DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Lee Westwood took advantage of some shaky
play from Rory McIlroy and Thomas Bjorn, shooting a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke
lead on Rafael Cabrera-Bello after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Westwood was three shots behind McIlroy and Bjorn at the start of the round
but closed the gap with three birdies in his first four holes. The third-ranked
Englishman birdied the 13th for a share of the lead with Bjorn and led when the
Dane bogeyed the 15th.

“I got off to a good start,” Westwood said. “The only time I dropped two
shots was when I hit two poor drives on 6 into the left rough, got a heavy lie
and at 8 hit it into the sand on right. Other than that, very solid and gave
myself lots of birdie chances.”

Joining Cabrera-Bello at one-shot back were Stephen Gallacher (68) and
Marcel Siem (68). McIlroy, who struggled early, finished with a 72 to trail
Westwood by two shots. Bjorn was three behind the leader with a 73.

Coming into Saturday, it appeared Westwood’s biggest challengers this
weekend would be U.S. Open champion McIlroy and Bjorn, who beat Tiger Woods in
2001 to take the Dubai title.

But McIlroy’s tee shot on No. 7 went into the water for his first bogey. He
had three more bogeys on the back nine.

“It was pretty ragged to say the least,” McIlroy said. “I think the
conditions were a little tougher, the wind got up. The greens got a little
firmer, pin positions were a little tougher … just definitely didn’t come as
easy to me as it did the first couple of days.”

With McIlroy faltering, it seemed Bjorn would take advantage. He took the
lead with a birdie at No. 7 and added another birdie on No. 10. But he struggled
on the remainder the back nine after a tee shot in the bunker led to a bogey on
15. Bjorn added two more bogeys in his last three holes.

McIlroy stayed in contention, making three birdies on the back nine,
including the 18th. McIlroy said he had a similar experience in Hong Kong where
he shot a 65 to win the tournament, so he’s confident of claiming his first
victory in Dubai since 2009.

“Today is just not going to be a day where you hit it well and you’re going
to make plenty of birdies and give yourself opportunities,” he said. “A day
like today, you just have to try to stay as close to the leaders as possible and
not let them get away from you. That’s what we tried to do today, and luckily
I’m only two back.”

Joining McIlroy were Martin Kaymer (70), Scott Jamieson (70) and Joel
Sjoholm (66). Bjorn was in a three-way tie for ninth with George Coetzee (69)
and Ben Curtis (67).

With 21 European Tour titles, Westwood has more experience than the three
players who trail by one shot. They’ve earned a combined three titles.

“Yeah, I know how to play with the lead. What did I win, four times last
year?” Westwood said, with a wry smile. “When I get a chance, I’m pretty good
at finishing off.

“I’ve won (38) times (worldwide). You know, that’s not somebody that’s not
good with a lead. You get used to knowing what to do; when to press, when not to
press, when to be patient.”

———

Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1

Feb 1 (Reuters) – World number three Lee Westwood has
recovered from the shoulder problem that troubled him at the Abu
Dhabi Championship and is ready to challenge for the first prize
of 316,020 euros ($413,700) at this week’s Qatar Masters.

“I had a few issues to negotiate last week,” said the
38-year-old Briton on the eve of his second tournament
appearance of the season.

“We’ve been working a lot on my fitness recently and I
hadn’t played a lot going into Abu Dhabi,” Westwood told the
European Tour’s website (www.europeantour.com).

“I had a bit of a shoulder injury the first couple of days
there which is now gone. It just needed to loosen up a little
bit.”

The Qatar Masters is the second event on the tour’s
so-called Desert Swing, sandwiched between Abu Dhabi and next
week’s Dubai Desert Classic.

Westwood, who finished tied 17th last Sunday, said the Doha
Golf Club was the most difficult of the three courses being used
in the Middle East.

“Apparently the rough is not as long as it was last year but
the weather man says it’s going to be fairly windy,” the
Englishman added.

“When it’s like that around here it is a really tough test.
If the wind really pumps this week it could quite easily be an
eight or nine-under-par winning score.”

Westwood partners defending champion Thomas Bjorn and world
number 10 Jason Day of Australia in the first two rounds.

“I was asked at the end of last week who will have a big
year and the only one I picked out was Jason Day,” said the
world number three.

“I think he’s a talented player. He gets overlooked quite a
bit and obviously by saying that I put the curse on him and he
missed the cut in Abu Dhabi,” joked Westwood.

Bjorn’s victory in Qatar last year spurred him on to achieve
two more wins at the Johnnie Walker Championship in Scotland and
the European Masters in Switzerland.

“I made a decision two years ago,” said the 40-year-old
Dane. “I went through a spell of not finding golf all that much
fun and I maybe fell out of love with the game and the
travelling.

“I made a decision that if I was going to play this game I
wanted to be able to be competitive and play with the best
players in the world and to do that I had to totally refocus on
golf.

“Where a lot of people see the results last year as a return
to form, it was probably something that started quite a bit
sooner than that for me, total recommitment to the game,” added
Bjorn.

“I am now comfortable on the golf course, I enjoy my
travels, I enjoy being out there and I have promised myself I am
going to have a good finish to my career.”
($1 = 0.7639 euros)

(Writing by Tony Jimenez in London, editing by XXX; To comment
on this story: sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

BANGKOK (AP)—Lee Westwood completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Thailand
Golf Championship, shooting a 3-under 69 in windy conditions Sunday to beat
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel by seven strokes.

The third-ranked English star finished at 22-under 266 at Amata Spring
Country Club. He opened with rounds of 60 and 64 and shot a 73 on Saturday in
the Asian Tour event.

“It means a lot, any win does,” Westwood said. “It’s special this week
because of the difficulty of the golf course, who I was up against in the
weekend.

“Charl is the Masters champion and he has had a great year. The fact that I
led wire to wire—60 in the fisrt round and 64 in the second round, 20 under
after two rounds—it’s yours to lose really with an 11-shot lead. There was
pressured involved.”

Schwartzel closed with a 72.

“It was a tough day. The wind probably blew the hardest today compared to
the last three rounds,” the South African star said. “I played great. If it
wasn’t for Lee, I would have probably won the tournament.”

American Michael Thompson was another stroke back after a 70.

BANGKOK (AP)—Lee Westwood of England completed a comprehensive victory in the
Thailand Golf Championship Sunday, shooting a 3-under 69 to beat his nearest
rival Charl Schwartzel of South Africa by seven shots at the Amata Spring
Country Club.

Westwood finished the tournament with a 22-under total of 266 for his fourth
title of the year.

“It means a lot, any win does,” Westwood said. “It’s special this week
because of the difficulty of the golf course, who I was up against in the
weekend.

“Charl is the Masters champion and he has had a great year. The fact that I
led wire to wire—60 in the fisrt round and 64 in the second round, 20 under
after two rounds—it’s yours to lose really with an 11-shot lead. There was
pressured involved.”

Although he never managed to catch Westwood at the top of the leaderboard,
Masters champion Schwartzel closed to within two after he eagled the 11th and
birdied the next when he sank a 30-foot putt.

That was as close as Schwartzel would get as Westwood also birdied the 12th
to extend his lead to three before stretching the gap with birdies on Nos. 13
and 15.

“It was a tough day. The wind probably blew the hardest today compared to
the last three rounds,” Sshwartzel said. “I played great. If it wasn’t for
Lee, I would have probably won the tournament.”

Former world amateur champion Michael Thompson (70) of the United States was
third on 274.

Simon Dyson of England sank six birdies against three bogeys for a
final-round 69 and a 12-under 276 to settle for a share of fourth with
Thailand’s Chawalit Plaphol (67).

Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama (70) and Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk (73) finished
on 279, three more strokes back in sixth.

BANGKOK (AP)—Lee Westwood followed his career-best 12-under 60 with a 64
on Friday to take a commanding 11-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the
Thailand Golf Championship.

The Englishman had eight birdies in his second straight bogey-free round at
Amata Spring Country Club to reach 20 under overall.

Westwood had 10 birdies and an eagle in the first round Thursday.

“Arguably a better round this morning than yesterday in windy conditions!”
Westwood tweeted. “64 to add to yesterday’s 60. For sure the best I’ve ever
played. -20.”

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa had a 66 on Friday and was
tied for second at 9 under with American Michael Thompson, who also shot a 66.

John Daly followed his opening-round 65 with a 73 to slip to fourth at 6
under, 14 shots adrift of Westwood.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Tiger Woods is back to his winning ways, and
some of the best golfers in the world are relishing the chance to face him
again.

Woods won the Chevron World Challenge on Sunday, ending a two-year title
drought that began shortly after his personal life imploded.

“It’s something I look forward to,” said Rory McIlroy, the U.S. Open
champion who has moved up to No. 2 in the world and is playing at this week’s
Dubai Championship. “(Playing against Tiger) would be a huge experience and a
huge learning curve for me just to see how I would handle it.

“But it’s not something I have experienced and it’s not something that a
lot of players in my sort of generation have experienced yet and it would just
be great to have the opportunity to do it at some point next year.”

Before Sunday’s victory, Woods had last won on Nov. 15, 2009, at the
Australian Masters—a 26-tournament drought.

But that win moved Woods from No. 52 to No. 21 in the world ranking. Unlike
a year ago when he blew a four-shot lead in the final round at Sherwood Country
Club to lose in a playoff to Graeme McDowell, Woods this time made his clutch
putts on Sunday and came from two-shots to beat former Masters champion Zach
Johnson.

It was a performance that seemed to show that his recent success in
Australia was no fluke. He showed signs of coming back with nine solid rounds in
the wind in Australia, finishing third at the Australian Open and delivering the
clinching point for the Americans in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

“With Tiger, obviously it’s nice for him, I think, that he could win
again,” fourth-ranked Martin Kaymer said. “It’s good for us. He did a lot for
the sport and the status that golf has in the world.

“It would be nice to play against the best player whoever played the game
in their top form and see if you can beat them.”

Third-ranked Lee Westwood also welcomed Woods back, calling him “the
biggest name in golf and probably one of the biggest names in world sports.”

Westwood said it can only help when Woods is playing at his best and on the
top of the leaderboard in any tournament.

“You know, obviously Tiger getting back into the winner’s enclosure is
great for golf,” Westwood said. “I think everybody likes to see the best
players in the world playing well. Tiger has been one of those, that kind of
player, and might well get back there. Starting to play well is the first start
of that process.”

Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1

SUN CITY, South Africa (AP)—Defending champion Lee Westwood birdied the last
hole to shoot a 4-under 68 and share the first-round lead with Masters winner
Charl Schwartzel at the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Thursday.

The third-ranked Westwood holed a putt from near 20 feet on No. 18 for his
fourth birdie. The Englishman also had an eagle three on No. 9 and two bogeys.

Schwartzel unleashed a birdie blitz on the back nine at Gary Player Country
Club, picking up five shots over seven holes coming home.

Top-ranked Luke Donald was the early leader on his return to competition
after a five-week break, but a double-bogey six on No. 17 gave him a 70 and a
tie for fourth. Robert Karlsson of Sweden was alone in third after shooting a
69.