Open Championship Notebook: Westwood inspired

Lee Westwood believes his best-ever finish in a major is just a sign of things to come, while Vijay Singh needs some rare time off to regroup before the PGA Championship and the final hole at Troon turned into a Love-fest. Plus, Jerry Kelly hustles back to Milwaukee, while low amateur Stuart Wilson will be back at work Monday morning, and more.

TROON, Scotland (PA) -- Lee Westwood is hoping his best-ever finish in a major is just a sign of things to come.

A 20-foot putt for par on the 17th and then a 40-footer at the last for a 4-under 67 Sunday gave Westwood fourth place in The Open Championship at Royal Troon and confirmed that the 31-year-old Englishman is back as a world force two years after he slumped outside the game's top 250.

"I know my game is good enough to win a major," said Westwood, who had stood as high as fourth in the world after he ended Colin Montgomerie's seven-year reign as European No. 1. "It's just a question of giving myself the opportunity. I was not quite close enough today to put the pressure on them.

"Obviously, I'm very pleased with the way I finished, but I got off to a terrible start just as I did the first three days and that probably cost me the tournament," he added. "From the sixth onwards I was brilliant. I'd not made a lot of putts, but on the last nine I rolled in a few.

"I always hoped the work I've been doing was going to pay off and the most pleasing thing is the consistency I've shown over the last three weeks."

He was runner-up in the Smurfit European Open two weeks ago and 10th in the Barclays Scottish Open a week ago. And now his Ryder Cup place is secure for September.

"I looked at the leaderboards all the time and I thought with six to go that 8-under could be close," he said. He reached only 6-under, but produced one of the biggest roars for that eagle on the last.

"I just wanted to hole it to give the fans something to cheer about and to creep ahead of Davis Love in the clubhouse," he said.

Westwood's comeback started when he won the BMW International in Germany last August -- just two weeks after he appeared close to despair at the PGA Championship, where he missed his fourth successive cut in the majors.

SINGH OUT OF TUNE AT TROON: The drawing board beckons for Vijay Singh after his Open challenge sank without a trace at Royal Troon.

Much had been expected of the Fijian coming into the tournament, but a crippling 5-over round of 76 on Saturday all but ended his chances of success. Singh, who finished tied for second last year, fared marginally better on Sunday, but it did little to cheer the two-time major winner.

"I'm extremely disappointed with the way I played yesterday and a few holes today," said Singh, who admitted he had a lot to ponder ahead of next month's PGA Championship, a tournament he won in 1998.

"I don't know, I just have to go and rethink what I need to do. You can't be making so many simple mistakes in majors," he added. "And I have to fix my putting. I feel like I'm putting well, but the balls are not going in -- so I can't be putting well.

"Putting is just another of those hiccups," he said. "If you don't make so many mistakes off the tees and on the fairways, you'd be okay. But I need to make more putts."

Singh is determined to avoid a repeat performance at the PGA Championship.

"I'll have a rethink. I have two weeks out of the next three off before the major and I want to arrive at Whistling Straits ready," he added. "I don't want to arrive and feel like 'maybe, maybe not.' I want to arrive there totally ready."

LOVEFEST: Davis Love III was thrilled when the crowd stood and cheered for him as he walked to the 18th green. Unfortunately for Love, it wasn't because he was leading the Open.

Love played well, but never really made a move. The standing ovation came when he hit a 6-iron from 192 yards into the cup on the final hole.

"I've had them clapping a lot when I've been coming up there but I've never had them jump to their feet, so that was exciting," Love said. "It's fun just to get to play up the 18th on Sunday, let alone have the stands full and have them cheering for you."

Love, whose best finish in an Open came last year when he tied for fourth at Royal St. George, finished with a 67 that put him in a tie for fifth at 279.

Love said he let an early tee time in the first round get to him, shooting a 72 the first day that left him well off the pace. He came back to shot 69-71-67 the next three days, but it wasn't enough to make him a factor on the final day.

"To get up in the top 10 shows I was grinding it out all week," Love said. "I had some bad holes this week and didn't play to the best of my abilities. But I ground it out and got a good finish."

EAGLE FEST: The eagles came one right after another, three of them in a row when it really counted on the par-5 fourth hole.

Thomas Levet of France started it all by chipping in from behind the green for his 3. Playing partner Barry Lane then sunk a 20-footer to match the eagle.

In the group just behind, Phil Mickelson had a 40-yard pitch to the green. He, too, holed it, much to the amazement of the fans gathered to watch.

Mickelson's playing partner, Retief Goosen, could have made it four in a row, but missed his eagle putt and had to settle for birdie.

None of them could match what Gary Evans did in the opening round on Thursday, though, holing a 5-iron from 227 yards for the rarest of golf course sightings, a double eagle.

In Sunday's final round, the fourth hole played the easiest of all, with four eagles and 18 birdies for an average of 4.68.

BACK TO WORK: Jerry Kelly made the cut on the number, but was unable to move up the leaderboard and finished the Open at 7-over 291 -- just in time for lunch.

The only disappointment Sunday was not being able to leave sooner. Kelly likes Scotland just fine, but the Greater Milwaukee Open -- his home tournament -- starts Thursday, and he would have liked to get an extra day of rest.

"We looked at everything imaginable," Kelly said. "There's just no way out."

CALC'S COURSE: Mark Calcavecchia wouldn't mind if every Open was held at Royal Troon. Calcavecchia won his only major championship at Troon in 1989, then came back to finish in a tie for 10th when it returned in 1997.

If he would have played as well in the first and second rounds as he did on the weekend, he might have been a factor in this Open at the age of 44. Calcavecchia barely made the cut with opening rounds of 72-73, then came back on the weekend to shoot 69-68.

"It seems like I struggle every week just to make the cut on the nose, and when I do that I run out of gas on the weekend," Calcavecchia said. "Here was the opposite. I looked at it as a positive, came out with a lot of energy and a good attitude for the weekend."

CLARKE REVIVAL COMES TOO LATE: Darren Clarke, who tied for second in the last Open at Troon seven years ago, produced a finish Sunday that any of the leaders would have paid a fortune for.

Too far back to have a chance, the Ulsterman birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th and almost made another on the last. The run gave Clarke a 3-under 68 and a 2-under total of 282.

But the shot he will remember most remains his approach to the 18th on day one. It went out of bounds over the green.

"Momentum's huge in any tournament, but more so in a major," he said. "I was in good shape, made a mistake (he double-bogeyed it and went back from 4-under to 2-under) and never really recovered."

Clarke, still searching for a first major victory, felt he had a "cold putter" for most of the week. But that does not mean a return to his belly putter for the Irish Open this coming week.

He used it for two days of the recent Smurfit European Open, but when asked its whereabouts, he replied: "Probably sunk in the (River) Liffey."

WILSON BACK TO WORK FOR A REST: Stuart Wilson is looking forward to getting back to work on Monday for what will be a "quiet day at the office," compared to playing in the Open.

The birthday boy, who turned 27 on Sunday, completed his silver medal-winning performance as the low amateur at Royal Troon with a final-round 76 for a total of 12-over-par 296.

As the only amateur who made the cut, it meant he had already taken the honor of the silver medal. And after his week rubbing shoulders with the big names, he will be back behind the counter of the golf shop in Monifieth, Scotland, at 9 a.m. on Monday.

"I am looking forward to getting back to work because I have played a lot of golf this week and it will be nice to have a day away from it," said Wilson. "Monday is always a quiet day, so maybe I can put my feet up for a while.

"It has been a tremendous week and it was a great thrill playing with the likes of Mark O'Meara and Michael Campbell in the first two rounds and getting the reception I did from the crowd," he added. "Having my name on the leaderboard after shooting 68 on Thursday was a tremendous feeling, although it was a bit subdued after that because my golf didn't really hit the heights.

"Winning the silver medal is a fantastic feeling, right up there with being amateur champion, and to do them both in the same year is special."

Wilson was briefly a professional in the late 1990s before being reinstated as an amateur in 1999. But he will take his time before considering his future. For now, he is just looking forward to finding out what he has got for his birthday.

"I keep forgetting it's my birthday -- there is so much going on," he said. "And I have got my presents to open this afternoon, so I am looking forward to that."

LYLE FINDS GOING TOUGH: Former champ Sandy Lyle carded his highest total in 29 appearances at the Open on Sunday -- just 48 hours after he thought he might be about to revive his career.

Only 1-over par halfway at Royal Troon, Scotland's 1985 champion finished on the 19-over mark of 303, two strokes worse than his aggregate at Lytham two years ago.

Lyle, now 46, was first to tee off Sunday morning after his Saturday 81, and shot a closing 79 in just three hours and in the company of a local assistant because otherwise he would have been on his own.

"Painless because it was quick," he said. "I was hoping to do some damage after two good days, but then it went haywire. "I was plugged in the gorse, duffed a 7-iron, missed a three-footer and then went out of bounds. It just went silly and scrappy."

Lyle lost his European Tour card last season and has been battling this year to get it back. But he lies 110th on the Order of Merit, and come November only the top 115 earn places on next season's circuit.

At least his early start meant he was home in time to see the 2004 winner being crowned.

"I'll be watching with interest with a couple of glasses of wine," he added. "It's very, very difficult out there and they have been pretty nasty with the pin placings."

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