Westwood is Tour No.1 after best round of career

LEE Westwood would have celebrated becoming European Tour No.1 again well into the early hours no matter how he did it.

But to produce a performance he rated the best of his career made the party all the sweeter in Dubai.

Westwood had to overhaul a stablemate in the final week just as he did nine years ago.

In 2000, Darren Clarke missed out on the No.1 spot when the Worksop golfer finished second in the American Express world championship at Valderrama.

This time 20-year-old Rory McIlroy was overtaken despite coming third at the Dubai World Championship because Westwood won it – by a season record-equalling six shots and with a 23-under-par display that almost defied belief on the second longest lay-out in Tour history.

More than that, he completed it with a course record 64 and did not have a single bogey in the last 46 holes.

One week’s work earned Westwood £1,637,196 – £744,180 for the tournament and a £893,016 money list bonus.