Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: Lee Westwood seals two-stroke victory

Leaderboard

-19 Westwood

-17 Perez, Fleetwood, Fitzpatrick

-16 Oosthuizen

-15 Norris, Fisher

-14 Kaymer, Jamieson, Garcia, Wiesberger

Round four report

Lee Westwood became the first player to expand his winning spree across the last four decades with a two-shot victory in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Having first secured silverware in 1996, this was Westwood's 44th career win and 25th on the European Tour. And, having seen off several of the circuit's finest with a display of poise and class, Sunday's final round must rank among his best.

Westwood began the day with just a one-stroke lead and faced a stern challenge from Matthew Fitzpatrick, before late surges from Victor Perez and two-time champion Tommy Fleetwood gave him little room for manoeuvre.

Despite a bogey at the 16th, his first of the day, the 46-year-old held his nerve to par the difficult 17th and then reach the 18th green in two, birdie there securing a 19-under-par total and a convincing Rolex Series win.

Fitzpatrick also birdied the final hole to join Perez and Fleetwood in a share of second, with in-form Louis Oosthuizen rounding out the top five.

"It's been a good week," Westwood told europeantour.com.

"I wasn't really paying any attention to what other people were doing.

"I was trying to control me, control my emotions and control what I'm working on in the golf swing. Just managed to do that.

"A little slip-up at 16. Like I said yesterday, with what I'm working on, if I don't quite do it, I hit a pull, and I hit a pull second shot and pulled the putt actually, as well, but I hit some good shots coming in, and really just pleased with the way I controlled myself."

Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, was pleased to start the year with a strong performance: "Front nine I felt like could I hole everything and managed to hole one putt for par, which was nice to keep a bit of momentum going.

"Just on back nine, just couldn't make a thing. It was just one of those days, but hey, that's golf. I'm delighted. It's a great start to the year."

He added: "You just concentrate on what you're doing and every time, every week we play, somebody is going to play great golf and at the moment that's Lee.

"I'm very, very happy with my weekend, I felt like I played some really good golf."

It was Sergio Garcia who made the first move of the day, birdies at the first and second holes getting him to within one, but as he faltered as quickly as he had emerged it was Fitzpatrick who laid down the gauntlet.

The Sheffield man - four-times a runner-up last season, with another second place on the PGA Tour - birdied three in a row from the second and added another at the eighth to close in on the leader, more than two decades his senior.

But Westwood responded to each of them, making birdies at the second and third before another at the fifth, which came despite an errant drive and coincided with a short missed chance up ahead from Fitzpatrick.

As Westwood matched the younger man's birdie at the par-five eighth, the gap was two, and that's how it ended with Fitzpatrick having to wait until the final hole of the tournament to pick up another shot and advance to 17-under.

That score had already been posted by Perez and Fleetwood, who posted matching 63s, but the latter's inability to birdie 18 made life much easier for Westwood, who was able to take three-wood off the tee before a supreme approach made for the simplest of tasks.

He safely two-putted for his first win since the 2018 Nedbank Golf Challenge, his last two titles coming in coveted Rolex Series events with some of the world's best players in attendance.

With the Masters coming just before he turns 47, Westwood, even at this late hour in his career, is managing to keep the dream alive. Only one thing is missing from a career of almost unparalleled longevity, and despite this performance chances are there will remain a gap on his record when his career does come to an end.

Days like these remind us, though, that he's one of the finest golfers England, and indeed Europe, has ever produced. And that still, as he approaches 50, he's able to teach the 20-somethings who chased him home here a thing or two.

Round three report

Lee Westwood rolled back the years with a brilliant round of 65 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The 46-year-old Englishman showed all of the class that saw him become world number one at the start of the last decade as he moved to 14 under to lead the way from Italian Francesco Laporta and Austria's Bernd Wiesberger.

Westwood ended a three-and-half-year wait for a victory when he won the 2018 Nedbank Golf Challenge and cut an emotional figure in South Africa, revealing he had been unsure if he would ever lift another trophy.

Just 14 months later later he is in pole position to claim another of the European Tour's prestigious Rolex Series events and take his total of victories on his home circuit to 25.

"It's always a bonus to be in contention and that's basically why we come out here," Westwood told europeantour.com.

"I'm not going to lie, I didn't play a lot of golf coming into it, didn't know what to expect. To be in the lead with one round to go, it's a real positive.

"I'm just going to go out there and play as well as I can and if it's good enough, then great. I know I'm talented enough to win the tournament, it's just a case of applying myself."

A 10-footer on the third and excellent approach to the fifth put him in a share of the lead before a remarkable second to three feet on the par-five eighth set up an eagle that vaulted him two ahead.

Further birdies followed on the ninth and 12th and while he dropped a shot on the 14th, Westwood hit a stunning approach into the 16th and made the most of the par-five last.

Wiesberger finished with three successive birdies in a blemish-free 65, while overnight leader Laporta had to settle for a 69.

England's Matthew Fitzpatrick also carded a 69 to sit at 12 under, a shot clear of major champion Sergio Garcia and American Kurt Kitayama.

Round two report

Brooks Koepka tumbled down the leaderboard as Matt Fitzpatrick went the other way on an engrossing second day in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Playing in the morning, Fitzpatrick made the most of benign conditions in a blemish-free 67 which, added to a round of 66 on Thursday, saw him reach nine-under without dropping a single shot.

Come the day's end, Fitzpatrick had been passed by rookie Francesco Laporta, whose five-birdie blitz from the 14th to the clubhouse sealed a dazzling 63, but it was Koepka's struggles which made the loudest noise.

After opening with back-to-back birdies to reach eight-under, the world number one was making serene progress, but a three-putt bogey from just 20 feet at the third triggered a spectacular fall.

At the fifth, Koepka was forced to play his second shot back towards the tee after a wild drive, eventually running up a double-bogey six, and a penalty drop at the eighth cost him another shot.

Though there was flashes of promise via birdies at the seventh and 10th, Koepka ran up a further double-bogey at the 11th, and his round of 75 ended in suitable fashion with a sloppy bogey six at the par-five closing hole.

At three-under, Koepka finds himself seven adrift along with playing partner Tommy Fleetwood, but a bogey at the 18th saw defending champion Shane Lowry miss the cut as the marquee group became ragged.

Fitzpatrick was anything but, making another Friday move having done so on several occasions in a luckless 2019 which saw him finish runner-up on four occasions.

Eager to put that right at the first opportunity, the Englishman was out in 32 having started on the 10th and though his progress slowed, a birdie at the eighth following an excellent bunker shot earned him a place in Saturday's final group.

"For me every event is the same, you're here to win," he told europeantour.com.

"For the first week of the year, to have no bogeys, couldn't ask for a better start, really. I just played really disciplined golf and it's worked out well so far."

Rafa Cabrera Bello is alongside Fitzpatrick on nine-under, with Hao-tong Li, Renato Paratore and Sergio Garcia a shot further back.

Lee Westwood is part of a group on seven-under which includes Patrick Cantlay, who shot a brilliant 66 but was another to make the typically straightforward 18th look anything but as he too made six there.

Still, it was an excellent recovery and he's now among the key dangers in a tournament blown wide open by Koepka's wild driving.

Round one report

Brooks Koepka made an excellent return to action with an opening 66 in Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, where Renato Paratore and Shaun Norris set the standard with eight-under rounds of 64.

Paratore was a play-off loser in Mauritius before Christmas and picked up where he left off, making four birdies to finish in what was by far his lowest round at the course.

"Today the short game was really good and also the iron play," Paratore said.

"I made some good putts the first few holes so that give me good confidence for the rest of the day, and I keep making putts, so it's been a really good day."

Norris matched him from the first group out in the afternoon, pound-for-pound the superior round with conditions having toughened appreciably. The South African is closing in on a place in the world's top 50 having played consistently well since August.

Sergio Garcia bogeyed his final hole, the tricky ninth, in an otherwise flawless round of 67, which was later matched by compatriot Rafa Cabrera Bello. Martin Kaymer birdied his final two holes to shoot 68, with Bernd Wiesberger and Louis Oosthuizen a shot further back.

Koepka, absent since the CJ Cup in October and having skipped the Presidents Cup to recover from knee surgery, was bogey-free and made six birdies despite showing signs of rust in his long game on occasion.

His short-game, however, looked razor-sharp, a 10-foot birdie putt setting him off at the 10th hole and a chip-in at the 17th helping him play his first nine in four-under.

Another wayward drive at the par-five second forced him into a lay-up, but the four-time major champion curled home a lengthy birdie putt, and another from 10 feet at the third saw him reach six-under.

Pars to the clubhouse, including a good save at the eighth, meant for an excellent day's work for the world number one - whose position at the top of the rankings could come under threat in the coming weeks, although perhaps not on this evidence.

"It feels good to be back, I missed competition," said Koepka. "Played really solid, drove it really well, controlled the ball flight.

"When you do have a morning tee-time you've got to take advantage of it. I did that today."

Koepka was not considered favourite for the tournament despite a previous top 10 and his world ranking, largely owing to concerns over his knee.

"Feels fine. It was a little sore last night - that's expected," he admitted. "This is the first week I've walked 18 holes, and I've done it three times already. It's a little tired."

Two behind after the morning wave had finished, the state of his knee might prove to be key in determining the outcome of this tournament - though there are many world-class players in touch.

One of those is Garcia, who celebrated turning 40 earlier this month with an excellent comeback round - his first with a new set of PING irons in his bag having parted company with Callaway.

"Very pleased, putted nicely, felt like I hit it quite nicely," was his assessment." I thought I did well, I made a couple of really good saves here and there. Overall it was a solid day.

"I've always enjoyed the desert. It feels like you can hit different kinds of shots. Usually it gets a little bit breezy, that helps my game a little bit."

The big name in the afternoon session was Bryson DeChambeau, who mixed four birdies with as many bogeys in a level-par 72 which left him plenty to do on Friday.

Under more difficult, at times breezy conditions, Norris was out on his own, though Kurt Kitayama and Hao-tong Li both played well in five-under 67s, and Thomas Pieters, Branden Grace and Matt Fitzpatrick all shot 68.

Soren Kjeldsen meanwhile, playing in his 600th European Tour event, marked the occasion with a two-under-par round of 70.