| Ware,
Hertfordshire, 7th June 1998 - Lee
Westwood took the National Car Rental English Open by two strokes at Hanbury Manor
on Sunday giving him back to back victories and he went straight to the top of
the European Volvo rankings. It is his first win on British soil and its the first
time he has headed the Volvo money list. The
25-year-old Englishman went into the final round a shot ahead of the field, fell
two strokes behind Greg Chalmers of Australia, but caught and passed the left-hander
by the turn. Westwood's
closing four-under-par 68 took him to 271, 17 under par and two shots clear of
Chalmers and Sweden's Olle Karlsson. He also won the European TPC in Germany last
Monday. After
collecting his trophy Westwood headed straight for Heathrow Airport for a Concorde
flight to this week's Buick Classic in upstate New York on the U.S. Tour as his
final warm-up for the following week's U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
"I keep
ticking things off on my list of goals. It's nice to be top of the Order of Merit
and I've only got one thing left now. That's obviously to win a major," he
said. "There's
no reason why I can't win the U.S. Open. I'm certainly comfortable and confident
now whether or not I'm leading or chasing. "The
Olympic course should suit me. U.S. Open courses are tight and you need to be
straight. That's me at the moment. And I'm looking forward to fast greens where
you need to use imagination." The
£108,330 first prize took Westwood from sixth place to the top of the Order of
Merit above South African Ernie Els. It
was Westwood's third success of the year after his TPC victory and on the U.S.
Tour in the Freeport McDermott Classic the week before the Masters in April. Chalmers
birdied the first three holes to take the lead after coming through the field
with a course-record 61 in Saturday's third round. But a late bogey for a 69 left
him sharing second place on 273. Karlsson,
making his comeback after missing much of 1997 injured, shot 66 to move to joint
second. Colin
Montgomerie finished fourth on 274, a further stroke back, after a final round
of 69. Birdies
at the eighth and ninth holes put Westwood back in front to stay, further birdies
on the 13th and 14th consolidating his victory. His
double made him the first European to record back-to-back victories since Bernhard
Langer in the Italian Open and the Benson and Hedges International last spring.
Westwood is
used to globetrotting for his victories. In his remarkable run since last October
when he took the lucrative final European title, the Volvo Masters, he has now
won in Europe twice, the U.S. once, the Australian Open - where he beat Greg Norman
in a playoff, and the Taiheiyo Masters in Japan. He also lost a playoff in the
Malaysian Open, which he won last year. Chalmers,
24, had his second runner-up place in Europe after the Spanish Open, but would
have claimed second on his own but for a bogey on the short 16th. Karlsson
drew up to second with seven birdies for his biggest prize, after coming back
from 10 months off last year following a serious operation on his thumb. Montgomerie
was disconsolate. "To finish fourth is very disappointing after shooting
64 to lead the first round," he said. "I should go on and win from there
and to shoot only six under after that is very disappointing. "I
left dozens and dozens and dozens of shots on the course," he added, refusing
to discuss his prospects at the U.S. Open, where he was second in 1994 and again
last year.
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