Leading: Lee Westwood of England measures his putt during the third round of the Indonesian Masters golf tournament at Royale Jakarta Golf Club in East Jakarta on Saturday. JP/Wendra Ajistyatama
Lee Westwood dashed towards the finish line of the US$750,000 Indonesian Masters, shooting a brilliant six-under-par 66 in the third round on Saturday.
Despite bogeying the last hole, the Englishman still held a distant five-shot lead at a 16-under-par 200 to put himself in prime position for celebrating his 38th birthday with a victory at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
Westwood, who returned Saturday morning to complete two holes of the second round, said reverting to the conventional putter from the belly putter worked wonders for him as he shot five birdies in the first nine and three birdies on last nine.
“It feels much better using the conventional putter because every decent putt seems to go in and that made me more comfortable. I’ve been in this position before and I’ll try not to get ahead of myself,” said the Englishman, who has won over 30 titles in his stellar career.
Westwood was the world number one for 17 weeks before being replaced by Martin Kaymer in February and is in the running for regaining the top spot if he wins this week and Luke Donald does not in the United States.
“I’m here to win a tournament. World rankings seem to take care of themselves,” added Westwood, Europe’s number one in 2000 and 2009.
Asian Tour rookie Park Hyun-bin of Korea, who has only one bogey (second round) in his campaign so far, fired a 70 to share second place with Thitiphun Chuayprakong of Thailand on a 205 total in the inaugural event.
Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng fired a 69, courtesy of an eagle three on the 12th hole to sit in fourth place while Bangladeshi Siddikur, Filipino Antonio Lascuna and Thai duo Prom Meesawat, Thongchai Jaidee are a stroke back.
Indonesian ace Rory Hie reaped the rewards of a new putter and a good shave to give himself a shot for a top 10 finish. He fired a four-under-par 68 to end the third round tied in 15th place, some 11 shots behind leader Lee Westwood.
“I thought I could have gone to seven or eight under but overall it was a good solid round. My short and long game was good. My putting was much better after I changed putters. I made two important changes today, I switched putters and shaved!” smiled Rory, the only local player to make the halfway cut this week.
“To score you’ve got to be on your game and precise on this course because the greens are very demanding and undulating. There’s no room for error. You have to keep the ball below the hole all the time.”
With the crowds firmly behind him, Rory gave them plenty to cheer about with another impressive performance. He drew loud roars of approval with an opening birdie and was unlucky to not hole a few more chances.
“That was pretty exciting [to birdie the first hole]. There was quite a loud cheer. It felt like I birdied the 18th hole. It was nice to have the home crowd supporting you. I could have made birdie on the second hole but missed a short putt. That has been the story of the week,” he said.
“Winning seems to be out of the question with Lee [Westwood] doing so well. Basically I’m aiming for a top-10. I’ve learned from previous experiences that you have to play your own game even though this is a big tournament. You have to focus and I think that’s what happened to the other local professionals.
I’ve played in other local tournaments and there’s always a guy shooting five or eight-under. I think it is just a mental game,” he said.
