Justin Rose drew on memories of his part in the "Miracle at Medinah" to beat Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood for the second time in three days to win the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final and $1.5m.
Rose had got the better of Westwood in the round-robin stages at Antalya Golf Club, shooting a round of 66 on his way to three wins out of three in Group 2 before beating 14-time major winner Tiger Woods in the semi-finals.
The Englishman again carded a round of 66 yesterday to win by a shot, with Westwood unable to reproduce the form that helped him shoot 64 in his final group match and then a stunning round of 61 a few hours later in his semi-final win over former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.
Rose never trailed in the match after holing from 25 feet for birdie on the first, but saw a two-shot lead cut in half on the 16th when he missed from three feet for birdie after Westwood had holed from three times the distance. However, Rose responded superbly with a long-range birdie 2 on the 17th, evoking memories of his monster putt on the same hole at Medinah as he birdied the last two holes to beat Phil Mickelson in the singles.
"I hit a poor putt on 16 and Lee flipped the script on me," Rose said. "I thought his ball was in the hazard – it was actually plugged in the rough – and then he makes 4 and I make 5. From that moment, it's going to be a tight finish.
"He hit a great shot into 17 and I really felt like I needed to make that putt, and the 17th against Phil came to mind, just drawing on positive experiences."
Westwood had to settle for "just" $1m as runner-up, but was delighted to have quickly hit top form ahead of a busy end to the season.
"We both played really well, the slight difference was on the greens," Westwood said. "Justin rolled in a couple of 20-foot putts, one crucial one on 17, and the longest I made was nine feet on 16.
"I left a lot of chances out there but it's been a great week and that's the way it goes sometimes."
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