Westwood all but forgotten despite 63

• By Ryan Ballengee
• Mar 4, 2012 9:09 PM ET

Lee Westwood had the second-best round on Sunday at the Honda Classic. Playing without Tiger Woods as company for the first time all week, Westwood shot a 7-under 63 to finish solo fourth. The only lower round was Woods' 62.

Westwood credited some extra practice he did Saturday night.

“Did some good work on the putting green last night and got a bit of confidence up and made three putts outside, well, from about 30 feet, one from about 30 feet and a couple 25-footers,” Westwood said.

Woods did Westwood one better with an electrifying eagle at the last, shooting his best-ever final round on the PGA Tour. Suddenly, Westwood was on the back burner.

The Englishman was outdone again by eventual winner Rory McIlroy, who supplanted Luke Donald for the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Westwood could have taken the No. 1 spot last week, but he lost his semifinal match to McIlroy in the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

Westwood lauded the Ulsterman for his climb to the top.

“He's a very good player, very young, still learning, got most of the shots. I think he's got a fairly bright future,” he said.

Westwood has a chance to make Rory’s reign a short one. Based on a projection using last year's points from the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Westwood can retake the top spot with a win at Doral and McIlroy finishing worse than third.