Westwood off to flyer and eyeing 19th title

LEE WESTWOOD is determined to land his 19th European Tour title after a flawless five-under-par 67 in the first round of the Qatar Masters left him in a share of the lead alongside South Africa’s Anton Haig.

The Order of Merit leader admitted he needed to get out of the blocks quicker after failing to chase down wire-to-wire winner Martin Kaymer in Abu Dhabi last week.

Westwood was faced with the same situation at November’s HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, where he overturned a 12-shot deficit in the final round before losing out to world number two Phil Mickelson in a play-off.