Lee Westwood could be excused for thinking the past week was one of the least memorable – having been at the centre of the Ryder Cup row over Boo Weekley’s winding up the Stars and Stripes supporters, followed by Europe’s defeat in Valhalla.

And when he finally got his body clock back to normal after flying back to Britain from Kentucky, his successful defence of his British Masters crown was ended by play-off king Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who finally ended Lee Westwood’s resistance on The Belfry’s famous 18th hole at the third time of asking on Sunday.

It was ironic that the hole that has played such an important part of Europe’s hegemony over America in recent Ryder Cup history should be the setting for Lee Westwood’s defeat.

Having hung on down the back nine with his swing out of kilter, the 35-year-old from Worksop was unable to record his third victory since he started using StrokeAverage.com consultancy to analyse his golf statistics at the start of last year.

The 2007 Andalucian Open champion was still taking positives out of the week though.

“When you don't play your best golf and get in a play-off you takes positives from that,” said Lee Westwood. “I just struggled with my swing all day.

“I didn't feel under control at any point and paid for it. I plugged away and kept hanging around and tried to graft it out.”

Lee Westwood, who has won 18 times on the European Tour in a 14 year career, has recorded 14 top 10 finishes since his five-shot triumph in last year’s British Maters.

That run includes missing out on the play-off for the US Open which was won by Tiger Woods, his final round playing partner at Torrey Pines golf course, back in June.

Victory this week would have lifted him into the world’s top 10 for the first time since his reign as European number one ended back in 2001.

At one point, he slumped down as far as 260 but has been on the comeback trail since winning the Dunhill Links Championship in 2003 – and this week Lee Westwood is heading to St Andrews for the pro-celebrity pro-am where he will once again play with his manager Chubby Chandler.

The incentive is that golf Majors winner Padraig Harrington is still not nailed on to win the European Order of Merit, despite landing the Open Championship and the USPGA in the same season.

The runners-up cheque for £200,000 moved Lee Westwood up from fourth in the money list. But he still lags Harrington by more than £160,000 with five weeks of the season left, meaning a big pay cheque in Scotland is required, although this weeks event played at Kingsbarn, Carnoustie and St Andrews Old Course, is one of the richest of the year.

The Irishman was out of sorts during the Ryder Cup and will only play the last-ever Volvo Masters at Valderrama, while Lee Westwood is playing in the Dunhill Links Championship, and the Portuguese Masters in Vilamoura next month, before heading along the coast to the 2008 curtain-faller before the new Race to Dubai series gets underway in November.

Spaniard Gonzalez who has won three of his four European Tour titles in play-offs volunteered for a swim a la Paul McGinley after the StrokeAverage.com user holed the winning putt in the 2002 Ryder Cup.

The 27-year-old, who has not had a top 10 since the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, in early June, must have known his luck was in from the moment he chipped in for par from off the green at the short 12th, after putting his tee shot in the stream.

He missed the final green on the left but still got up and down to force the play-off, despite backing off his two-footer for par three times.

Meanwhile Lee Westwood needed a great clutch putt from more than eight feet as they returned to the last in sudden-death.

An enormous drive over the water put him way past the plaque marking from where Christie O’Connor nailed a two-iron to beat the Americans in the 1989 Ryder Cup.

But Lee Westwood pulled his eight-iron to find the greenside rough before holding his nerve to send the pair back to the 18th tee.

Then it was Fernandez-Castano’s turn to hole a 10-footer for par after Lee Westwood had missed the green again, but chipped up close.

And at the third time of asking, despite hitting the better drive again, the Nottinghamshire-based golf pro, who had already been forced to play 25 holes after the third round was delayed by fog on Saturday, missed the green again and could only leave his chip 15 feet from the pin.

This time there was no one putt - leaving the Spaniard to cosy his birdie attempt close enough for a simple tournament-winning putt.

Both players had tied on 12-under – Lee Westwood carding a two-under par 70 to his rival’s fast-finishing 67.

Kiwi Michael Campbell’s return to form continued as he took third spot – he was runner-up at The Belfry to Johan Edfors two years ago, and his nightmare slump after winning the US Open at Pinehurst three years ago, finally looks behind him.

Golf article end.