| Jerez,
Spain, 31st October 1998 -
Lee Westwood
rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole today and tied Australian Peter
O'Malley for the third-round lead in the Volvo Masters. Westwood
also took a one-stroke lead over Colin Montgomerie in their race to be the European
PGA Tour's top money-winner, a role Montgomerie has held for five straight years.
Westwood shot
a 5-under-par 67 to Montgomerie's 69 and will go out last with O'Malley in Sunday's
final round. Montgomerie will be immediately ahead of him. Montgomerie,
aiming to finish on top for a record sixth time in a row, could have been leading
into the final round at the Montecastillo course. He missed a short birdie putt
at 16 and bogeyed the 17th. O'Malley
matched Westwood's 67. The two are at 11-under-205 overall, with Montgomerie at
206 and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, the only other player in contention
to finish atop the earnings list, two strokes further behind after a 68. Montgomerie
leads the European tour money-winning list with £760,077 Westwood is second at
£714,811, followed by Clarke at £616,867. For
Westwood to end Monty's reign, he has to win the tournament and hope that the
Scot falls further behind. "I'm
just cruising along -- not worrying about too much," the Englishman said.
"It's been
a dream since I started golf to be No.1, but I know Monty's going to play well
tomorrow because he does when the pressure is on. "It's
just nice to be one in front of him now rather than one behind," Westwood
said. But he paid tribute to Montgomerie's five in a row. "I
don't think people outside the game realize how good an achievement it is to win
the Order of Merit five years in a row." The
winner of the Volvo Masters earns £166,000. In addition, there is a bonus for
the top 15 finishers on the European money list | 
