Lee Westwood secured his first European Tour title in nearly two years after a final round 68 earned him a brilliant seven shot, wire-to-wire victory in the Maybank Malaysian Open.
Fourteen years after the Englishman won this event, before it became co-sanctioned with The European Tour, Westwood delighted the crowds at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club with a sublime display that left Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Bernd Wiesberger, who all shared second spot on 11 under par, trailing in his wake.
The 40 year old started the final round one shot clear of Andy Sullivan, but remained steady whenothers faltered, and even a mid-round storm delay of more than four hours did not upset his march to victory, which was sealed with an excellent birdie putt on the last.
Key Player Quotes
Lee Westwood
“I’m delighted to be back in the winner’s circle. You have to play really well to win any tournament by seven shots. I started off one in front and that could’ve been a pressure situation, but I kept my foot on the pedal and didn’t give the other lads much of a chance.
“I’m pleased that the work I’m doing with Mike Walker has paid off so quickly. I’ve been seeing the benefits on the range, but this week I’ve seen it on the course – and under pressure too, which is really pleasing. It’s a good time of year to be playing well because there are a lot of big tournaments coming up.»
Nicolas Colsaerts
“It has been a solid week. It’s too bad I didn’t make myself scarier today. I couldn’t get off to a fast start to put some pressure on Lee. I didn’t drop many shots this week and that showed how well I played. If I could have been a bit more comfortable on the greens during the weekend then it might have been a different story.”
Louis Oosthuizen
“I had the perfect start for trying to give Lee a chase. But the bogeys nine and ten stopped the momentum and I knew that it was over. I didn’t start the tournament well so this is a great finish.”
Talking Points
- Lee Westwood’s last European Tour win came at the 2012 Nordea Masters.
- This is Westwood’s 41st professional win worldwide and 13th on Asian soil.
- Victory moves him up to tenth in The Race to Dubai.
- His 18 under par score is the lowest total since the event moved to Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in 2010.
- Seven shots is the largest winning margin of Westwood’s career.
- This is the third wire-to-wire victory of the 2014 European Tour season, following Alejandro Cañizares in the Trophée Hassan II and Patrick Reed in the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
Final Scores
270 L Westwood (Eng) 65 66 71 68,
277 B Wiesberger (Aut) 69 71 70 67, N Colsaerts (Bel) 66 69 72 70, L Oosthuizen (RSA) 72 68 69 68,
278 J Quesne (Fra) 68 69 69 72, D Willett (Eng) 70 66 72 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 72 69 67 70,
279 T Pieters (Bel) 75 67 69 68, P Larrazábal (Esp) 74 68 70 67,
280 A Lahiri (Ind) 72 72 66 70, G Mulroy (RSA) 71 68 69 72, E De La Riva (Esp) 69 68 71 72,
281 J Kruger (RSA) 68 71 72 70, M Kawamura (Jpn) 68 70 70 73, J Knutzon (USA) 75 67 69 70, A Quiros (Esp) 73 69 71 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 67 66 78,
282 W Ormsby (Aus) 70 71 69 72, R Lee (Can) 69 76 67 70, S Hend (Aus) 70 70 72 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 73 70 69 70, M Hoey (Nir) 67 73 73 69, R Santos (Por) 67 71 70 74,
283 P Meesawat (Tha) 70 71 74 68, T Jaidee (Tha) 72 70 70 71, T Lewis (Eng) 70 71 68 74, R Bland (Eng) 73 69 69 72, A Lascuna (Phi) 70 65 77 71,
284 E Molinari (Ita) 69 73 71 71, S Jamieson (Sco) 68 71 70 75,
285 M Manassero (Ita) 71 72 67 75, S Kapur (Ind) 76 69 69 71,
286 S Chowrasia (Ind) 71 70 71 74, M Kieffer (Ger) 70 74 69 73, B Easton (RSA) 70 74 72 70, F Molinari (Ita) 71 74 73 68, J Walters (RSA) 71 72 71 72, P Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 73 71 70 72, A Dodt (Aus) 76 67 74 69, A Vongvanij (Tha) 70 71 73 72,
287 H Otto (RSA) 79 66 71 71, P Marksaeng (Tha) 69 72 70 76, C Pigem (Esp) 71 71 73 72, A Da Silva (Bra) 72 72 72 71,
288 R Gangjee (Ind) 74 68 70 76, S Lewton (Eng) 71 69 74 74,
289 D Drysdale (Sco) 71 71 75 72, M Siem (Ger) 72 71 74 72, N Fung (Mas) 72 71 73 73, M Warren (Sco) 69 75 75 70, S Dyson (Eng) 73 71 73 72, K Kheng Hwai (Mas) 72 72 74 71, J Hansen (Den) 72 72 73 72, G Green (am) (Mas) 74 70 75 70,
290 C Kumar (Ind) 74 70 75 71, M Crespi (Ita) 71 73 75 71,
291 S Kjeldsen (Den) 75 68 71 77, S Rahman (Ban) 73 70 77 71, R Wattel (Fra) 71 72 75 73,
292 R Derksen (Ned) 72 73 75 72, C Lee (Sco) 69 75 73 75, S Thornton (Irl) 74 68 72 78, P Whiteford (Sco) 73 72 72 75, M Carlsson (Swe) 74 69 80 69,
293 J Janewattananond (Tha) 73 72 73 75, C Plaphol (Tha) 74 71 76 72, N Tantipokhakul (Tha) 76 69 71 77,
294 R Khan (Ind) 72 72 76 74, A Kang (USA) 71 74 75 74,
295 T Wiratchant (Tha) 69 75 75 76,
297 S Hansen (Den) 69 76 76 76,
298 C Phadungsil (Tha) 74 71 77 76,
** K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 71 71 WD 0,
