Lee Westwood

Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has also won tournaments in four decades, the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. He was named European Tour Golfer of the Year for the 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2020 seasons. He has won the 2000 European Tour Order of Merit, and the renamed 2009 and 2020 Race to Dubai. He has frequently been mentioned as one of the best golfers without a major championship victory, and he holds the record of playing in the most majors without winning one.

Westwood has represented Europe in eleven Ryder Cups. In October 2010, he became the world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, 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 and is the first to reach the number one ranking without winning a major. He is sometimes referred to by his nickname Westy.

Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Westwood attended Sir Edmund Hillary Primary School and Valley Comprehensive School (now an Outwood Grange Academies Trust school) in his youth. He has family and heritage in South Wales. Westwood began to play golf aged 13 with a half set bought by grandparents. 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 football.