A million reasons to be cheerful for Westwood, Rose

Friday 12 October 2012

Lee Westwood and Justin Rose are guaranteed $1m each after making it an all-English final of the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final, while Rory McIlroy had to settle for "only" $300,000 after finishing last in the eight-man exhibition.

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Phil Casey

McIlroy lost all three of his group games in Antalya, including by six shots to Tiger Woods yesterday morning, but was happy to spend the afternoon on the beach with his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki instead of contesting the semi-finals which came down to ties between Woods and Rose and Westwood and Charl Schwartzel.

Westwood following his morning 64 against Hunter Mahan with a stunning 61 – it included a double bogey – to beat the former Masters champion Schwartzel by six shots.Rose turned around his match with Woods in spectacular fashion, recovering from two behind after 12 with a birdie on the 13th and an eagle on the 14th, where his approach pitched just inches from the hole and span back into the cup. Both players birdied the par-5 16th and, when Woods missed from 15ft for birdie on the last to force sudden death, Rose was certain of a seven-figure payday.First prize is $1.5m (£935,000) with $1m (£623,000) to the runner-up, while Schwartzel and Woods collect $600,000 (£374,000) as losing semi-finalists.Asked about being guaranteed $1m in the final, Westwood said: "I know what a luxury I have to play this game and play it for fortunes; it's not often you see me miserable is it? I try and play with a smile because I know how lucky I am."Rose also had reason to smile after carding a 62 in the morning to beat Webb Simpson, the US Open champion, and following it with victory over Woods."It was a great day," said Rose, who was stunned to learn Westwood had shot 61 in the trickier afternoon conditions. "It was an ugly match until the end."It was hard to come out and get a rhythm going this afternoon for the both of us. It felt like the Ryder Cup, to be honest, the transition between morning and afternoon felt difficult there and today."Earlier, McIlroy could console himself with the thought that his $300,000 worked out at $1382 per shot, with the Ulsterman taking six more in total than seventh-placed Mahan, who also lost all three games."I've got an afternoon by the pool, I don't mind," McIlroy said. "I knew I was going to have an afternoon off anyway, so I never really had any great expectations."*Stephen Gallacher began the Portugal Masters challenge with a bogey-free 65 yesterday, four days after dropping four shots in one hole when still in contention for a second Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title.At six under par, the 37-year-old from Bathgate shared the clubhouse lead with England's former Ryder Cup player Ross Fisher at Oceanico Victoria."There's not much rough and the greens are unbelievably good," said Gallacher after collecting three birdies on each half. "I made a good start but when the wind picked up it was pretty tough." Gallacher had been fourth at St Andrews on Sunday when he played the wrong ball on the 16th and incurred a two-stroke penalty. He earned more than £81,000, but a par on that hole would have ensured he took home £100,000 more.Fisher was part of Europe's winning side at Celtic Manor two years ago but has had only one top-five finish since then and is down at 140th in the world. He birdied three of his first six holes, bogeyed the short 16th, but then picked up four more shots in five holes at the start of the outward half. "I feel comfortable here and the game feels good," he said.Gallacher's compatriot George Murray, in need of a big week at 163rd on the money list, was a stroke behind. He is on a run of eight successive missed cuts, as is the defending champion Tom Lewis who reached four under when he eagled the long sixth, but bogeyed two of the last three for a 69. "It was a shame, but I remembered the shots I hit last year and it definitely helped," said the 21-year-old. "I drove the ball well and gave myself a lot of opportunities."Jose Maria Olazabal, the Ryder Cup captain, was paired with two of his Medinah winners in Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari. None of them really sparkled: Kaymer had a two-under 69, Molinari a 71 and Olazabal a 75 that included a triple-bogey 7 on the 18th, his ninth.Darren Clarke, a possible successor to Olazabal, was one over until he holed his eight-iron approach to the ninth for a 71.

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A million reasons to be cheerful for Westwood, Rose

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