Lee Westwood’s slump sees lead evaporate to set up tight finale

LEE Westwood suffered a slump in form as his huge lead at the Thailand Golf Championship was slashed to four stokes by surging South African Charl Schwartzel.

An erratic day for world No.3 Westwood saw him card a third round of 73, 13 shots worse than his stunning opening round 60 which helped him to an 11-stroke lead at the halfway point.

US Masters champion Schwartzel made four birdies in his first five holes on his way to a second successive 66 at the Amata Spring County Club, paving the way for a crunch final day at the $1 million Asian Tour event.

Westwood had not carded a bogey in his opening two rounds but four arrived on Saturday as his dazzling form from earlier in the tournament disappeared. The Englishman, whose 64 in round two let him equal the Asian Tour’s lowest-ever 36-hole total, said he still had the upper hand and the pressure was on his rivals to overhaul his lead and deny him his third Asian victory this year.

“A lot of people are going to think you’re going to shoot a 60, 62 and 64 every day but I’m afraid golf isn’t like that,” he said. “I hit a few good shots in between but I didn’t make putts when I needed to. It was one of those days, a few bad breaks but, if you’d have offered me a four-shot lead on Thursday morning, I’d have taken it. I can stretch my lead and people have to put their foot down and that’s where you can make mistakes.”

Schwartzel was in confident mood and kept his cool on a sweltering day, with American Michael Thompson creeping up on him on the back nine to finish on 69 for third place, seven strokes adrift of Westwood. After a rough start on the opening six holes, Westwood got back on track, matching Schwartzel for the next nine holes before two bogeys on the 16th and 17th. The South African held his game together right up to the end but botched a simple putt on the 18th and watched his ball grind to a halt on the edge of the hole for his only bogey of the day.

He admitted he would need a first-class performance and another Westwood slump for him to win the title. “I made four birdies in a row and he wasn’t getting anything at all. You sense all of a sudden, the tide has changed, the lead getting shorter and shorter and that has to affect you. I need a good score and that’s the bottom line. We all know Lee is a good player. It’s out of my hands.”

n American 16-year-old Lexi Thompson pulled away from Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa to win the Dubai Ladies Masters by four strokes on 15 under par and become the youngest professional winner on the Ladies European Tour.

The two Scots in the field had disappointing final rounds with Kylie Walker shooting 75 to finish one over and Clare Queen ending up on eight-over after a 78.