Golf: Lee-way in close race

DUBAI - Aptly enough for a man in a desert with a thirst to satisfy, Lee Westwood is refusing to be blinded by the glare in the race to be Europe's No1 golfer with the young hotshot, Rory McIlroy.

While the latter admitted to being distracted by the numbers in the Order of Merit race, Westwood's focus is solely on taking one step at a time towards the Dubai World Championship.

The Englishman calls it "a plodding game" and he has managed to plod his way into a two-shot lead.

Despite being in the group of five sharing second place on seven-under, the scenario is beginning to look ominous for McIlroy, the 20-year-old who would become the second youngest winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy.

He holds a £115,000 ($260,000) advantage over Westwood at the head of the money list. With Ross Fisher and Martin Kaymer, the only other possible winners, all but out of the picture, McIlroy knows he will hold on if he can at least match Westwood.

But this knowledge is definitely not power. The lad's anxiety levels are plainly, if understandably, too high as the status of European No1 beckons.

That much was surely proved when, on the way to a 69, he missed two putts of under three feet on the 14th and 15th. Up until the first tiddler went awry, McIlroy had appeared supreme, picking up three birdies and a tap-in eagle on the 576-yard par-five seventh.

"I was playing fantastically," he said. Indeed, his front-nine 31 had forged him a two-stroke lead. At this point Westwood might even have been alarmed. If he had bothered to look.

"I've always been a leaderboard watcher but this week Billy [Foster, his caddie] has banned me from doing it," said the 36-year-old. "I've never done it before and it will be hard, but I will only look at it on Sunday night."

Experience has taught Westwood to stay patient, even when there is a £900,000 ($2 million) winning bonus on offer.

"There's probably nobody more experienced on the leaderboard than me and Billy, so hopefully that will have a massive effect," Westwood said.

"I've been involved in this sort of thing [an Order of Merit race] before [he won in 2000] so that should give me a big edge."

The manner in which he closed out his own 69 yesterday certainly suggested the force is with him.

McIlroy called the 18th "one of the hardest par fives I've played into the wind" and was relieved to make his par. Westwood went one better, hitting a driver, three wood, seven-iron to 20 feet before breaking the habit of a largely par round and rolling in a 20-footer.

What made the birdie four seem even more honey-coated was the seven taken by Padraig Harrington 10 minutes before.

The triple major-winner arrived on the tee setting the pace on nine-under but found the creek which runs straight down the middle of the fairway with his drive.

He took his penalty, but was soon wet again when he located more water left of the green.

I didn't even know that hazard was there," confessed the Irishman.

- INDEPENDENT