Lee Westwood’s emotions changed from utter despair to sheer delight in the space of eight days as he captured his tenth title on the European Tour, the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe, with a masterly display at Gut Kaden, Hamburg.
The 27 year old from Worksop gave World number one Tiger Woods a two shot start going into the final round and finished an afternoon of sublime golf three strokes ahead of Emanuele Canonica of Italy and four in front of Jean Van de Velde, Ian Woosnam and Woods,
Westwood collected the richest prize of his European Tour career with an eight under par fourth round of 64 for a 15 under par total of 273. Victory was worth 450,000 euro to the Englishman, who climbed to third in the Volvo Order of Merit behind Darren Clarke and Ernie Els.
With his third 70 of the tournament for 277, Woods secured a share of third place, after he had appeared on course to make a successful defence of the title he won at St.Leon Rot twelve months earlier. He was edged out of the runners-up position by Canonica, who compiled a brave 67 to win 300,000 euro. Canonica climbed from 119th to 12th in the 2000 Volvo Order of Merit and he will now seek this week to follow in teh footsteps of compatriot Costantino Rocca, who won the Volvo PGA Championship in 1996.
Westwood had complained of a lack of motivation and a general dissatisfaction with his game at the Benson and Hedges International Open only one week earlier. However a week can be a long time in golf, as in politics, and Westwood radiated happiness as he held aloft the trophy for the second time in three years.
“I can’t remember any better rounds, not under pressure” said Westwood. “It was probably better than the 61 I shot here two years ago in the third round because the circumstances were different. I was pleased to birdie the first three holes and get my nose in front because I’m quite difficult to beat when I get my nose in front.”
The key hole was the 11th, where Westwood rolled in an eight foot birdie putt just minutes before Woods miscued a seven iron and saw his approach to the same hole land in the greenside pond. It cost him a double bogey six which, coupled with Westwood’s birdie, produced a three stroke swing.
Westwood made further progress towards the title with a birdie at the next and when Woods also bogeyed the short 16th, he knew his bold title defence was effectively over. Nevertheless it was a superb effort by Woods, who said graciously: “Lee played beautifully. That was a wonderful round. He needed to go out and be aggressively early and make some birdies.
“He was able to do that and kept it going all day, which is even more impressive. He deserves to be the champion.”
The quality of the golf on the last day, and a leader board congested with many of the world’s biggest names, combined to make the 2000 Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe a memorable affair.
Colin Montgomerie, searching for a reliable putting stroke, made a charge with three birdies in a row from the second. He reached a position one stroke behind Westwood at one stage but was unable to catch the leader. Montgomerie derived considerable confidence for his defence of the Volvo PGA Championship with a round of 67 and a share of sixth place on 278.
Canonica, Van de Velde and a revitalised Woosnam, who shot 66, all made serious moves towards the top but Westwood’s consistent brilliance earned him the top prize. As he admitted, he would be nice to play events in which Woods competes every week. He said: “It certainly spurs you on and gives you a lot of satisfaction when you beat the world’s number one. This re-iterates that Tiger is human – and beatable.”
Final Round Video Highlights
Final Results and Prize Money
