Lee Westwood credits returning to roots for Malaysian Open title

Former world No 1 bounces back from his third-round blip to win title by seven strokes after a storm-delayed final round.

Lee Westwood, who claimed his 13th win on Asian soil with this victory, paid tribute to his Mike Walker and caddie Billy Foster. Manan Vatsyayana / AFP

Lee Westwood bounced back from his third-round blip to win the Maybank Malaysian Open by seven strokes after a storm-delayed final round.

Play was delayed for nearly four hours on Sunday due to the threat of lightning at Kuala Lumpur G&CC but Westwood, who had seen a four-shot lead cut to one by Andy Sullivan in Saturday’s third round, responded with a closing 68 to finish on 18 under par.

His nearest challengers trailed in on 11 under as Sullivan, the former Walker Cup player seeking a first European Tour win, plummeted down the field with a six-over-par 78.

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger shot 67, South African Louis Oosthuizen 68 and Westwood’s Ryder Cup colleague Nicolas Colsaerts 70 to progress to the head of the chasing pack.

Westwood’s fellow Englishman Danny Willett double-bogeyed the last to drop to 10 under alongside Rikard Karlberg and Julien Quesne.

Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, who made headlines earlier in the week when he jumped into a lake to avoid a swarm of hornets, shot 67 and finished in a share of ninth place with Thomas Pieters on nine under.

Westwood, who claimed his 13th win on Asian soil with this victory, told europeantour.com: “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.

“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.”

When asked if he is approaching his best form, the 40 year old added: “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 hell of a difference if you can get up-and-down if you miss a few greens and keeps the momentum going.”

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