| Knokke
Le Zoute, Belgium, 2nd October 1998 -
A blazing finish by Lee Westwood
kept his Belgian Open victory bid on course and his hopes of this year's European
number one title alive. The
25-year-old Englishman had slumped eight shots behind second round leader Fredrik
Jacobson but three birdies in the last four holes took Westwood to within three
strokes of the Swedish front-runner. A
morning four-under-par 67, fired by five birdies in succession from the second,
earned Jacobson a one-shot lead on 10-under-par 132 over Rolf Muntz of the Netherlands.
New Zealander Greg Turner was a shot further back. Westwood's
exhilarating finish hauled him up to fourth place on 135 after a 68, leaving him
with plenty of scope to go for the top prize in Belgium. A
purse of £66,660 ($113,900) will leave him only £45,266 ($77,350)
behind rankings leader Colin Montgomerie with just one event to go, the Volvo
Masters at the end of the month which carries a £166,660 ($284,700) first
prize. Leader
Jacobson is concerned with life at the other end of the scale, anxious to make
enough money to keep his tour card for next year. He
lies 124th in the rankings, with 116th the estimated survival mark. "It
plays on your mind to keep the card," said Jacobson, whose best finish on
tour is runner-up in last year's Madeira Open. "You
try not to think about it but it's tough because you know you never get the same
ranking if you go back to the tour school...the pressure will be on me all through
the weekend." Westwood
came back from bogeying three of the first four holes. "If
I can putt like I did over the last four holes at the weekend I should be fairly
close to winning," he said. "I
couldn't find the middle of the club a few weeks ago. Now I've found a good swing
thought after my coach watched me in the pro-am here and I'm determined to hold
on to it. "I
feel very confident it will stay with me. Then it would be nice to go into the
last event having won here." Englishman
Greg Owen broke the course record by two shots with a 62, capturing seven birdies
in the last nine holes, to be in the group on 136. Nick
Faldo finished well for a 72 and 137. | 
