Lee Westwood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lee WestwoodOBE |
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| Personal information | |
| Full name | Lee John Westwood |
| Nickname | Westy |
| Born | 24 April 1973 Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) |
| Nationality |  England |
| Residence | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England |
| Spouse |
Laurae Coltart
(m. 1999; div. 2015)Helen Storey
(m. 2021) |
| Children | 2 |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1993 |
| Current tour(s) | LIV Golf |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour |
| Professional wins | 44 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 2 |
| European Tour | 25 (8th all-time) |
| Japan Golf Tour | 4 |
| Asian Tour | 8 (Tied-6th all-time) |
| Sunshine Tour | 3 |
| PGA Tour of Australasia | 1 |
| Other | 3 |
| Best results in Major Championships |
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| The Masters Tournament | 2nd/T2: 2010, 2016 |
| U.S. Open | 3rd/T3: 2008, 2011 |
| The Open Championship | 2nd: 2010 |
| PGA Championship | T3: 2009 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| European Tour Golfer of the Year |
1998, 2000, 2009, 2020 |
| European Tour Order of Merit winner/ Race to Dubai winner |
2000, 2009, 2020 |
| European Tour Players' Player of the Year |
2009, 2020 |
Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is a famous English professional golfer. He is known for winning golf tournaments on five different continents. These continents are Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. He has won many times on the European Tour and the PGA Tour.
Lee Westwood has won tournaments in four different decades. These include the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. He was named the European Tour Golfer of the Year four times. He also won the European Tour's top award, the Order of Merit (now called Race to Dubai), three times. Many people consider him one of the best golfers who has not won a major championship. He holds the record for playing in the most major championships without a win.
Westwood has played for Europe in ten Ryder Cups. In October 2010, he became the world number one golfer. He took over from Tiger Woods. He was the first British golfer since Nick Faldo in 1994 to reach this spot. He stayed at number one for 22 weeks in total. People often call him by his nickname, Westy.
Contents
Growing Up and Starting Golf
Lee Westwood was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England. He went to Sir Edmund Hillary Primary School. He also attended Valley Comprehensive School. Lee started playing golf when he was 13 years old. His grandparents bought him a half set of golf clubs. His father, John, who was a math teacher, also started playing golf to support his son.
Lee was a very good athlete at school. He played rugby, cricket, and football. Even though he started golf later than many pros, he quickly became good. Less than two years later, he was the junior champion of Nottinghamshire. He played for England's junior team in 1989. He also played for the Great Britain and Ireland boys team in 1990 and 1991. In 1991, he won his first big amateur tournament. He turned professional in 1993.
Lee Westwood's Golf Career
Lee Westwood won his first professional tournament in 1996. It was the Volvo Scandinavian Masters. Soon after, he won in Japan. His success continued in 1997. He won the Malaysian Open and the Volvo Masters in Spain. He also won the Holden Australian Open, beating Greg Norman in a playoff. That year, he also played in the Ryder Cup with Nick Faldo.
Westwood has won 25 events on the European Tour. He has also won tournaments in North America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. His best year was 2000. He won seven tournaments around the world. He was ranked first on the European Order of Merit. This ended Colin Montgomerie's long winning streak. In 2000, he became the first golfer to win events on all six major international golf tours. Only Ernie Els and Justin Rose have done this since.
After his son was born in 2001, Westwood took a break. He also changed his golf swing. He started winning again in 2003 in Germany. This was his 25th win worldwide.
Returning to Top Form
In 2007, Westwood won two more European Tour events. These wins helped him get back into the top 50 in the world rankings. He continued his good play into 2008. He finished in the top 20 in the world. At the U.S. Open, he finished 3rd. He almost became the first European in 38 years to win it.
In 2009, Westwood finished 3rd in two more major championships. These were the Open and the PGA Championship. Later that year, he won the Portugal Masters. The next month, he won the Dubai World Championship. This also gave him the first-ever Race to Dubai title.
Westwood finished second at the 2010 Masters Tournament. He was leading on the final day but was passed by Phil Mickelson. He then won the St. Jude Classic before the U.S. Open. He also finished second at the 2010 Open Championship. He could not play in the PGA Championship that year due to an injury.
In 2011, Westwood lost a playoff at the BMW PGA Championship to Luke Donald. Donald then became the new world number one. In June 2011, Westwood tied his best U.S. Open finish, coming in third. This was his fourth time finishing third in a major. In December 2011, he shot his lowest career round, a 60. He won the Thailand Golf Championship by seven shots.
Later Career Highlights
Westwood rejoined the PGA Tour in 2012. He wanted to try for the FedEx Cup. In February 2012, he reached the semi-finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship for the first time. He finished 4th in the tournament. If he had won, he would have become world number one again.
In April 2012, Westwood finished tied for third at the Masters Tournament. He felt his putting stopped him from winning. This was his seventh time finishing in the top three at a major without winning. He also won the Indonesian Masters for the second time. In June 2012, he won the Nordea Masters for the third time. This was his 22nd European Tour win.
At the 2012 U.S. Open, Westwood was in a good position. But he lost his ball in a tree on the fifth hole. This led to a double-bogey and ended his chances. He finished tied for 10th.
In the 2013 Open Championship, Westwood led after three rounds. He shot a 75 in the final round and finished tied for third. Phil Mickelson won the tournament. This was the second time Westwood led a major going into the final round and didn't win. He has finished in the top three eight times in majors without a win.
In April 2015, Westwood won the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters for the third time. He won in a playoff. This was his ninth win on the Asian Tour.
At the 2016 Masters, Westwood finished tied for second. He was three shots behind the winner, Danny Willett. He almost tied for the lead after an eagle on the 15th hole. But he then made a bogey on the 16th. This was his third time finishing second in a major.
Westwood holds the record for playing in the most major championships without winning. He passed Jay Haas at the 2021 Open Championship, which was his 88th major.
In November 2018, Westwood won the Nedbank Golf Challenge. He shot a great final round of 64. This was his 24th European Tour win. It was his first win since 2014. This win was worth $1,250,000.
In July 2019, Westwood finished tied for fourth at the 2019 Open Championship. This was his 12th time finishing in the top five of a major without winning. This finish earned him a spot in the 2020 Masters.
In January 2020, Westwood won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. This win meant he had won titles in four different decades on the European Tour. He finished two shots ahead of the other players. In December 2020, Westwood won his third Race to Dubai title. At 47 years old, he became the oldest winner of this title.
In March 2021, Westwood led the Arnold Palmer Invitational after three rounds. He finished second by one shot. The next week, he again led after three rounds at The Players Championship. He finished second by one shot to Justin Thomas. He earned over $1.6 million for this, his biggest prize money so far.
In June 2022, Westwood was suspended from the PGA Tour. This was because he played in a LIV Golf event. In May 2023, he resigned his membership from the European Tour. In April 2023, Westwood turned 50. This made him old enough to play in senior golf events. He wanted to play in the 2023 Senior Open Championship. However, he was not allowed to play. This was due to unpaid fines to the European Tour.
World Ranking Achievements
Lee Westwood first reached the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking in July 1998. He spent a total of 160 weeks in the top 10 until August 2001.
He dropped out of the top 100 in mid-2002. He returned to the top 100 in late 2003. From 2004 to 2007, his ranking stayed between 20 and 80. In early 2008, he returned to the top 20. He briefly returned to the top 10 at the end of 2008. He was back in the top 10 after the 2009 PGA Championship.
On October 31, 2010, Westwood became the World number one golfer. He ended Tiger Woods' long time at the top. He was World number one for 17 weeks. Then Martin Kaymer took over. Westwood became number one again after winning the Indonesian Masters on April 24, 2011. He held it for 5 more weeks. He has spent over 350 weeks in the top-10.
Playing in the Ryder Cup
Lee Westwood has played in the Ryder Cup many times. This is a team competition between Europe and the USA. He first played in the 1997 Ryder Cup. He teamed up with Nick Faldo. In the 1999 Ryder Cup, he played with Darren Clarke. They earned 2 points for Europe. In 2002, he had a successful partnership with Sergio García. They won 3 out of 4 matches.
In the 2004 Ryder Cup, Westwood made the putt that helped Europe win the Cup. Europe won by a large margin. He also won his first singles match that year. In 2006, he was chosen as a special player. He did not lose any of his games. He also did not lose a game in 2004. He is one of the most successful European golfers in terms of points scored.
In the 2008 matches, Westwood did not play in the first session. This was a surprising decision by the captain. The European team lost to the U.S. team that year. In October 2010, Westwood was part of the European team that won the 2010 Ryder Cup by one point.
Westwood was also on the winning European teams in 2012 and 2014. Europe beat the USA both times. In 2016, his friend Darren Clarke was the captain. Westwood was chosen again, but Europe lost this time. This was his first time on a losing team since 2008.
In 2018, Thomas Bjørn chose Westwood as one of his vice-captains. This means he helped the captain lead the team. In September 2021, Westwood played on the European team again. The U.S. team won by a large score. Westwood won one of his three matches.
He has been on more Ryder Cup winning teams than any other European player. He has 7 wins and 4 losses.
Life Outside of Golf
Lee Westwood married Laurae Coltart in 1999. She is the sister of another golfer, Andrew Coltart. They had two children, Samuel Bevan and Poppy Grace. They divorced in 2017. After his divorce, Westwood moved back to Europe from Florida. He now lives in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. He is married to Helen Storey, who also works as his caddie (carrying his clubs) on tour. They got married in Las Vegas in June 2021.
He is good friends with fellow golfer Darren Clarke. They used to own a private jet together.
In 2007, Westwood received an honorary degree from Nottingham Trent University. The university named its sports hall after him in 2010. In 2010, he started the Lee Westwood Golf School. This school helps young golfers combine golf training with their education. He also created a Junior Lee Westwood Golf Tour and golf camps. He received an award for his work with young golfers.
Westwood loves horse racing. He has owned parts of several successful racehorses. He also enjoys films, snooker, and cars. He is a big football fan and supports Nottingham Forest. He also supports and sponsors his local team, Worksop Town FC. He also follows the Scottish football club Queen of the South.
Awards and Special Recognitions
- Lee Westwood has won the European Tour Golfer of the Year award four times: in 1998, 2000, 2009, and 2020.
- In 2011, he was given the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This is a special honor from the Queen of England.
Images for kids
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Westwood playing a bunker shot at the 2008 Open Championship
See also
In Spanish: Lee Westwood para niños
