Lee Westwood outlines schedule for rest of year
With Lee Westwood poised to claim the world No. 1 spot in a few weeks without having to do so much as swing a golf club, the 37-year-old could be forgiven for taking the rest of the year off.
Speaking to the BBC's East Midlands Today news show, Westwood revealed he will compete at the WGC HSBC Champions in Shanghai in two weeks, the Dubai World Championship at the end of November, and South Africa's Sun City Challenge in early December.
"I've done a lot of rehabilitation work recently so I'm looking forward to being able to fire at 110% again," Westwood told the cameras.
"I'd like to finish off strongly this year if possible but obviously I'll be a bit rusty in the next three events."
The Englishman had decided to take time out from the game following the recurrence of a calf injury at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where Westwood was competing just days after his role in Europe's Ryder Cup victory - prior to the event at Celtic Manor, Westwood had been out since August.
Nonetheless, the high standard of his play earlier this year and in 2009, together with Tiger Woods' current problems and Phil Mickelson's underwhelming play this year, mean the Worksop-born Nottingham Forest fan will overtake Woods in the world rankings at the end of this month - world rankings are calculated by taking a player's performance over a two-year period into account.
That should mean that Westwood will reach the No. 1 spot, but current world No. 4 Martin Kaymer could yet overtake both Woods and Westwood with a strong performance at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters next week.
"I'm really looking forward to next year now. Hopefully, I can get myself in good shape for when the Masters comes round in April," said Westwood, who has finished as runner up in two of his last three major appearances, but is yet to win one.
Kaymer won the PGA Championship in August - Westwood was absent from the tournament because of the calf injury - and whether or not the German pips Westwood to the position as world No. 1 with his performance in Spain, it's clear that he is a serious long term proposition for the rank that Woods looks destined to lose imminently.
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