Lee John Westwood: The Giant of Nottingham
On the 31st of October Tiger Woods' reign at the top of golf rankings, lasting a whopping 281 consecutive weeks, came to an end. The usurper to his throne is the first European to ever hold the number one position since Nick Faldo, and only the
fourth person ever to do it without winning a single major championship; Lee John Westwood.
The 37 year old golfer hails from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK. He started playing golf at the age of 13 when his grandparents bought him his first golf set. Already a talented sportsman in school (he played rugby, cricket and football) he was thoroughly encouraged
by his father, a math teacher, who occasionally played with, and against his son, to foster his talent. A year later, at 14, he was already the Nottinghamshire Junior Champion and next year he beat a player several years his senior to secure the Notts Junior
Cup for his club.
At the age of 17 he won his first amateur tournament, the Peter McAvoy Trophy. In 1992 he clinched both the Notts Strokeplay and Matchplay titles and in the following year, after winning the British Youth Championship, he turned professional. It was 4 years
however, before he went off to win his first professional tournament; the Volvo Scandinavian Masters. In the same year he went on to win Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters in Japan and ended the season placing 6th on the Order of Merit.
His next season was perhaps his most phenomenal. He won the Benson and Hedges Malaysian Open, the Volvo Masters in Spain and defended his title in Japan. But most significantly, and according to John, one of the greatest victories of his career yet, he went
on to defeat the then World No. 1 Greg Norman in a playoff to clinch The Holden Australian Open. In the same year he was also part of the European contingent at the Ryder Cup and was partnered with Nick Faldo. Europe went on to win the Ryder Cup that year
with Westwood winning 2 points out of 5 in his slot.
His star continued to rise, and in 1998 after winning 7 tournaments he almost displaced Colin Montgomery at the head of the European Order of Merit. Despite having led for most of the season he fumbled at the end, losing the Volvo Masters to Darren Clarke despite
having the lead going into the last day. He was, however, voted the European Tour Player of the year soon after his 25th birthday. He also made a big jump in the rankings, moving from 23rd to 7th place.
Westwood finally fulfilled his long time ambition to top the Order of Merit in 2000. In what was his most successful year to date, he went on to win seven international titles and reached No.4 in the world rankings. Soon after though, Westwood took a long
break from the game after the birth of his first son, Samuel. He did not win another tournament till 2003, after which he dropped out of the winning circuit, his ranking during this time also fell below 250.
His return to form came in 2007 when he won both the Valle Romano Open and the Quinn Direct British Masters. Although he fared well in other tournaments, finishing in the top ten five more times, concerns still remained about his ability to finish well as
he had always choked at crucial moments. His win-less drought would continue till late into 2009 when he won the Portugal Masters. In between all this time, however, he played with a stark consistency-finishing at 2nd or 3rd place several
times. During this period he moved back to top 20 in the World Rankings and again topped the Order of Merit, which was now known as the European Race to Dubai and culminated in the Dubai World Championship, which he won.
In 2010 Westwood finished a career-best 2nd at 2010 Masters and the 2010 Open Championship. Just as he was closing in on his first major victory, the PGA Championship, he was sidelined by a calf injury. Despite being out of the game since July,
his consistent performance earned him the coveted No.1 spot in the World Rankings. Woods, after being usurped from his throne, remarked "Lee's been by far the most consistent of all the players in the majors over the last two years, He hasn't won one, but
he's come so close. It's just a matter of time”. Only a matter of time indeed.
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