Lee Westwood biography
Date of birth : 1973-04-24
Date of death : -
Birthplace : Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Nationality : English
Category : Sports
Last modified : 2011-10-07
Credited as : professional golfer, PGA tour,
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Lee Westwood began to play golf aged 13 with a half set bought by grandparents. His father, took up the game at same time to give his son encouragement. Despite a later start to the game than many tournament professionals, it was less than two years later that he became the junior champion of Nottinghamshire. In 1990 he won his first amateur tournament, the Peter McEvoy Trophy. In 1993 he won the British Youth Championship and turned professional.
He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998 and 2000 seasons, winning the later year's Order of Merit. He has represented Europe for the last six consecutive Ryder Cups. He spent over 150 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1998 and 2001 and returned to the top 10 at the end of the 2008 season.
In late 2010 Westwood became the World number one golfer, ending the reign of Tiger Woods, and becoming the first British golfer since Nick Faldo in 1994 to hold that position. He held the number one position for a total of 22 weeks. He remained World number one for 17 weeks, before being replaced by Martin Kaymer who held the top spot for 8 weeks. Westwood regained the number one spot after winning the Indonesian Masters on 24 April 2011 and held it for 5 weeks before being replaced by Luke Donald. He has spent over 260 weeks in the top-10 through mid-2011.
