Lee Westwood celebrated his 38th birthday with a comfortable three-stroke victory at the Indonesian Masters on Sunday to stay in the hunt for regaining the world number one spot from German Martin Kaymer.
The world number two will top the rankings if fellow Briton Luke Donald, who leads by a stroke at the $750,000 Heritage tournament in South Carolina after the penultimate round, fails to land the trophy.
"It was about coming here this week and trying to win the Indonesian Masters and I've done that. I've ticked every box this week so we will have to wait and see what happens," Westwood said after his win.
Donald could overtake Kaymer, who is not playing this week, and Westwood, despite his victory, because the Heritage carries more ranking points than the Asian Tour event. Westwood, who led by five strokes after the third round, started with a birdie on the first hole but dropped a shot on the second to make the turn at even-par 36 at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
Westwood, who was world number one for 17 weeks until Kaymer replaced him in February, birdied the 11th and 12th holes after eight straight pars to take control of the leaderboard to end at 19-under 269.
"It was quite some day. I knew it wasn't going to be easy with a five-shot lead. Park (Hyun-bin) played well on the front nine and Thongchai was making many birdies," he said.
"But I was experienced enough to know that patience was the key. When you are coming down those last few holes, the only person who knows what to do better is yourself.
He returned to play his last hole after an hour's delay due to lightning and parred it before the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee finished second with a bogey-free 65 while Park Hyun-bin of South Korea and Thailand's Thitiphun Chuayprakong were joint third along with Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman and Australian Marcus Both at 13-under 275.
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