About Lee Westwood

Born in 1973 in Worksop, England, Westwood took up golf at the age of 13. Encouraged by his father, John, the young Westwood secured the title of junior champion of Nottinghamshire less than two years later. By 1990, Westwood had won his first amateur tournament, the Peter McEvoy Trophy. Three years later, his prodigious talent led him to the British Youth Championship title. With that success, he decided to turn professional.

As of July 2009, Westwood has won 18 times in Europe and has claimed one victory on the PGA Tour, the Freeport-McDermott Classic in 1998. In addition, he has also won four times in Japan since 1996, with three victories coming in the Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters and the other coming in 1998 at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament. Other wins include the 1997 Holden Australian Open, the 2000 Cisco World Match Play Championship and the 2003 Nelson Mandela Invitational. Westwood has won tournaments on every continent.

Westwood is married to Laurae Coltart, whose brother, Andrew Coltart, is also a member of the PGA European Tour.

At 2009's Open Championship at Turnberry Golf Course, Westwood was in contention for the Claret Jug. However, needing two putts to take his place in a playoff, Westwood three-putted the 18th and found himself tied for third place. "I've gone from frustration to sickness now," Westwood said after Stewart Cink beat Tom Watson in the playoff.
At 2008's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, Westwood also failed to sink a putt on the final green to miss out on the playoff. However, his finish was the best by an Englishman in the U.S. Open since Nick Faldo lost a playoff to Curtis Strange in 1988.

As a Ryder Cup player, Westwood's form has been impressive. At the 2008 competition at the Valhalla Golf Club, he took his run of unbeaten matches on the opening day of the competition to 12, equaling Arnold Palmer's record. However, Westwood's game would only grind out a single point for Captain Nick Faldo's team and the Americans gained the victory.