After almost two years without a victory, Lee Westwood claimed his 40th worldwide professional victory (at the age of 40) in dominant fashion at the Maybank Malaysian Open.
The former world number one started the final round, at Kuala Lumper Golf and Country Club, one shot ahead of 27-year-old compatriot Andy Sullivan. It was to be a long day, with play suspended for four hours due to lightning midway through the final group’s fourth round. However, by this stage Westwood had extended his lead to four shots, with a birdie at the tenth taking him to two-under for the round.
Despite the significant delay, the Englishman utilised his prodigious experience and continued from where he left off. Another birdie would come at the 13th, before he clinched a seven shot victory with a closing birdie at the 634 yard par five 18th. It was a blemish free final round, which completed a week that would see the Florida resident drop just five shots.
After a lean period, the 23-time winner on the European Tour showed something closer to his best form at last week’s Masters Tournament, where he would finish in seventh. After recently changing swing coaches, Westwood now believes he is beginning to see the benefit of returning back to the foundations of what had brought him his past successes.
“I started working with a new coach a few weeks ago, Mike Walker, and Billy Foster came back on the bag at the end of last year, so I was going back to what I had done before because it had worked,” said Westwood, who relocated to the United States at the end of 2012.
“It’s started to work already – the last couple of weeks I’ve played well in Houston and at the Masters last week and this week I’ve obviously played very well.
“It’s a golf course that suits my game; it’s very tight in certain areas. I played well, I putted well, and the short game is good.”
Positive signs the Worksop native, who ascended to the summit of the Official World Golf Rankings in the October 2010. He would remain in that position for 22 weeks, during a period when he became a perennial contender in the major championships. But how close is he to that form?
“It’s got the potential, although now I feel like I’ve got a short game and starting to roll a few putts in. It makes a helluva difference if you can get up-and-down if you miss a few greens and keeps the momentum going,” added Westwood.
Andy Sullivan would succumb to a disappointing final round of 78, while Bernd Wiesberger, Louis Oosthuizen and Nicolas Colsaerts all finished in a tie for second at 11-under, seven shots back of Westwood, who now moves up to tenth on the Race to Dubai.
It’s also a victory that restores the eight-time Ryder Cup participant into contention for an automatic qualification place for Gleneagles. With compatriot Luke Donald performing well over on the PGA Tour this weekend, European captain Paul McGinley will take encouragement from the fact that his established names are starting to show their best form once again.