Thomas Björn of Denmark fired a level par round of 71 in Miyazaki, Japan, to win the Dunlop Phoenix tournament with a 12 under par total of 272. On a superb final day for The European Tour, Lee Westwood surged through the field with a best of day 66 to finish tied third, while Sergio Garcia took sixth place.
There was further good news for the trio as all improved their positions on The Ryder Cup World Points List.
Björn, who birdied the final hole to beat Daisuke Maruyama of Japan by two shots, moved to 15th place from 47th, while Garcia moved up one place from 15th to 14th. Westwood’’s sterling effort saw him strengthen his grip at Number One, moving to 67.65 points, now 11.32 clear of Miguel Angel Jiménez.
Westwood enjoyed a sparkling opening nine - taking birdies on the second, fourth, seventh and eighth holes to move back into contention. A bogey on the 475 yard tenth proved to be a minor setback as the Englishman picked up more shots on the 12th and 13th holes.
