Lee Westwood has been crowned European Number One for a third time, 20 years after he first lifted the Harry Vardon Trophy. Rankings
The Englishman won the European Tour Order of Merit in 2000 but within three years he was outside the top 250 in the Official World Golf Ranking before mounting one of the game's great comebacks.
His victory at the 2009 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai saw him crowned the inaugural winner of the Race to Dubai and the following year he completed his incredible recovery by rising to World Number One.
He found himself outside the top 100 again as he went four years without a European Tour victory but he broke that drought with a maiden Rolex Series win at the 2018 Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player.
A tearful Westwood admitted after that victory there were times when he was not sure he would ever win again but he claimed a 25th European Tour triumph and second Rolex Series title earlier this season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.
That gave him a chance of a Harry Vardon Trophy hat-trick at the 2020 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and after finishing second to Matthew Fitzpatrick at Jumeirah Golf Estates, he is Europe's best once again at 47 years of age.
“It’s been 20 years since I sat there at Valderrama and finished second in the American Express Championship to win the Volvo Order of Merit as it was back then," he said. "I won here in 2009 to win the Race to Dubai and now I’ve finished second to win it today.
"They have all been very different. I guess 2000, sort of I was winning a lot, but I was still up and coming. It was only my seventh year on Tour.
"2009, I was honing in on the best player in the world spot, and I needed to win here to win the Race to Dubai, and I managed to do that.
"And then this one, I'm kind of the more mature player on the European Tour now. It wasn't something I set out to do at the start of the year, but it shows the consistency I've shown.
"The motivation's never changed, really. I get to get up each day and do the job I love. I've always wanted to be a golfer and I don't want it to end.
"So I'm prepared to keep working hard and put myself in the line of fire and try and get into contention in tournaments. It's where I'm most comfortable and what I love doing. I love the work away from the course and the gym and on the range, the hard work that people don't see, I love that. I don't need to motivate myself very often."
(europeantour.com)
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