20 METROSPORT Monday, November 23, 2009 D A TRIUMPHANT Lee Westwood believes Rory McIlroys mental blunder gave him the edge in the final week of their battle at the top of the European money list. The mistake was not in any of the shots the 20-year-old played but what he said after they had gone head-to-head in the first round at the Dubai World Championship. McIlroy stated he was glad the two of them were not paired in the second round because he could focus more on his own game. It was obviously a massive feather in my cap, said Westwood, who had outscored his rival by three on the day and went on to win by six to regain the Order of Merit crown he last held in 2000. Theres nothing worse to say than that if youre Rory and theres nothing better for me than a com- petitor to say they are glad they are not playing with me. I wouldnt have said it but Ive been on tour 16 years and hes been on tour three. Sometimes what you say off the course and the mind games you play are as important as the pres- sure you can put on people on it. This is definitely the biggest mo- ment of my golfing life to date. Westwood produced a stunning 23-under-par display to take the 830,675 tournament first prize and a near-1million money-list bonus, a European Tour record of over 1.8million for one weeks work. Two strokes in front at the start, Westwood set a course record with an eight-under-par 64. His fellow Englishman Ross McGowan was second, while McIlroy was third after a 67. Westwood had promised to reveal some secrets of his performance if he won, but admitted: The secret was that there was no secret. It was making everybody else think I had a secret when I didnt really. Race to Dubai Final standings 1 Lee Westwood (Eng)...............4,237,762 2 Rory McIlroy (N Ire).................3,610,020 3 Martin Kaymer (Ger) ...............2,864,342 4 Ross Fisher (Eng)....................2,531,183 5 Paul Casey (Eng) ....................2,362,947 Bully-boy Westwood makes McIlroy pay Signs not great for Rory: McIlroy attempts to recover his club from an advertising hoarding after frustration got the better of him following a poor third shot on to the seventh green Picture: Reuters GOLF dubaI woRld chaMpIonShIp CRICKET: Paul Collingwood reflected on a perfect and very proud day after marking his record 171st England one-day international cap with a match-winning hundred against South Africa at Centurion. Collingwood (105) shared a stand of 162 with new opener Jonathan Trott (87) as England coasted past a target of 250 for nine to chalk up a sixth consecutive ODI win against these opponents and also go 1-0 in the series up with three matches left. It was a perfect day, and a very proud day as well, said Collingwood, after a seven-wicket victory achieved with four overs to spare. Today is one of the best innings Ive ever played for England. Everything went pretty much perfectly from an individual and team point of view. TEnnIS: andy Murray made home advantage count as he edged a topsy-turvy clash with uS open champion Juan Martin del potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the opening singles match of the barclays aTp world Tour Finals at londons o2 arena. del potro, who has won only two matches since his new York triumph in September, put in a very inconsistent display, with some scorching winners punctuated by simple errors. It was a really good start, said Murray. Me and Juan havent played that much since the uS open so I kind of expected a little bit of a scrappy match maybe. he didnt start particularly well but, after 5-0, I thought the standard was very good. GOLF: Shane Lowry had his best finish as a professional when the man who won the Irish Open as an amateur finished joint third in Dunlop Phoenix in Japan yesterday. Italys Edoardo Molinari made it a brilliant three wins in his last five tournaments when he beat last years European Tour No.1 Robert Karlsson in a play-off. The pair had tied on 13 under par before Molinari, older brother of the better-known Francesco, sank a 4ft birdie putt on the second extra hole. The 28-year- olds previous wins came on Europes second division Challenge Tour, but all three have counted towards the world rankings as he is now just outside the top 60 and is into the top ten on the European Ryder Cup world list. FoRMula onE: bernie Ecclestone has revealed a deadline of december 9 for a deal to be done if the british Grand prix is to take place next summer. plans to switch the race from Silverstone to donington have fallen through and talks with circuit owners to try to keep the race at Silverstone have stalled. Ecclestone, F1s chief executive, said: They had a contract in place that they could have signed if theyd wanted to but they havent. at the moment, there is no british Grand prix. I think december 9 is when the Formula 1 commission meet so thats when it will be taken off the calendar. If theres no contract in place there wont be a british Grand prix. SPORTDigest positive start: Murray bY pETER REGan The big turnaround in confidence was catching Billy [his caddie Billy Foster] at the beach party on Tuesday. He said Id been paying too much attention to the other people. He said: Youve been out here 16 years, thats longer than all three of them put togeth- er (McIlroy, Germanys Martin Kaymer and Englands Ross Fisher were the only players left in the race to finish No.1) and youve won 30 times. Its a terrible word to use because I hate it, but he said Youve got to bully them. Thats why Ive been confident all week. This is the biggest moment of my golfing career Garrycastle end Ballybodens run GAA Goal king: Mccallion and Garrycastle celebrate TEENAGE defender Mark McCallon hit the Garrycastle goal that ended Ballybodens Leinster club football title hopes, writes Paul Keane. Leading by three points with 15 minutes to go, Garrycastle doubled their advantage when the 19-year old struck the net. They never looked back and sealed a 1-8 to 0-6 win which books them a Leinster club final spot on December 6 when they could become the first Westmeath team to win the Leinster club title. They were boosted by the news that Clara and Portlaoise will have to play another fatiguing semi-final again. Clara were leading by a point early in the second half yesterday when the game was abandoned due a waterlogged Portlaoise pitch. Garrycastle, though, led from start to finish against the Dublin champions. They were 0-5 to 0-2 up at half-time and Dessie Dolans third point of the game after 40 minutes put them 0-6 to 0-3 ahead. The next score was McCallons goal and decided the game as ex-county player Paddy Mulvihill played him in. Ballyboden struggled badly without suspended captain Declan OMahony and injured full-forward Kenny Naughton. They were further rocked by the withdrawal of Dublin forward Conal Keaney beforehand due to flu. Keaney came on late and converted a 45metre-free but could not force a dramatic finale. Meanwhile, Kerry champions Kerins ORahillys and Clares Kilmurry-Ibrickane will contest the Munster club final after winning their semi-finals. The Connacht final between Corofin and Charlestown was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. GPA plan to end rows Dessie Farrell says the Gaelic Players association will use their official status to stop rows such as the Clare hurling crisis. Farrells GPa have been confirmed as the official voice of the Gaas inter-county players and will get 1.1million to fund its player-centred initiatives and 500,000 to cover administration costs until the end of 2010. The Clare hurlers are currently refusing to play for boss Mike McNamara and a similar row is brewing in limerick, but Farrell said: There have been breakdowns in communication in the past. But if everyone knows where they stand and there is a process to follow i think a lot of these issues can be avoided or at least solved successfully. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html