Lee Westwood Won Silenced American Sniping

Lee Westwood fired a stunning five-under-par final-round 67 to win the Ballantine's Championship and retain his status as number one in the world.Westwood, who won in Indonesia last week, needed a top-five finish to hold off Martin Kaymer in the rankings. Lee Westwood fortified his position at the top of the world rankings and silenced American sniping yesterday as he tacked victory at the Ballantine's Championship Review of TaylorMade Burner SuperFast 2.0 Series onto last week's win in Jakarta. There had been further calls in the US for a change in the world points system after the Englishman leapfrogged Martin Kaymer back to the top of the ladder by finishing at the head of a relatively modest field at the Indonesian Masters. Much was once again made of the one big gap on Westwood's resume, his failure to win a Major, by commentators who plainly find it hard to comprehend the simple logic which underpins the necessarily complex world points system.

Golf's No 1 is the player who has performed consistently well against the world's other top pros over a period of two years. For those who find this concept difficult to grasp, pictures of Westwood holding a trophy won in an event which included names like Dustin Johnson or, maybe, Miguel Angel Jimenez, might help ease their angst. Westwood, who went into those final 18 holes three shy of the lead shared on 10-under by Jimenez, Rhys Davies and Alexander Noren, claimed his 22nd European Tour victory with a flawless round of 67. Ireland's Shane Lowry, Gareth Maybin and Damien McGrane began the long trek from South Korea to Barcelona for this week's Open de Espana at El Prat buoyed by decent performances which yielded a share of 13th place on five-under par and a cheque for €29,046 each. All five Irish competitors made the cut in Korea, but Paul McGinley and Michael Hoey endured a frustrating weekend.