luke Donald when the official world rankings are published on Monday.

He has now won titles in six Asian countries - Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia and South Korea.

POLISHED PERFORMANCE

Schwartzel's four bogeys meant he was never in contention and his first blunder at the eighth gave Westwood the chance to stretch his lead with some polished putting on the back nine.

Westwood said his initial 11 shot lead had played on his mind and he had to switch gear to cope with the testing Amata Spring Country Club course and ensure the title stayed within his grasp.

"It was special this week because of the difficulty of the course. I've never had an 11 shot lead before and it was difficult to come out and refocus and reset goals," he said of Saturday's slump.

"At 20 under after two rounds, It's yours to lose really with an 11 shot lead. There was pressure involved. Yesterday, I didn't know how to approach it or handle it."

With his four wins this year, the 38-year-old said he felt in better form than he did when he topped the world rankings but his failure to win a major would make it difficult to answer critics.

"I'm in a tricky position because I've been so successful but not won a major. Anytime I've gone a year without a major, people are always going to say it's been a disappointing year for Lee Westwood," he said.

"If I was to evaluate the way I'm playing now and a year ago, I'm a better player."

LEADING FINAL SCORES

266 – Lee Westwood 60 64 73 69

273 – Charl Schwartzel 69 66 66 72

274 – Michael Thompson 69 66 69 70

276 – Simon Dyson 69 70 68 69, Chawalit Plaphol 73 71 65 67

279 – Guido Van Der Valk 71 69 66 73, Daisuke Maruyama 73 68 68 70

280 – Alex Cejka 71 71 71 67

281 – Tetsuji Hiratsuka 71 72 68 70, Jeev Milkha Singh 71 68 72 70

282 – Prom Meesawat 72 68 69 73, Gregory Bourdy 68 71 72 71

283 – Jyoti Randhawa 73 70 65 75

284 – Chinnarat Phadungsil 72 69 72 71, Prayad Marksaeng 71 74 70 69

285 – John Daly 65 73 72 75, Rikard Karlberg 72 71 66 76

286 – Scott Barr 72 71 69 74

287 – Thorbjorn Olesen 72 73 72 70, Lu Chien-Soon 69 71 73 74, Quincy Quek 74 69 71 73, Atthaphon Prathummanee 71 74 68 74, Thaworn Wiratchant 68 73 73 73

288 – Jonathan Moore 73 69 77 69, Sergio Garcia 76 71 70 71, Thanyakon Khrongpha 71 73 74 70

289 – Lam Zhiqun 70 73 72 74, Kenichi Kuboya 72 67 76 74, Chris Rodgers 69 75 75 70, Mark Brown 72 73 70 74, Kunal Bhasin 73 71 75 70, Miles Tunnicliff 70 69 78 72

290 – Marcus Both 72 73 69 76, Zhang Lian-Wei 73 71 72 74, Tim Stewart 70 75 74 71, Kim Kyung-Tae 73 70 73 74

291 – Panuwat Muenlek 70 72 75 74, Romain Wattel 75 72 71 73

292 – Jbe Kruger 69 75 73 75, Miguel Tabuena 74 70 72 76, Hirotaro Naito 77 70 75 70, Frankie Minoza 72 69 74 77, Kwanchai Tannin 69 71 70 82, Berry Henson 75 71 76 70

Selected
298 – Keith Horne 71 75 75 77

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