Ward was my favourite shader BRDF for metals but it looks like something is quite different from the previous versions. It might be related to change in the sun sistems.
Problem is that the hot spot is way too bright in comparison to what was before.
The image is default sun/sky system, linear mapping, all default presets. Material is 0.8 refl.glossiness.
The Ward BRDF had to be changed a little bit to avoid dark edges when used in conjunction with VRayEdgesTex as a bump map, so the difference is normal.