Nov 17, 2016: Lee Westwood fired a six under par opening round of 66 to lead the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai by one shot in the European Tour’s season-finale.
Westwood carded seven birdies and one bogey on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, with France’s Julien Quesne and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts in a share second place after rounds of 67.
“My win here in 2009 is in the top two or three performances in my career. It may even be the best performance of my career – knowing that I needed to win to beat Rory in The Race to Dubai, and doing that by six shots and pretty much dominating the field over the weekend means it’s right up there”, said Westwood.
Former World Number One Westwood was the tournament’s inaugural winner in 2009, the year he also won the Race to Dubai, and the player leading the challenge to do that particular double this year, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, made a solid, if unspectacular start with a level par round of 72, which included a solitary birdie on the seventh hole.
The Open Champion is six shots behind leader Westwood, but more significantly only one stroke behind his closest two rivals for the European Tour Number One crown, with England’s Danny Willett and Sweden’s Alex Noren, ranked second and third respectively on the Race to Dubai, both signing for rounds of 71.
Meanwhile, defending champion Rory McIlroy opened with a three over par round of 75 and is nine shots back in share of 55th place.
European Tour Release
