Westwood - It was the biggest day of my career
22 Nov 2009 - 17:05:00
Lee Westwood reflected on his Race to Dubai triumph by calling it the best day of his career so far.
Westwood arrived at the season-ending Dubai World Championship trailing Rory McIlroy on the Order of Merit, but a peerless performance saw the 36-year-old to a six-shot victory and a lucrative double prize.
Westwood claimed €830,675 as tournament first prize and a further €996,810 from The Race to Dubai Bonus Pool, taking the Ryder Cup player's season earnings to a record €4,237,762.
- Race to Dubai standings
- Dubai World Championship leaderboard
"I'm a bit speechless really," Westwood said. "In all fairness I think that's about as good as I've ever played under this pressure.
"It's definitely the biggest moment of my golfing life to date. I knew that before I set out and it gives me a lot of confidence that I was able to hold myself together - until now."
Northern Ireland's McIlroy finished third in the Dubai World Championship, to miss out on becoming the youngest European Tour champion since Severiano Ballesteros.
"Lee deserves it," McIlroy said. "It's an unbelievable amount of money but that's not why I was playing today. I was trying to win," he said."I have no complaints. I gave it my best shot and it's been a great season, but Lee is just in a different class.
"Most times coming here leading and then finishing third would be good enough, but even if I'd played well I'm not sure I could have got to 23 under.
"Lee's been through the highs and lows of this game and he's back."He's played fantastically well for two years and I suppose this is his reward for persevering."
- Golf.co.uk staff
