SUN CITY, South Africa, (Reuters) – World number one Lee Westwood cruised to victory by eight shots in the Sun City Challenge yesterday, shooting a four-under-par 68 in the final round to finish on 17-under-par 271.
South African Tim Clark (71) was second on nine-under with his compatriot Refief Goosen (68) and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (71) in a tie for third a stroke further back.
Westwood’s victory had always looked likely after starting the day five strokes ahead of fellow Englishman Ross Fisher and Clark.
He sealed it in the grand manner, chipping in from 50 feet for birdie on the 18th hole.
Westwood’s only dropped shot on the final day had cone on the tricky par-four 17th when he overshot the green, chipped to 12 feet past the hole and then left his par putt short.
“I knew I was playing well, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself,” he told reporters after his victory. “I aimed to shoot the lowest round of the day and, with the conditions, I figured no one would shoot 64 to come at me.
“If you start chasing flags in this swirling wind and you miss it’s really tough to get up and down. I felt the only way I could lose was by making mistakes myself.”
Westwood, who set up his victory with a brilliant eight-under-par 64 in the second round, birdied three of the four par-fives as well as the par-four 13th before his grandstand finish on 18.
Fisher’s slim hopes faded when he made a meal of the first two holes, bogeying both to slip eight shots off the pace.
He returned a three-over-par 75 to finish in a tie for fifth with Ernie Els (73) on five-under.
Runner-up Clark made a bogey on the first hole but claimed three birdies on the back nine in a typically tenacious round, though he also bogeyed the 17th.
