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**truebluefan** · 02-18-2008, 12:05 AM

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**truebluefan** · 03-28-2008, 11:26 AM

Lee Westwood opened his title defense of the Open de Andalucia in style Thursday with a seven-under-par 65 and the first-round lead at Aloha Golf Club.

Amateur sensation Danny Willett and Jan-Are Larsen are knotted in second place at six-under-par 66. Matthew Millar is alone in fourth place at five-under-par 67.

Westwood began his opening round on the 10th tee and drained an 18-footer for birdie. The Englishman tallied his only other birdie of his first nine at the par-four 15th.

The defending champion, who is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 20, surged up the leaderboard with his play on the front nine at Aloha Golf Club.

Westwood birdied the par-five first hole, then parred the next two. He rattled off three consecutive birdies from the fourth to grab a share of the lead at minus-six.

Westwood closed his round exactly how he began it. At the short, par-four ninth, Westwood holed an 18-footer for birdie to take sole possession of the first-round lead.

"I didn't make too many mistakes and my course management was good," said Westwood, who won last year, despite an opening-round, even-par 72.

Westwood participated last week in the WGC-CA Championship at Doral in the United States. This tournament was moved up several weeks on the schedule this year, so Westwood came back to defend, but acknowledged his mind is also on something big in two weeks.

"I've got one eye on the Masters, but I didn't fancy another two-week stint in the States and nothing beats winning for confidence," said Westwood, who is a former winner of this week's PGA Tour event in New Orleans. "I'm pleased with the way I'm hitting the ball, although my game is always a work in progress and there are a few things I'm working on at the moment."

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**truebluefan** · 03-28-2008, 11:27 AM

England’s Lee Westwood began his defence of the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano with a sparkling seven under par 65 at Aloha Golf Club to lead by a shot from English Amateur Danny Willett and Norway’s Jan-Are Larsen.

Willett, the world's number one ranked amateur having won the Spanish Amateur Championship earlier this year, marked his European Tour debut with two eagles in his opening seven holes and could have had a share of the lead but for a dropped shot on the final green for a six under par 66.

Likewise, Larsen also advanced to seven under with five birdies in seven holes on the back nine but bogeyed his penultimate hole for a 66.

Westwood didn’t put a foot wrong after flying back from America to defend the title before he returns across the Atlantic for the Masters Tournament in two weeks' time.

He began and finished with 18 foot birdie putts and had five more birdies in between.

"I didn't make too many mistakes and my course management was good," said Westwood, who a year ago won with a 20 under par total after starting with only a 72.

"I've got one eye on the Masters, but I didn't fancy another two-week stint in the States and nothing beats winning for confidence.

"I'm pleased with the way I'm hitting the ball, although my game is always a work in progress and there are a few things I'm working on at the moment."

Willett's recent Spanish Amateur title impressed the tournament sponsors enough to hand out an invitation to the 20 year old and he took immediate advantage by eagling his first hole.

"I was quite nervous for my first European Tour event," he said. "There was quite a bit of pressure to try to play well because of the invitation.

"The eagle took a lot of first-hole nerves away and relieved the pressure. I just enjoyed myself then."

Willett is now hoping to emulate the feat of Spain’s Pablo Martin, who last year became the only player to have won a European Tour event as an amateur when he captured the Estoril Open de Portugal.

Australian Matthew Millar lies two off the lead after a five under par 67 with three players tied at four under – Frenchman Christian Cevaer, Dutchman Maarten Lafeber and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlory.

**truebluefan** · 03-28-2008, 11:28 AM

Englishmen Robert Dinwiddie and David Lynn moved into the early lead at the halfway stage of the second round of the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano at the Aloha Golf Club.

Both began the second round outside the top 20 but catapulted themselves to prominence with excellent efforts, Dinwiddie posting a 65 for a seven under par total of 137, a total matched by Lynn thanks to his 67.

Three players found the sanctuary of the clubhouse one shot adrift on six under par 138; Swede’s Pelle Edberg (68) and Michael Jonzon (69), alongside Welshman Bradley Dredge who needs to win the tournament to ensure a passage to next month’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National.

Dredge appeared to have slipped back after a double bogey seven at the fifth – his 14th hole of the day – but recovered manfully with birdies at the sixth and seventh on his way to a 68 to remain prominent.

“I am trying to win to get to Augusta, I know what I have to do and in many ways, that makes things easier for me,” he said. “I know I have to have a good round tomorrow to give myself a chance to be in position on Sunday.”

**truebluefan** · 03-29-2008, 11:07 AM

Peter Hedblom, beaten in a play-off in Malaysia on his last European Tour outing, put himself in the perfect position to go one better when he shared the lead with Australian Matthew Millar at the halfway stage of the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano.

The 38 year old Swede, who succumbed to India’s Arjun Atwal in Malaysia a year after he won the title there, added a second round 67 to his opening 69 for an eight under par total of 136 to sit alongside Millar whose opening two rounds were the same but in different order.

The duo enjoyed a one shot lead over a group of three players; Englishmen Robert Dinwiddie and David Lynn and Frenchman Thomas Levet who all finished on seven under par 137.

Of the leading duo, Hedblom was flawless in near perfect conditions around the Aloha Golf Club course and was particularly productive on the front nine where he carded birdies on the second and seventh and an eagle three on the 510 yard fifth.

One reason for that was the upturn in the Swede’s fortunes on the greens, a fact acknowledged by the man from Gävle himself after his round.

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**truebluefan** · 03-30-2008, 01:15 PM

Peter Hedblom shot a five-under 67 and Matthew Millar had a three-under 69 on Friday to share the second-round lead at the European Tour's Open de Andalucia.

Hedblom and Millar were knotted at eight-under 136 for a one-shot lead over Robert Dinwiddie (65), Thomas Levet (68) and David Lynn (67).

Defending champion and first-round leader Lee Westwood led a group of seven players who were another shot further back at six-under 138. Westwood stumbled to a 73 on Friday after opening with a 65 in the first round to take a one- shot lead.

Bradley Dredge (68), Pelle Edberg (68), Oliver Fisher (68), Michael Jonzon (69), Maarten Lafeber (70) and Jan-Are Larsen (72) were also at 138.

Hedblom moved up from a tie for 10th place overnight into a share of the lead with a round that included three birdies and an eagle at the 510-yard fifth hole.

Three weeks after he missed a chance to repeat as champion in Malaysia when he lipped out a birdie putt on the 72nd hole -- he eventually lost in a playoff to Arjun Atwal -- Hedblom declared himself happy with his putting.

The 38-year-old Swede needed just 28 putts to navigate the Aloha Golf Club layout on Friday.

"I am having a good year this season and that is really all down to my putting, which is a lot better than it used to be," said Hedblom, a two-time European Tour winner. "Putting really has been the weakness of my career but now I seem to be making those putts for par as well as the occasional one for birdie."

In addition to his eagle at No. 5, Hedblom made two birdies on the front nine in his second round. He added another birdie at the 13th to get to eight- under.

"My putting stats were never that good in the past. For instance, I was never in the top 100 over the past few years, but I am now, which is good," Hedblom said. "Hopefully I can keep this going."

Hedblom was joined in the lead late in the day by Millar, who played in one of the last groups out on the course. Millar fell out of a tie for the lead when an errant drive at the 16th led to a bogey, but he rebounded with a birdie at the 18th.

He ended with five birdies and two bogeys, taking at least a share of the 36- hole lead for the first time on the European Tour.

Jose Maria Olazabal, playing this week for the first time since the PGA Championship, had a 72 on Friday and was one shot inside the even-par cut line.

Olazabal is battling back pain.

"To be honest, swinging the club is not the most painful part, it is walking and bending to the ball which is hard," he said. "But I am delighted to have made the cut as I certainly didn't expect this after having been out for such a long time."

Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn were among the players who missed the cut.

**truebluefan** · 03-30-2008, 01:16 PM

Defending champion Lee Westwood birdied his first five holes Saturday en route to a six-under 66 and the third-round lead of the Open de Andalucia.

Westwood finished 54 holes at 12-under 204 and is one shot clear at Aloha Golf Club.

"It's nice to make five birdies in a row," acknowledged Westwood. "It's obviously a nice way to start the third round by getting right into contention quickly."

Oliver Fisher (67), Thomas Levet (68) and David Lynn (68) share second place at minus-11. Overnight co-leader Peter Hedblom managed a two-under 70 and is alone in fifth at 10-under 206.

Westwood's amazing start gave him a two-stroke lead, but he parred the next three. He birdied the par-four ninth for the third consecutive round, then tapped in a birdie putt at the par-five 10th.

"Seven-under through 10 is good golf," said Westwood. "It's very hard to keep it going."

Truer words have never been spoken.

Westwood knocked his approach to 35 feet at the 11th, but left himself four feet to save par. He missed the par putt, but gave himself good looks for birdie.

At the 12th, Westwood missed a 15-footer for birdie. Two holes later, the Englishman's eight-foot birdie opportunity stayed above ground, then he three- putted the par-five 16th green for a par.

"The three-putt at 11, missed from short range on 14 and three-putted 16, so if you take away those, you're looking somewhere in the range of 63," admitted Westwood.

He had to hole a clutch eight-footer for par at the 17th, then got up and down for par from the right of the green at the last.

Westwood will be in search of his 19th European Tour win on Sunday. While another trip to the winner's circle would be welcome, Westwood is also preparing for Augusta in two weeks time.

"Any time you're giving yourself a confidence boost is good preparation," said Westwood. "My whole goal for the week, with the Masters in mind, was to come here and get in contention and have a bit of pressure on the last day. That would give me more confidence for Augusta itself."

Fisher, who played with Westwood on Saturday, was flawless in round three with a five birdies and no bogeys. He birdied 16 and 18 to earn another pairing with Westwood on Sunday, this time in the final group.

Levet rolled in a four-footer for birdie at the 16th to tie Westwood at 12- under par. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, he failed to convert an 18-footer for par at 17.

Levet had one final chance to join Westwood in the third-round lead, but missed a short birdie putt at the closing hole.

Lynn birdied his last two to get into a share of second place.

Pelle Edberg (69), Michael Jonzon (69), Alexander Noren (68) and Patrik Sjoland (68) are knotted in sixth place at nine-under-par 207.

Matthew Millar, who shared the second-round lead with Hedblom, only posted an even-par 72 on Saturday and is alone in 10th place at eight-under-par 208.

**truebluefan** · 03-31-2008, 10:40 AM

Two years after he feared crippling vertigo might end his career altogether, Thomas Levet completed his golfing rehabilitation in style when he beat teenager Oliver Fisher in a sudden-death play-off to claim the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano.

The 39 year old Frenchman’s never-say-die attitude saw him battle back to tie with the 19 year old Englishman on 16 under par 272, Fisher having looked favourite for his maiden title for most of the closing stages of an enthralling tournament.

But, standing on the 18th tee with a one shot lead, Fisher’s adrenalin-fuelled tee shot on the 448 yard hole found the water hazard to the left of the fairway and his resulting bogey five saw him end level with Levet after both men carded 67s.

Into the play-off on the 18th hole again and, understandably still thinking about his tee-shot of earlier, Fisher throttled back only this time to find the fairway bunker.

Having played out, his third shot flew over the putting surface and although he did well to pitch and putt for a second consecutive bogey five, Levet’s regulation par four was good enough to give him his fourth European Tour title, nearly four years after a stunning final round at Loch Lomond saw him win the 2004 Barclays Scottish Open.

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