Westwood strikes again

THE man who once hated the Old Course at St Andrews yesterday marched proudly up the 18th fairway to a tumultuous welcome from 14,000 spectators and the first prize of €705,093 in the Dunhill Links Championship.

It's not so long ago that a friend told Lee Westwood: "St Andrews isn't among the best 200 courses in Scotland" to which Westwood retorted: "It's not even among the best 200 in Fife."

That has all changed now as Westwood joined people like the immortal Bobby Jones in overcoming early antipathy towards the venerable Old Course: "The more you play it the more you learn how to play it. I actually look forward to playing it these days. I dropped only one shot in 72 holes over three great links courses. The only other player I can think of doing that was Tiger Woods whose only bogey in last year's Amex Championship at Mount Juliet arrived at the 72nd. All my tournament wins were hard to win and winning on links courses from a fantastic field is right up there. There are so many bonuses, I get into this week's Amex Championship, improve my position in the world rankings and order of merit (he's up to 4th behind Ernie Els, Darren Clark and Ian Poulter) and pick up a chunk of Ryder Cup points."