Man About Golf

TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) -Two years. Two putts to get into a playoff. Two misses.

Only this time Lee Westwood didn't know it.

After playing an astonishing shot from a deep fairway bunker at the final hole at Turnberry on Sunday, the 36-year-old Englishman left himself with a long birdie putt he thought he needed to stay in contention for the Open.

At last year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, he failed to sink a putt on the final green to miss out on the title. On Sunday, the 36-year-old Englishman watched Stewart Cink beat Tom Watson in a playoff after shooting a 1-over 71 in the final round.

With Watson a shot ahead at 3 under going to the last hole, Cink was already in the clubhouse at 2 under. Westwood believed he had to make the 60-foot putt and attacked the pin. He sent it 10 feet past, missed that and slipped out of contention at 1 under.

``I've gone from frustration to sickness now,'' Westwood said after finishing tied for third.

``I figured - I thought I'd have to hole it, to be perfectly honest,'' Westwood said. ``I didn't see Tom bogeying the last, since he's such an experienced player. But he obviously got a bogey there.''

Five-time British Open winner Watson and Cink were tied at 2-under 278 and headed for the playoff. Westwood, who almost made an 18-foot eagle putt at the 17th, was left to think about another missed chance in a major.

At Torrey Pines, Westwood had a 15-footer to force a playoff with Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. He left it short and finished third.

``Both are pretty sickening, but obviously this is the Open championship and it's the one that means the most to me,'' Westwood said. ``Third place is not to be sniffed at in a major championship. But (the feeling is) disappointment, really.

``I was pretty happy with the way I played all day, hit lovely shots. I made some good up-and-downs when I needed to. The putts on 16 and 17 I thought I'd made. And the biggest disappointment is, obviously, three-putting the last.''

Westwood said he didn't think his tee shot at the last had gone into the fairway bunker.

``I thought it had actually gone down the fairway,'' he said. ``It must have gone back and curled back in there. I hit a great shot out of the trap but didn't finish it off.''

On a final day when the lead changed almost hole by hole, Westwood appeared to be well in contention. A birdie putt from 18 feet at the sixth and a 15-foot eagle at the seventh helped him to 2 under at the turn. But he bogeyed three of his last four holes, and his eagle putt at 17 appeared to be going in but stayed right.

``You know, you've just got to keep working,'' said Westwood, who finished fourth at the 2004 British Open at Troon. ``I'm putting in the hard work at the moment, and it's obviously paying off because I'm getting closer.''