Lee Westwood

Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Westwood began to play golf at age 13 with a half-set of his grandparents' clubs. His father, John, a mathematics teacher, took up the game at the same time to encourage his son. A talented sportsman at school, Lee played rugby, cricket, and soccer during his childhood.
Westwood had a later start at the game than many tournament professionals, but less than two years later, he was the Nottinghamshire junior champion. In 1990, he won his first amateur tournament, the Peter McEvoy Trophy. In 1993, he won the British Youth Championship and turned professional. In November 2010, he achieved the No. 1 world ranking for the first time in his career, ending Tiger Woods' five-year reign at the top. He was runner-up at both the Masters and the British Open and finished 3rd in the Race to Dubai. He might have ranked even higher had it not been for a persistent calf injury in the second half of the year. Returned from a six-week layoff to lead Europe to victory at the Ryder Cup, then ended the season with a 2nd at the WGC-HSBC Champions, and T-3rd at the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World. It was a different story 12 months earlier at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where he was crowned Europe's No. 1 with a stunning performance at the Earth Course. A final-round, course-record 64 gave him a six-stroke victory and lifted his season's earnings to a then-record euro4,237,762. He became the eighth Englishman to win the Harry Vardon Trophy twice or more, having previously won the money list in 2000. Is second only to Nick Faldo on the list of England's most prolific champions. Equaled Arnold Palmer's Ryder Cup record at Valhalla in 2008 when he ran his unbeaten streak to 12 consecutive matches. European Ryder Cup Team member in 1997, '99, 2002, '06, '8, '10, '12, '14, '16 and 2021.
2010 Notes: Finished the year No. 1 in the world ranking.
2011 Notes: Ended his year with a flourish, winning the Thailand Golf Championship and moving into the No. 2 spot globally. In April, he regained the No. 1 position by winning the Asian Tour's Indonesian Masters, but Luke Donald took the spot at the end of May.
2012 Notes: Rejoined the PGA Tour after giving up his membership in 2009. Played in 27 events around the world. Made 14 of 15 cuts on the PGA Tour with six top-5 finishes but didn't reach the winner's circle. Best finishes were T-2nd at the BMW Championship and T-3rd at the Masters. He finished 10th in the FedExCup standings and 24th on the money list. On the European Tour, he won the Nordea Masters and finished 10th in the Race to Dubai. Also won in Asia in April at the Indonesian Masters. Went 2-2 for the winning European Ryder Cup Team, including a 3 & 2 singles victory over Matt Kuchar.
2013 Notes: Started the year with a T-5th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Finished T-8th at the Masters. In his next start at the Wells Fargo Championship, he finished T-4th. Led the British Open going into the final round, but shot 75 to finish four behind winner Phil Mickelson. It was Westwood's best finish of the year, a T-3rd. Played in 26 events around the world. On the PGA Tour, was 41st in the FedExCup standings and 31st on the money list. On the European Tour, finished 13th in the Race to Dubai.
2014 Notes: Finished 7th at the Masters, then won the next week at the Maybank Malaysian Open. Also posted a top-10 at The Players Championship, where he finished T-6th after a nine-under-par performance. That was his last top-10 on the PGA Tour. He played the first FedExCup playoff event at the Barclays, finishing T-57th, but that was the end of the road. He finished 107th in the FedExCup rankings and 85th on the money list. On the European Tour after his win in Malaysia, he only had one more top-10, a T-8th at the Turkish Airlines Open. Finished 27th in the Race to Dubai. At the end of the year, won again on the Asian Tour at the Thailand Golf Championship, defeating Martin Kaymer and Marcus Fraser by a stroke. Went 2-2-0 in his four matches at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland to help lead the European team to a five-point victory.
2015 Notes: Finished T-9th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, and in defending his Maybank Malaysian title, finished T-5th, five shots behind winner Anirban Lahiri. After the Masters, he won the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters in Asia. Made it to the quarterfinals before losing at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play. Finished 38th in the Race to Dubai standings. In his last tournament of the year, he finished T-2nd at the Asian Tour's Thailand Golf Championship.
2016 Notes: Began the final round of his 17th Masters four strokes behind 54-hole leader Jordan Spieth, before a three-under 69 was good enough for a T-2nd with Spieth at two-under 286. Bogeyed the first hole Sunday for a third consecutive day, before an unlikely eagle-3 at No. 15 got him back on track. Was one of three Englishmen to finish inside the top-5 at Augusta National, joining winner Danny Willett and Paul Casey (T-4th). Had two other top-10s: a T-10th at the Irish Open and T-8th at the Nordea Masters. Was T-4th going into the final round of the U.S. Open, shot 80, and finished T-32nd. Selected by Darren Clarke as a captain's pick for the European Ryder Cup team, marking his 10th consecutive appearance. Went 0-3 in the European team's 17-11 loss to the United States at Hazeltine. In the fall on the European Tour, was 3rd at the British Masters and finished the year 13th in the Race to Dubai after making 20 starts. Gave up his PGA Tour membership.
2017 Notes: Played in 23 European events, making 21 cuts and finishing in the top-10 5 times. He was 28th in the Race to Dubai. Started the year with a T-8th finish at Abu Dhabi, then had a T-10th at the French Open. Afterward, Westwood announced his breakup with long-time manager Chubby Chandler to join IMG. Westwood and Chandler had, at 24 years, one of the longest relationships between player/manager. Was T-9th at the D+D Real Czech Masters, T-3rd at the KLM Open and T-6th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
2018 Notes: Played in 19 events on the European Tour, making 13 cuts with four top-10 finishes. Won for the first time in four years with a three-stroke win at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. He had three other top-10 finishes and was runner-up at the Made in Denmark, where he lost in a four-man playoff to Matt Wallace. Had two T-5 finishes at the Italian Open and Andalucia Valderrama Masters. He was 17th in the Race to Dubai, his best finish since 2013.
2019 Notes: Played in 22 European Tour events, making 16 cuts with five top-10s. Was 36th in the Race to Dubai. Finished T-7th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and T-10th at the BMW international. Was T-4th at the British Open at Portrush, T-10th at the Turkish Airlines Open, and T-6th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, five strokes out of the Tommy Fleetwood/Marcus Kinhult playoff. Ended the year, T-38th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2020 Notes: Played in 15 European Tour events making 14 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 1st in the Race to Dubai. Started his year by winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Shot 65-67 over the weekend to finish two strokes better than Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick. T-4th at the Honda Classic, three strokes behind winner Sungjae Im. Only played in three PGA Tour events. After the break from COVID-19, he limited his play to the European Tour. Was T-10th at the Andalucia Masters and ended his year 2nd at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2021 Notes: Played in 19 PGA Tour events making 14 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 50th in the FedExCup standings. Played in 12 European Tour events, making 11 cuts, and was 108th in the Race to Dubai. Was the 3rd-round leader at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but with a final-round 73 finished 2nd, a shot back of winner Bryson DeChambeau. The next week at The Players Championship he again held the 54-hole lead and again played in the final group with Bryson DeChambeau. Westwood shot a final-round 72 while Justin Thomas shot 68 to beat Westwood by a shot. At the Masters, Westwood had his 19-year-old son Sam caddie for him. Lee called it a "lads-and-dads trip," and after The Players, they went up and played Augusta together. It's also a promise he made to Sam two years previously. Westwood has had his girlfriend Helen Storey on the bag since the Made in Denmark tournament prior to the 2018 Ryder Cup. Storey replaced Westwood's usual caddie Billy Foster who had worked with Westwood for many years prior. Westwood has also occasionally put his son Sam on the bag too. Westwood and Storey got together in late 2015 after Westwood separated from his wife (they divorced in 2017). At the 2021 Players Championship, Bryson DeChambeau described Storey as Westwood's "secret weapon." In the FedExCup Playoffs was T-27th at the Northern Trust and T-34th at the BMW Championship. In the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits had a 1-2-0 record, beating Harris English 1 up in his singles match. It was Westwood's 11th Ryder Cup, tying Nick Faldo for most Ryder Cup appearances by a European.
2022 Notes: Best finish T-14th at the Masters. Joined the LIV Series was 29th in the London event and T-16th in Portland.