• Thailand Golf Championship, Round Four

Westwood cruises to seven-shot success

Lee Westwood cruised to victory © Getty Images

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Lee Westwood held his nerve to secure a comfortable seven-shot victory at the Thailand Golf Championship on Sunday.

After blistering opening rounds of 60 and 64 allowed him to open up an 11-shot lead at the halfway stage, a disappointing third round saw Charl Schwartzel close the gap to just four going into the final day at Amata Springs Golf Club. But the South African was unable to complete a remarkable comeback as his level-par closing effort of 72 enabled Westwood to cruise to victory at 22-under thanks to a finishing 69.

"I've amazed myself really," Westwood said afterwards. "It's been staggering, it all came together well."

The win capped a great day for English golf, as Ian Poulter claimed the Australian Masters in Melbourne.

An upset fleetingly looked like it could be on the cards as Schwartzel birdied the first hole of the day to close the gap by one. But Westwood hit back with two birdies in the next two holes to extend his initial advantage, reaching the turn with a five-shot lead.

As the Englishman turned the screw on the inward nine his South African opponent was unable to respond, finding an eagle at the 11th but dropping shots at three of his last five holes as Westwood picked up three birdies on the way to a comfortable finish.

American Michael Thompson finished third at 14-under after a final round of 70, a further shot behind Schwartzel. Englishman Simon Dyson finished in a share for fourth with Chawalit Plaphol at 12-under.

Elsewhere, John Daly was left to rue a disappointing final round of 75 as he finished in a share of 16th - three shots ahead of Sergio Garcia, who sneaked inside the top 25 thanks to a closing 71.

Open champion Darren Clarke continued his poor run of form, however, as a final round of 77 left him alongside Ryo Ishikawa (73) at nine-over for the tournament.

With victory, his fourth of the season, Westwood will now move above Rory McIlroy to world No. 2 when Monday's revised rankings are released.

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