Lee Westwood showed on Friday that he can really play the game of golf as he soared into a three-shot lead after the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.
It has been a momentous year for the 37-year-old Englishman, who finished second in two majors, played a key role in yet another Ryder Cup victory for Europe and deposed Tiger Woods as the world's number one golfer five weeks ago.
After his superb eight-under-par 64 on Friday, few would bet against Westwood, who was runner-up in 2000, adding his name to the illustrious list of winners on the crystal ball trophy.
He was never in any difficulty as he cruised around the Gary Player Country Club without dropping a shot, claiming four birdies on each nine. Westwood showed early on that he was in touch with his putter as he sank a brilliant 35-footer for birdie on the par-four third hole.
Like a batsman building his innings in cricket, Westwood made sure he had a solid base on which to attack from by hitting nine out of 14 fairways and reaching 16 out of 18 greens in regulation.
He quickly overtook overnight leader Padraig Harrington, whose challenge waned as he scrambled to a level-par 72 to be six shots off the pace, battling off the tee and with his putter.
Fellow Englishman Ross Fisher was the one golfer to stay in touch with Westwood with four birdies in the last six holes. An eagle on the par-five ninth had put him back on an even keel after he had been in trouble with successive bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes.
Harrington was in a tie for third place with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Edoardo Molinari.
Molinari was licking his wounds after playing the first three holes of the tournament in three-over-par, but has just been getting better and better since then, playing the next 33 holes in nine-under-par. The Italian lit up Sun City on Friday with eagles on the par-five second and 10th holes.
Ernie Els deserves credit for not tossing in the towel despite the frustrations of an ice-cold putter that undid all the good work he produced from tea to green. A double-bogey on the par-three fourth after missing the green and finding water saw him crash to 10th on the leaderboard on level-par, but he made an impressive comeback thereafter with five birdies lifting him to five-under and sixth place.
“I was feeling a little bit rusty, but I've got into the swing of things now,” Westwood said after his fantastic performance. “Today was much more like me, getting the most out of the round."
Which sounded a lot like understatement as Westwood produced one of the finest rounds seen at Sun City on an overcast day, the sun only appearing in the closing stages.
It was an electrifying round from the world number one, who negotiated the course with an ease that marks him out as one of the greats.
In the Nedbank Senior Challenge, Jeff Sluman shot a comfortable four-under-par 68 to win by two strokes from Tommy Armour III. Sluman had a pair of birdies on each nine for a six-under-par total of 138. Armour was on 140, Mark McNulty 142 and Nick Price 143.
