Asian Tour, Thailand Golf Championship. Lee Westwood the Asian Specialist

Lee Westwood/ asiantour.com

The top contender this week  the top at the US$1 million Thailand Golf Championship staged at the Amata Spring Country Club, is Asian specialist Lee Westwood. Lee is known around the world as an Asian specialist  because of his record of multiple victories around the region including the 2011 Thailand Golf Championship, where he romped home to a seven-shot win over South African Charl Schwartzel. During that week, Lee also flirted with the magical score of 59, just missing the mark by one stroke, in the opening round. He is in fine form this season, winning the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour following a third place result at The Masters. Lee has missed only one cut this season, and enjoys a World Ranking of  6^th.

Bubba Watson will bring his own specialist style of golf to challenge the Championship at Amata Spring. Bubba is the reigning Masters Champion, and well-known for his extra long drives on the PGA Tour, where he averages over 315 yards. Bubba also has four top ten finishes this year in the U.S. and is determined to set his sights on victory here in Asia.

Gaganjeet Bhullar, currently fourth on the Asian Tour of Merit,is a young Indian player who has had a wonderful run of results on the Asian Tour, winning twice, and also finished tied 10th at the CIMB classic in Malaysia. Gaganjeet has a mathematical chance of toppling Thaworn Wiratchant at the top of the Order of Merit but needs a really good finish here and then again next week in Malaysia. Thaworn himself  is on course to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit, standing in 1st place at the moment, this would be the second time since 2005. He has three victories on the Tour this season and is certainly enjoying a purple patch. Thaworn finished second at the King’s Cup on home soil last week and knows a big finish this week will see him creep closer towards the prestigious Merit crown.

Sergio Garcia has enjoyed a resurgence of form earning him back-to-back wins in late 2011. He won again this year on the PGA Tour, at the Wyndham Championship and also has had six other top-ten finishes. And of course Sergio also played a starring role for Europe in the Ryder Cup victory over the United States in September. His current World Ranking is 22nd and he finished in fourth spot last year in the Thailand Golf Championship. Another notable from Europe and Ryder Cup player is Nicolas Colsaerts, the Belgian is the longest driver of a golf ball on the European Tour. Nicolas had a wonderful season winning the Volvo World Matchplay, and has also amassed eleven top ten finishes, and is ranked 35th in the World.

South African Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters Champion is also contesting this event, he is looking for his first win of 2012, to back up his seven top ten finishes this year. To win this year would help erase the memory of last years thrashing in the final at the hands of Lee Westwood.

This is a good field for this tournament and it should be a hotly contested affair, which will be a pleasure to watch.

 

Lee Westwood Wins Thailand Golf Championship

Englands Lee Westwood the worlds number three before the tournament, wins the Thailand Golf Championship by 7 shots from Charl Schwartzel of South Africa. Lee’s last round of 69 was enough to secure the victory although it was not as easy as his first two rounds might have suggested. Charl Schwartzel had a very good third round to close the massive gap Lee had created by playing sublime golf. Schwartzel faltered in the final round coming home in par, which eased any doubts Lee might have had. The win takes Westwood to number two in the world, above Rory McIlroy but still behind Luke Donald, who had a disappointing tournament down in Australia.

“I’ve amazed myself really,” Westwood said. “It’s been staggering, it all came together well. It’s probably the best I’ve ever played.”

“It was nice to hole on top of Charl on 12 and then make the one on 13, it took the pressure off a little bit. I wasn’t happy until I was on that boat coming back from the island on 17 with a big lead.

“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. 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.”

Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Lee is now going to focus on his fitness and winning a major, although he has had a good year of golf, he knows everyone will  agree with his good performance but that question about a major will always be asked.

“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. If I was to evaluate the way I’m playing now and a year ago, I’m a better player.”

“I’m going to continue to work on my fitness and all aspects of my game. I’m going in the right direction, I can see a lot of improvement and I’m happy with the way I’ve finished the year, I’ve won two out of my last three events. I’ll go into the winter with a lot of confidence and I’ll try to come out next year playing the same kind of golf as I played this week, a little bit leaner and well rested.”

Lee Westwood’s lead reduced to four in Thailand

Lee Westwood had his big lead reduced in the Thailand Golf Championship after a disappointing one over par 73. There was no sign of the magic touch on Saturdays supposedly moving day. He put the performance down to missing a few putts, finishing the day with a total of -19

“I hit a few good shots but I didn’t make putts when I needed to, it was one of those days. A lot of people are going to think you’re going to shoot a 60, 62 and 64 every day but I’m afraid golf isn’t like that. It was one of those days, a few bad breaks, but if you’d have offered me a four-shot lead on Thursday morning I’d have taken it.”

Charl Schwartzel is now only four shots back after shooting a 66, for a total of -15 for the tournament, and is definately in with a very good chance of winning the trophy if Lee Westwood has another quiet round tomorrow, the final day.

 

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